On the undercard of his return to the UK, former WBC champion Tyson Fury would make the walk after one of his closest friends had been flattened with a horrific knockout.
Headlining at Wembley Stadium in his first fight on home soil in four years, Tyson Fury would stop Dillian Whyte with his own dominant knockout victory.
But earlier on the same night, Nick Ball — the current WBA featherweight champion — laid waste to one of the Morecambe native’s biggest friends, and a near relation, too.
Nick Ball viciously stopped Tyson Fury’s cousin on champion’s undercard
Before his world championship success with the WBA featherweight crown, the undefeated Ball would be pitted with Isaac Lowe on the undercard of Fury’s WBC title defense against the veteran Whyte in London.
And continuing in that vein of brutal knockout wins, Ball would crack Lowe with a well-placed left hook, sending him careering back to the ropes and onto the canvas.
In the sixth, following more punishment, Ball would unload a huge left hand to Lowe — who now had his back turned, with the towel coming in soon after before a thankful referee stoppage.
And off the back of his victory, Ball would ride that wave into a series of high-profile title fights — both for WBC and eventual WBA spoils.
Nick Ball’s subsequent unbeaten run
Set to put his WBA featherweight crown on the line later this month, Ball returns to take on Australian charge Sam Goodman — in a bid to defend his title for the third time.
- READ MORE — ‘Shouldn’t have done it’… Nick Ball escaped disqualification loss in last outing to maintain unbeaten record and title
Winning the belt against Raymond Ford with a split decision success back in June of last year, Ball has since bested both Ronny Rios and TJ Doheny in a pair of title defenses — returning to stoppage ways in the process.
In his only career ‘blemish’, the Merseyside native failed to overcome Rey Vargas in their WBC featherweight title fight in March of last year, forcing the Mexican to a split decision draw over the course of 12 rounds.