Liverpool’s Nick Ball tore through twelve punishing rounds to dethrone Raymond Ford and capture the WBA featherweight title in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 1 June 2024. In a contest billed as a perfect clash of styles—Ball’s perpetual march versus Ford’s nimble craft—the challenger’s determination ultimately outweighed the champion’s early accuracy, earning Ball a split-decision triumph with totals of 115–113 (twice) and 113–115.

Much was made beforehand of Ball once again conceding height and reach, just as he had against Ray Vargas earlier in the spring. His draw with Vargas had shown that, despite being the shorter man, he possessed a knack for unsettling taller opponents through intensity alone. That same approach would prove decisive here.

From the opening bell Ball pressed forward, compact and coiled, refusing to give Ford any peace. Ford tried to manage the distance with quick counters, sharp straight shots and brisk footwork, but Ball’s bursts—often delivered in clusters of three, four or more—forced the American to work far harder than he wished.

Ford enjoyed bright spells in the first third of the bout, finding space to dart in body shots and well-timed left hands. Yet Ball’s tempo never dipped. His crouched stance made him an elusive target for clean returns, and his uppercuts from close proximity repeatedly split Ford’s guard. By the fourth and fifth, the champion found himself under heavier fire, marked around both eyes and spending too long trading rather than dictating.

Ball’s corner urged him to maintain the ferocity, and he did, turning the middle rounds into his most productive spell. He harried Ford to the ropes, chopped at the torso, and unsettled the rhythm Ford needed to box at his preferred pace. Ford responded bravely, landing a superb sweeping hook in the seventh that bloodied Ball’s nose and appeared to shift the momentum. For a brief moment the American looked poised for a resurgence.

But Ball, as ever, refused to yield. Rather than retreat, he advanced through the crisis, welcoming the exchanges and smothering Ford before the champion could capitalise on his success. Although Ford produced some eye-catching uppercuts in the eighth and ninth, Ball’s sheer volume and physical insistence kept eroding the champion’s control. Ford’s movements became more conservative, his footwork gradually less reactive, and the challenger sensed it.

The championship rounds featured enthralling back-and-forth turns, but Ball remained the busier man, pinning Ford repeatedly with looping hooks and surging bursts. When the final bell sounded, both fighters bore clear signs of the evening’s brutality, but it was Ball who had imposed his identity on the match.

After twelve relentless rounds, the judges confirmed what many observers suspected: the belt had changed hands. Nick Ball had realised his world title dream, while Raymond Ford, valiant but overwhelmed, relinquished his crown only months after winning it.

In the end, the verdict reflected the story of the contest: in a hard, unforgiving championship fight, Nick Ball simply forced more of the action than Raymond Ford.