Nick Ball has been told by his promoter Frank Warren to recover from the most demanding year of his career before considering his next move.
On Saturday at the M&S Arena in Liverpool, the 27-year-old stopped Ronny Rios in 10 rounds to defend his WBA featherweight title for the first time.
The hard-fought fight was his third in seven months after breaking into the world class for the first time in March with a draw against Rey Vargas. That happened in June, when he won the title against Raymond Ford, and on Saturday, when he defended it in his hometown.
Warren, who also promotes Daniel Dubois, compared Ball’s career to that of the heavyweight who turned his career around with victories over Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua, but while there is already speculation about a rematch between Dubois and Joshua, he declined to consider Ball’s career to 2025.
“He needs rest,” Warren told BoxingScene. “I don’t even think about it at the moment. He needs good rest. He had three really tough and arduous fights. I don’t remember anyone, apart from Daniel Dubois, who fought at such a high level. Over the course of seven months, he faced three world-class players. How many people do this?
“He needs a break and I want him to have a break and then come back with his batteries charged and see what the field is like. He’s an invigorating little bastard – probably one of the most invigorating players around.
“I don’t think he’ll be very cheerful [to rest] because it’s a fighting machine, but Paul [Stevenson]his coach, he’s a really sensible guy. We’ll talk and move on. But Paul knows what must be done.
“[Rios] made an impression on me. I knew he was a tough guy. I knew he would come to fight. Nick tried a little too rigid sometimes; I would like to see him utilize the jab more often; he has a great jab; when he uses it, it’s of a different class. He’s a handful of fighters and I can’t think of any fighter he hasn’t beaten. I really can’t. He’s a tough, tough player for everyone. He is relentless.
“He [Rios] was competitive; comes to fight; he gave everything he had. He is very, very experienced, he used his experience and sometimes tried to “try” it. He took some solemn punishment and returned to the fight several times.
“Nick is still learning and it was a really, really good fight; he was a good opponent for him and got the best out of him. He dug deep and did what he had to do. He controlled most of the fights.”
The fact that Ball has fought twice in Saudi Arabia, as he did against Vargas and Ford, suggests that his next title defense could be made there, regardless of the temptation – as would previously have been more typical – to build his image as an attraction in his hometown and When asked about the likely target of his next fight, Warren replied: “I don’t know at this stage. If he has a break, he can enjoy Christmas and see what happens next year. We have a show in February in Arabia and then it’s Ramadan so we’ll have to see. Unify titles [is the plan]”
Warren was absent from Liverpool due to flu, which also postponed his arrival in Riyadh for Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol, but on the same day Jack Rafferty (29) was impressed by the retention of Henry Turner, and Warren plans to return to negotiate with him regarding a promotional contract.
“I would like to do something with him. Of course we will do something with them and he deserves it,” he said. “He deserves it. By the way, Henry, we’ll get him back – let’s rest him and we’ll get him back in the game too. It’s a good fight for him and he’s learning. Rafferty is a tough competitor, there’s no doubt about it. We will work with him on something, that’s for sure.
“I would like to see this fight [between Rafferty and Pierce O’Leary]. This would be a great fight between these two early next year.
“It was always a tough fight [against Turner]. It was very competitive; Henry boxed exceptionally well for the first half of the fight and Rafferty returned to the fight. I always felt that during the fight, his experience and these 10 more fights than Henry could assist him. But Henry showed that he was an excellent boxer.
“It was more than that [Turner] running out of gas. But I’m not going to take anything away from Rafferty – he could have won two rounds by then.
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