Notebook: Ball primed for Liverpool homecoming defense vs. Rios
Details on how to watch Beterbiev-Bivol card; Espinoza-Ramirez rematch headed to purse bid; Yarde return set; Quick hits; Show and tell
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As a kid, Nick Ball would attend boxing matches at M&S Bank Arena in his hometown of Liverpool, England.
He lives so close to it — two minutes away as he explained — that he said he might walk to the venue for his long-awaited homecoming fight when he will make his first WBA featherweight title defense against Ronny Rios in the main event of a Queensberry Promotions card on Saturday (ESPN+ in U.S., 2 p.m. ET; TNT Sports in U.K.).
He said the experience would be “weird” fighting so close to his home without having headed to fight week with his team and numerous pieces of luggage.
He has fought plenty of his bouts in Liverpool, but never at the city’s main arena and it will also be his first hometown bout since he was a prospect boxing in six-rounders in 2020.
But Ball has come a long way since and has earned his main event status at home after an impressive run that culminated with his winning the 126-pound title by action-packed split decision from Raymond Ford on June 1 on the “5 vs. 5” card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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In his previous fight, also on a Riyadh Season card in March, Ball was held to a disputed draw challenging WBC titleholder Rey Vargas in another entertaining fight, which he had earned courtesy of a very impressive performance in a rout of former junior featherweight titlist Isaac Dogboe in last November.
“I’m glad to be back, fighting in my home city,” Ball said this week. “This is where it all started, and it feels good fighting as a world champion.”
Ball (20-0-1, 11 KOs), 27, has become a local celebrity there and he has enjoyed it.
“That’s how it should be and that’s what it is,” Ball said. “We get behind our own. You see someone putting the hard work in, it pays off.”
Queensberry promoter George Warren, the son of company boss Frank Warren, said they were happy to bring Ball home to Liverpool, where they have not done an event for several years, after Ball’s back-to-back fights in Riyadh and other fights in cities such as London, Manchester and Belfast.
“(Ball) has taken the opportunities presented to him with both hands, and constantly shown what a world-class operator he is,” Warren said. “People forget even before the fights in Riyadh, (he handily beat) Dogboe, and then the performance against Rey Vargas when he was robbed and deserved to come away with the WBC title that night.
“I think the judges got that seriously wrong, and to overcome that and then 10 week’s notice, going against a legit, quality world-class opponent like Ray Ford and put on the performance that he did, this guy, in my opinion is one of the most exciting boxers not just in this country but in the world.”
Ball will face a tough and experienced opponent in Rios (34-4, 17 KOs), 34, of Santa Ana, California, who is 0-2 in junior featherweight title fights, having dropped a decision to Vargas for the WBC title in 2017 and suffered a 12th-round knockout to Murodjon Akhmadaliev for the WBA belt in June 2022.
He didn’t fight again for nearly two years until returning in April, when he moved up to featherweight and stopped Nicolas Polanco in the fifth round.
Robert Diaz, Rios’ adviser and matchmaker, said Rios’ ring return was not just about a nice payday and that he was in Liverpool to achieve his dream of winning a world title.
“You guys have a great champion, he’s undefeated, he’s done things right, he deserves his homecoming,” Diaz said. “Unfortunately for him, he picked the wrong opponent. I’ve known Ronny for many, many years. He took some time off and when he called me and said, ‘I want to fight again, let’s do it one more time,’ it was for the right reason.
“It wasn’t a money thing. It was to win the world title. One thing you have to remember is you can’t fast-forward into experience. … They’ll come straight at each other and the fans will get a great fight and that title is going back to California. And we’ll do the rematch, hopefully, in Riyadh.”
Rios seems to understand that this is probably his last chance to win a title and he said he plans to make the most of it.
“This is my third attempt, we’ve got a good fighter in front of us,” Rios said. “These are the fights that I get up for and that motivate me. I have always wanted to test myself, and in my eyes Nick Ball is one of the best fighters at 126.
“I’ve seen a lot of tape (of Ball). I wouldn’t have taken this fight if I didn’t see anything (I could exploit). I’m not just taking a fight just for the money. That’s not my style.”
Ball said he is prepared for Rios’ aggressive style. After all, Ball is also an extremely aggressive fighter.
“He thinks he’s gonna get in there and push me back,” Ball said. “That’s not gonna happen. Once you get in the ring, it’s a different story. Good luck. It will be all-action from me as always. It will be a special night.”
