REY VARGAS VS NICK BALL - FULL FIGHT PREVIEW
He may be only 5ft2, but Nick Ball has been making a big impression on the world of boxing in the past couple of years and this Saturday, he gets his shot at becoming world champion against Mexico’s Rey Vargas.
Undefeated in his first 28 fights as a pro, Vargas picked up his first world title back in 2017 when he travelled to the UK to take on the then-unbeaten Gavin McDonnell.
Despite getting the nod by majority decision, it was very much a Vargas masterclass and he kicked on to defend his WBC world title on five occasions before moving up to featherweight in 2021.
After a unanimous points decision win over Leonardo Baez, he stepped in with the reigning champion Mark Magsayo and despite hitting the deck in round nine, he’d fortunately done enough in the earlier rounds to walk away with the victory and become a two-weight world champion.
He dared to be great in his last fight when facing the impressive O’Shaquie Foster but came up well short, and that performance has now seen him return to his more natural weight of 126lbs.
Ball, meanwhile, has had a whirlwind couple of years.
He was 14-0 when he got his chance on the big stage and certainly grabbed that opportunity with both hands.
Chief support for Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte, he outworked and systematically took apart the experienced Isaac Lowe to pick up a sixth-round stoppage and since then, he’s gone from one level to the next.
Stoppage wins over Nathaniel Kakololo, Jesus Rubio and Ludumo Lamati followed before he faced the toughest test of his career in the shape of former super-bantamweight world champion Isaac Dogboe.
Typically relentless, something that he is building up a reputation for, he dropped his domestic rival en route to a unanimous points decision to make him mandatory for Vargas’s world title.
So how will the fight play out? Well, considering Vargas has a significant height and reach advantage, he will need to use that as much as he can.
Ball is used to being the much smaller man but due to Vargas’s quick hands, it won’t be a case of going full Marvin Hagler and just walking him down and targeting the body.
He’ll need to faint into range, he’ll need to go through the phases when he does manage to get inside of Vargas’s reach.
Both are tough and possess engines, but what may well prove to be the decisive factor is how well they manage their gas tanks.
This really is a 50/50 fight, and it may well come down to who wants it more. If that is the case, you can never back against a scouser with a point to prove.