For contemporary boxing content providers, a third-party invite to join a Zoom call with Nick Ball may be a minor event that quickly slots into the daily schedule.
For those who have watched the 27-year-old Liverpool native turn professional and have followed his career from the start, it is clear evidence of just how much progress he has made.
The WBA featherweight world champion didn’t suddenly become a household name – he’s as simple to get hold of by phone as ever – but over the past six months the fighter who anonymously turned professional seven years ago at Liverpool’s Fuse nightclub has become a fixture on the biggest, most high-profile shows, and his status as world champion means the media are suddenly queuing up to talk to him.
It’s a far cry from the early days of his career in compact venues, when Ball would show up for a compact news conference and sit quietly at a long table, waiting for the microphone to be passed down the line.
“We’ve come a long way since then, fighting in the gyms, haven’t we?” Ball told BoxingScene. “From literally starting at the bottom and working strenuous. That’s the only way and that’s something special.
“It just makes you who you are today and honestly, it makes it all worth it. It makes you feel all the better. You made it from the bottom and you made it all the way to the top. You made it in sports centers and nightclubs. You sold tickets and met people. You raised money and stuff like that. It’s all part of the journey and when you’re at the top, those moments are special. You don’t forget the people who came to support you in those moments in the beginning and then you took them to the top with me as a team.”
Many athletes will tell you that their favorite days were those when they were able to compete for fun and for the love of the sport, long before the pressures of earning a living made their hobby become a job.
World champions regularly talk about days spent fighting in working-class clubs or travelling around the country in minibuses with antique amateur team-mates, and they do so with far more affection than they do about the evenings when they fought for professional titles.
Ball’s trainer Paul Stevenson always fostered a team spirit at his Everton Red Triangle gym, and Ball shared car rides and changing rooms with his gym mates from his days fighting in sports centres and nightclubs. Ball would patiently wait his turn to have his hands bandaged and warmed in the communal changing room while his friend fought, eagerly awaiting their return with a recent tale to tell.
The ERT fighters have collectively risen. The venues may be grander and the stakes higher in 2024, but Ball remains a member of the team. Earlier in July, he was in London supporting Andrew Cain as Cain won the British and Commonwealth European Bantamweight titles. In August, the team will be in Manchester for Joe McGrail’s next fight.
Fulfilling his dreams in the company of friends and teammates made Ball’s success even more memorable.
“I smiled when you said that,” he said. “It was a special night on Saturday when [Cain] he became British and Commonwealth champion. It’s something special. You can’t experience it because you’re in the gym and you’re focused on it every day, but when you think about it, it really is special.
“You have to listen – always. You have to remember where you started and where you came from and just stay focused, with the same people around you. Don’t get ahead of yourself or get too cocky. I’m not the type to do that.
“It never stops and it never will with the work that Paul, Ant and I are doing. The only way is up. Andrew won at the weekend. Joe McGrail is next. Peter McGrail is coming soon. We’ve got Brad Strand; the Brown Bomb. Lucas Biswan is coming soon and he’s the one to watch out for. The gym is growing and we’re not stopping. We’ll come for everything.”
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