Viewing Beterbiev-Bivol card
The long-awaited undisputed light heavyweight title showdown between unbeaten pound-for-pound elites Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol on Oct.12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will be available as a one-fight stream for ESPN+ subscribers in the United States, as Beterbiev promoter Top Rank, which owns the American rights to the bout, announced several weeks ago. ESPN broadcasters will call the bout for the ESPN platform.
So what about the rest of the deep Riyadh Season card that also includes the much-anticipated heavyweight rematch between Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke; middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr. against Kamil Szeremeta; lineal/IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia defending against Jack Massey; flashy light heavyweight prospect Ben Whittaker against Liam Cameron; and Skye Nicolson defending the WBC women’ featherweight title against Raven Chapman?
On Friday, how the rest of the card can be seen was clarified. Everything except the main event will be available as part of a regular DAZN subscription in the U.S. and Canada with DAZN’s talent calling the action. So, the main event is on ESPN+ and the rest of the show is on DAZN in those two countries.
Around the rest of the world, the entire card — main event and undercard — will be available via DAZN PPV.
Espinoza-Ramirez II to purse bid
With the sides unable to make a deal by the deadline, the WBO scheduled a purse bid for the mandatory rematch between featherweight titlist Rafael Espinoza and former titleholder Robeisy Ramirez on Oct. 11 at 11 a.m. ET at the WBO offices in San Juan, Puerto Rico, although they could still make a deal before then.
The rematch was ordered Sept. 4. On Oct. 3, Carl Moretti of Top Rank, the promoter of Ramirez and co-promoter of Espinoza with Zanfer Promotions, notified the WBO they had not been able to make a deal. Minimum bid is $150,000. The split of the winning bid will depend on where the fight takes place.
Even before the WBO ordered the fight, Top Rank and Zanfer planned to make the rematch between Espinoza (25-0, 21 KOs), 30, of Mexico, and Ramirez (14-2, 9 KOs), 30, the two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist, following Espinoza’s monumental upset of Ramirez to win the title in December in their 2023 fight of the year contender.
Top Rank hoped they would have met in a rematch in June, but Espinoza wanted an interim defense first. Top Rank gave him one and he knocked out Sergio Chirino in the fourth round on June 21 in Las Vegas. On June 29, Ramirez knocked out Brandon Benitez in the seventh round in Miami to do his part with the plans for the rematch to be later this year.
If the fight is made (or if it goes to a purse bid and Top Rank or Zanfer wins), the fight likely will land on a Dec. 7 Top Rank card that will be headlined by a mandatory rematch between WBO junior lightweight titlist Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez in a fight that has not yet been officially announced.
BetUS Boxing Show
If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and picked the top two fights on Saturday’s Queensberry Promotions card in Liverpool, England: WBA featherweight titlist Nick Ball’s first defense in a homecoming fight against Ronny Rios and Henry Turner against Jack Rafferty for the vacant British junior welterweight title and Rafferty’s Commonwealth title. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Quick hits
Weights from Liverpool, England, for the Queensberry Promotions card (ESPN+ in U.S., 2 p.m. ET; TNT Sports in U.K.): Nick Ball 125.1 pounds, Ronny Rios 125.6 (for Ball’s WBA featherweight title); Henry Turner 139.7, Jack Rafferty 139.7 (for vacant British and Rafferty’s Commonwealth junior welterweight titles); Andrew Cain 117.1, Lazaro Casseres 116.1; Jadier Herrera 134, Oliver Flores 134.6; Jack Turner 120.1, Gonzalo Corinaldesi 118.1; Nelson Birchall 130.5, Mark Butler 129.9; Lucas Biswana 145.1, Jakub Laskowski 144.1; James McGivern 135.1, Reuquen Arce 135.4; Joe Cooper 159.1, Lukasz Barabasz 159.1; Brad Strand 122.5, Marvin Solano 125.7; Walter Fury 156.1, Dale Arrowsmith 155.1
Light heavyweight contender Anthony Yarde will face an opponent to be named in the co-feature of the Adam Azim-Ohara Davies fight on Oct. 19 (Peacock in U.S., Sky Sports in U.K.) at Copper Box Arena in London, Boxxer announced Friday. England’s Yarde (25-3, 24 KOs), 33, who is the WBO No. 1 contender, has been idle since February due to a contract dispute with promoter Frank Warren. Although Yarde is 0-2 in world title fights he gave an excellent account in stoppage losses to Artur Beterbiev in 2023 and Sergey Kovalev in 2019. “I’m back in my home city and I can’t wait,” Yarde said. “Everything about it — the occasion, the journey, the arena, the whole event — I’m very excited. The Copper Box Arena is a special venue for me. It’s near where I grew up and I’ve had some great nights there.”
