Experienced Lowe clashes with rising prospect Ball
Close friend to Tyson Fury, Isaac Lowe (21-1-3, 6KOs) comes straight from his world title eliminator defeat to face a completely different challenge in undefeated featherweight prospect Nick Ball (14-0, 7KOs).
The 126-pounders clash for the WBC Silver featherweight title, formerly held by Nonito Donaire and guaranteed to give the owner a top-10 world ranking.
Ball has chosen the 94,000-capacity sold-out Wembley Stadium as the setting for his first ever title fight; the ninth championship contest for former English, Commonwealth and WBC International champion, Lowe.
25-year-old unbeaten Ball trains with Paul Stevenson at the Everton Red Triangle gym in Liverpool, alongside Olympian Peter McGrail and Queensberry stablemates Brad Strand and Andrew Cain.
The Liverpudlian has been sparring all three Yafai brothers in their Sheffield gym, but he doesn’t have to travel far for work, sharing his gym with four other unbeaten pros as well as amateur champions too.
He is fully aware he is the underdog in this maiden title tilt and feels completely happy to be underestimated by Team Lowe.
His style is aggressive, all-action, pressing on the frontfoot constantly, which is why seven from his last nine opponents have been knocked out.
In his last outing, he demolished Polish title contender Piotr Gudel in just 36 seconds, which included three knockdowns within that time. He was just the third winning opponent Ball has faced, so it’s hardly suitable preparation for a foe like Issac Lowe. The other two winning fighters Ball bested were both unbeaten prospects – 6-0 Jerome Campbell and 4-0 Brian Phillips. They were 50-50 fights at the time between rising prospects, which shows Ball’s willingness to get in there and prove himself.
Facing Lowe in front of almost 100,000 people also speaks volumes on his ambitions and bravery.
Lowe is the polar opposite to Ball in every way. He is more of a slickster, can box on the backfoot or the frontfoot, defensive and sharp, but will fight fire with fire when called upon. He doesn’t possess heavy hands, his lowly 24% KO ratio proves that straightaway.
He lost his world title eliminator to Luis Alberto Lopez in his last fight last December. It was a disastrous start, hitting the deck just 12 seconds into the biggest fight of his career. He rallied back, boxing nicely, but any big shot affected him immensely until another knockdown in round seven ended the fight.
Lowe is a tidy fighter, defensive and aggressive, experienced; an all-rounder, just lacking power. He has proven himself at British level and above, but fell short in his world-level bid.
Ball has been closing in on English and British title opportunities, but still hasn’t had the chance to land a title shot, so he grabbed this chance with both hands.
Prediction
Isaac Lowe is naturally the favourite to win, with his vaster experience and proven ability. Ball, being untested at this level, is undoubtedly the underdog, but his ambition, hunger and confidence is what finds him in the right place at the right time to snatch the win and become the biggest overnight star in Britain.
I believe the underdog and relatively unknown (outside of boxing) Nick Ball defeats Isaac Lowe by knockout from around rounds 6-10.
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