Nick Ball spared Britain from heartbreak with his victory over Australian Sam Goodman.
Nick Ball was Britain’s only reigning world champion going into his fight with Sam Goodman, and he has kept the faith as he handed the Aussie his first defeat.
With the win, ‘The Wrecking’ Ball has elevated his record to 23-0-1, and could be setting himself up for a mega-fight with Naoya ‘The Monster’ Inoue.
Ball has now defeated one of Inoue’s former foes in TJ Doheny and one of Inoue’s scheduled opponents in Goodman.
A huge Britain vs Japan clash could come next if Inoue is able to defeat MJ Akhmadaliev in his next fight.
Fans address fighter who ‘makes easy work of Ball…’ after his big win
Following the slugfest, which saw the Liverpudlian Ball use his trademark aggressive style to edge a victory over Goodman, fans have had much to say on the British fighter’s performance.
The fight was a close one, and whilst some believe Ball “won by a country mile”, it seems many believe Goodman deserved the nod.
One fan even declared that, “Commentary on this Nick Ball fight is a disgrace,” whilst another stated, “These commentators really want nick ball to lose here .”
This comes after Andy Lee had an especially close scorecard of the fight, and was unable to separate the two fighters going into the championship rounds.
With his win, Ball was asked who he might face next, though the Brit refused to call out any one name.
The one name on the minds of fans, though, is Inoue, with one fan suggesting, “If it wasn’t already obvious, Inoue makes easy, easy work of Nick Ball.”
Another fan gave an interesting suggestion, calling for Ball to face Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz next.
Nick Ball fell short in his first razor-close world title bid
In his first attempt at a world title, Ball fought 36-1 Rey Vargas in 2024.
Vargas had lost only to O’Shaquie Foster, who could face Ray Ford next after Ford’s win over Abraham Nova.
The fight was a close one, and saw Ball drop Vargas in rounds eight and 11. With the knockdowns, Ball seemed to have done more than enough to secure the victory, but was disappointed as the scorecards revealed he would not be going home with the titles.
Ball vs Vargas was declared a split decision draw. Whilst Vargas hasn’t fought since, Ball picked up a title with a big win over Ford.