Nick Ball Floors Ronny Rios Three Times, Earns Page 10 Final Round For WBA Featherweight Title
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Nick Ball lived up to his ‘Wrecking’ ring with a tenth round knockout of former title contender Ronny Rios. Three strikes on the night forced a stoppage at 2:06 of the tenth round on Saturday night at the M&S Bank Arena in Ball’s hometown of Liverpool, England.
The TNT Sports/ESPN+ main event marks the (21-0-1, 12 knockouts) first local appearance since Feb. 2020 and his first defense of the WBA featherweight title. Admittedly, the squat featherweight found himself playing with his adoring fans.
“What a great result,” Ball told TNT Sports’ Becky Ives after his win. “To be honest, I think I got carried away with how good the card was and I got beaten by a few shots.”
The actual fight of the night didn’t seem to bother Ball at all, as he had to fight a runny nose. Rios was forced into a defensive shell early on, though he did get some early success with his jab and left a hook to the body.
Ball, 27, was dropped with a flurry of punches and lead uppercuts in the third round. Rios did his best to close but ended up settling for the first of three performances of the night. The 34-year-old Santa Ana, California native mustered up the courage to try for a third major title.
Rios enjoyed his best round in the fight for the fifth time. Ball’s face from the nose down is covered in blood, and his chest is also covered. Rios is a bit more of a squat frame for the defensive line, while Ball’s offense is at least a bit down compared to his previous outbursts.
The momentum was short-lived as Ball returned to attack in the sixth. Rios found himself on the canvas for the second time early in the seventh round. The visiting American contested the call, as the sequence began with a left cup hook to the back of his head. Referee Bob Williams however called off the count before allowing the action to continue.
Ball was solid on his offense in rounds eight and nine before closing the show in the tenth. Rios (34-5, 17 KOs) was caught repeatedly with throwing right hands and left uppercuts before being sent to the ropes. Bravely, he got to his feet and hit the count but his corner threw in the towel.
It marked the end of what could have been a third chance for Rios to compete for a major title.
He came up short in an August 2017 bid against Rey Vargas, the undefeated WBC 122-pound title holder at the time. A sixth-round knockout loss to Azat Hovhannisyan less than eight months later threatened to leave him on the outside looking for junior featherweight.
Rios has reeled off four straight wins to become the WBA title holder. His two-delayed shot against undefeated WBA/IBF 122-pounder Murodjon Akhmadaliev was finally successful in June 2022. Rios was stopped in the 12th and final round.
Almost two years passed before Rios was back in the ring and in the win column. He defeated Nicolas Polanco (21-5-1 at the time) on April 24 at the Probox TV Events Center in Plant City, Florida.
During that time, Ball’s stock never went up. The win was his fourth top-flight affair in the last eleven months.
Ball earned the belt with a thrilling 12-round victory over undefeated Raymond Ford on June 1 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The fight took place three months after Ball was considered unlucky in a draw at the same venue against Vargas (36-1-1, 22 KOs) in their WBC featherweight title fight.
It was a moment before Ball heard the words “… and new ones.” Ford won 115-113 on one card, losing by the same score to Ball and the other two judges. Their Fight of the Year candidate had a competitive but saw the title go to the UK in the end.
Football has been given a much-deserved homecoming at this event. Now the hope is to find other division bullies—and maybe Naoya Inoue (28-0. 25 KOs), The Ring/unsputed 122-pound champ just south.
“They just don’t have belts. I got one out of four,” Ball said of his future options. “There are three others over there. It would be nice to have them and Inoue.”
