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Nick Parkinson
Nick Ball looks like the world’s leading 126-pounds boxer after he battered Ronny Rios in 10 rounds of a first defense of his WBA world featherweight title Saturday.
The English boxer floored Rios in Rounds 3, 7 and 10 in a dominant performance at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England, to continue the sharp upward trajectory of his recent career.
Ball (21-0-1, 12 KOs), 27, was ferocious and he even punched Rios (34-5, 17 KOs) through the ropes out of the ring to prompt the American’s corner to throw in the towel in the 10th round.
‘The Wrecking’ Ball, who lives a short left hook from where he fought Rios, fought like a man possessed in a first performance in front of his home city crowd since February 2020.
A title unification fight against possibly WBC champion Rey Vargas in a rematch, or Rafael Espinoza, the WBO champion, is a possibility for Ball in 2025.
“I’ve got one of four belts and it would be nice to get another one,” Ball said.
Ball’s career has gone into overdrive in the last year, and he was unfortunate to be held to a controversial points draw against Mexican Vargas in March. The diminutive fighter shrugged off that frustrating result by ending the unbeaten record of Ray Ford to win the WBA belt by a split decision in June.
Rios, 34, from Los Angeles, had previously lost world title attempts at junior featherweight to Vargas (2017) and Murodjon Akhmadaliev (2022), and this brave defeat could be his last attempt at glory.
Five-foot-two Ball, who is five inches smaller than Rios, unloaded power shots from Round 1 as he immediately stamped his authority on the fight.
Rios could not make the most of his five-inch reach advantage as Ball swarmed all over him and in Round 2 he landed some big right hands.
Ball started furiously at the start of Round 3 and Rios inevitably succumbed as he sunk to his knees from a left hand at the end of a barrage of blows.
Ball followed up with a series of uppercuts but Rios bravely fought back and survived two more minutes of intense pressure.
Rios was knocked back on his heels by a combination of hooks in the fourth round but the Californian bravely returned fire to make it a closer round.
Rios enjoyed his best round so far in the fifth and his accurate blows left Ball splattered in blood from a bleeding nose. The American’s jab slowed down Ball’s aggression and rate of attacks, but the champion was soon dominating again.
“I think I got a bit carried away with the crowd and got hit by a few shots,” Ball said.
“Ronny is a tough man and he came back. My nose always goes, that’s boxing.”
Rios was unhappy with a knockdown in Round 7, when he stumbled back from a left hook that he felt was more of a push, and he spent most of the remaining rounds under siege.
In Round 10, Ball unloaded a relentless series of punches that propelled Rios backwards and eventually between the ropes and out of the ring. When Rios crawled back into the ring, his corner had thrown in the towel.