Tonight in Liverpool, Nick Ball puts his WBA featherweight world title on the line against Brandon Figueroa as he looks to successfully defend the belt for the fourth time in front of a hometown crowd.
Ball is one of six British men’s world champions, but at one point he stood alone with Great Britain on his back. Although he has now been joined by Dalton Smith, Lewis Crocker, Josh Kelly, Jazza Dickens and Fabio Wardley, the tenacious Liverpool striker still welcomes the pressure at the top.
As the event shows, he faces a difficult task in Figueroawho is seven inches taller than the champion and wants to crash tonight’s party at The Pool. Boxing News brings you the undercard results, recaps and live scorecard for the main event.
Results below the card
Brad Strand vs Ruben Lezama Gonzalez – super bantamweight
Result: RTD R3 band. Brad Strand methodical from the first bell. He stops his man in the third period, knocking the wind out of him with a body shot and then landing a series of punches that forced Gonzalez to throw in the towel from a corner kick.
Hassan Ishaq vs. Leonardo Baez – featherweight
Result: – Ishaq TKO R3. A plain solution for Ishaq, who picks up his third post-break victory in three fights. He looked edged and powerful there, although Baez wasn’t really able to do much.
Andrew Cain vs. Alejandro Gonzalez – bantamweight
Result: Cain TKO R9. A well-fitting affair. Gonzalez scored two takedowns to the body in the eighth set. Cain did well to return in the ninth minute, not to mention his own takedown in the first minute. He didn’t budge and put the Mexican to sleep for the second time. Gonzalez, bright-eyed, walked to the corner during the count and saw referee Mark Gates wave him off. An impressive win for Cain, who deserves a shot at the world title.
Jack Turner vs Juan Carlos Martinez Urbina – super flyweight
Result: Turner RTD R3. Jack Turner earns his 13th shutout in 14 fights. It was all the work of “El Terrier”, who scored a knockout in the first and defeated Urbina – who was a point behind in the third for consistently holding on to the ball – before taking his own corner kick and stopping the fight after the third. Let’s move on to bigger things for artist KO Turner, who is an absolute addition to the lower weight classes.
Nick Ball vs Brandon Figueroa scorecard and results
| |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
Total |
| Ball |
10 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
|
104 |
| Figueroa |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
105 |
Result: Figueroa TKO R12. An thrilling fight from start to finish and a tough goal to score. Ball’s signature style was as eye-catching as ever, but Figueroa focused on the body and worked at a more steady pace. If it had happened, the scorecards would have been unclear, but the challenger landed a powerful left hook during the exchange in the final round and knocked the champion down. Ball got up and continued to fight, but after a few more successful shots, he was knocked down again and went through the ropes. Good save by referee Steve Gray. Heartbreak for Ball, the joy of three-time world champion Figueroa and a real victory for boxing fans.