The fight between WBC cruiserweight titlist Noel Mikaelian and mandatory challenger Ryan Rozicki (20-1, 19 KOs), 29, a Canadian southpaw, was set to go to purse bid on Friday at WBC headquarters in Mexico City but Mikaelian promoter Don King and Rozicki promoter Three Lions Promotions made a deal, according to the WBC. The fight was set for June 7, but called off when Mikaelian (27-2, 12 KOs), 34, an Armenia native fighting out of Miami, suffered a cut over his right eye in training. It was rescheduled for Sept. 28 in Miami, where it was supposed to headline a Don King-promoted card but called off again due to a disagreement over their previous deal as well as King’s health problems. Mikaelian has not fought since winning the vacant title via third-round KO of former titlist Ilunga Makabu in November in Miami.
Chantelle Cameron (19-1, 8 KOs), 33, of England, will defend the WBC women’s interim junior welterweight title against former WBC junior middleweight titlist Patricia Berghult (17-1, 4 KOs), 30, of Sweden, on the Liam Davies-Shabaz Masoud undercard on Nov. 2 at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham. Cameron won the vacant interim belt by majority decision over Elhem Mekhaled in July in her first fight since signing with Queensberry Promotions. That was after she split two tremendous battles with Katie Taylor, outpointing her in an upset to retain the undisputed 140-pound crown and then losing it by majority decision in an immediate rematch last November. Berghult has won two in a row since a one-sided decision loss to Natasha Jonas in a WBC/WBO junior middleweight unification fight in September 2022.
Grand Rapids, Michigan, lightweight Joshua James Pagan (10-0, 4 KO), 24, whose family is from Puerto Rico, will face replacement opponent Haskell Rhodes (31-6, 16 KOs), 36, in the 10-round main event of a Salita Promotions/PR Best Boxing “Big Time Boxing USA” card on Oct. 18 (DAZN) at the Coca-Cola Music Hall in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which will host its first sports event. Salita Promotions announced that Rhodes would replace Montreal’s Trevor Thonson (13-0, 10 KO), 32, who pulled out due to what Salita Promotions termed “travel issues.”
Junior welterweight Arthur Biyarslanov (16-0, 14 KOs), 29, a Toronto-based Russian, will defend his regional belt against Jonathan Eniz (35-20-1), 29, a southpaw from Argentina, in a 10-rounder on Oct. 17 (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET) at Casino du Lac-Leamy in Gatineau, Canada, Eye of the Tiger announced on Friday. The fight will serve as the co-feature to the previously announced eight-round middleweight main event between Alexandre Gaumont and Cristian Zarate. The fight will be Biyarslanov’s second in six weeks and Eniz’s fourth of the year. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I want a shot at the world title, one fight at a time but I know I will get that shot in 2025,” Biyarslanov said.
Show and tell
The legendary Sugar Ray Robinson is widely regarded as the all-time pound-for-pound king. During a 25-year professional career from 1940 to 1965, Robinson won the welterweight title and was a five-time middleweight champion. At one point he was 128-1-2 with 84 KOs and had gone on a 91-fight winning streak between 1943 and 1951 following a decision loss to rival Jake LaMotta. Robinson beat the greats of his time: LaMotta (in five of their six fights), Henry Armstrong, Kid Gavilan, Carmen Basilio, Gene Fullmer, Rocky Graziano, Randy Turpin, Bobo Olson, Sammy Angott and Fritzie Zivic, to name several, and finished his career 174-19-6 with 109 knockouts. Robinson made his professional debut with a second-round knockout of Joe Echevarria in a lightweight bout on the undercard of Zivic-Armstrong I at Madison Square Garden in New York on Oct.4, 1940 — 84 years ago on Friday. Here are two of the various Robinson cards in my collection, a mint 1947 rookie and his iconic 1951 Topps Ringside card.
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Photos: Ball-Diaz: Queensberry Promotions; Espinoza-Ramirez: Mikey Williams/Top Rank
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Wrecking ball fast becoming my favourite fighter to watch