Fans are in agreement when it comes to British featherweight warrior Nick Ball: he is one of the most exciting lower-weight fighters on the scene right now. The reigning 126 pound WBA champ has, in quite a short period of time, carved out a reputation for himself as a fighter who has an almost insane work-rate, as a fighter who regularly throws a heck of a lot of punches in a fight.
And, as exciting and as aggressive as Ball is, the idea of him sharing a ring with Naoya Inoue is an absolutely mouth-watering one. Ball’s promoter Frank Warren says talks have begun regarding this fight. Inoue, perfect at 30-0(27) and the unified super-bantamweight king, has yet to make the move to the featherweight division, yet it is something he has spoken of doing when he feels ready.
Inoue has some unfinished business at 122 pounds—his scheduled September fight with Murodjon Akhmadaliev, and, we hope, an all-Japanese fight with Junto Nakatani—but Warren, speaking with BN Online, said Inoue vs. Ball could happen either this year or early next. First up, though, will be a “big fight” for Ball, who is currently 22-0-1(13).
Could Ball unify before facing Inoue—or is it straight to war?
“I like Nick in the fight [against Inoue],” Warren said. “Inoue, I’m a massive, massive fan. Guys get caught. It’s when they get up and win. He’s a quality, quality fighter. They’re up for it (Inoue’s team, on a fight with Ball). They gotta win their respective fights, come through those, and I’m sure we’ll get it done. We’re announcing a big fight [for Ball] in a couple of weeks’ time. We get that done, Nick’s got to win, and he’s going to have another fight. Then, hopefully, we get him [and Inoue] on at the end of the year or February.”
Again, it would be some fight—Inoue vs. Ball. In the meantime, Ball, who likes to stay active and is always in the gym, will have that next fight. It will be very interesting to see who Ball’s “big fight” opponent is, but it would of course be great to see Ball try and unify the featherweight titles. By rights, Ball should already have two belts, as he was clearly robbed of a rightful win over Rey Vargas and the WBC title back in March of last year—the fight Ball appeared to largely dominate was somehow scored a draw.
If Ball can scoop up all the belts at 126, that potential slugfest with Inoue would be that much bigger.