Nick Ball successfully defends WBA featherweight title after ...

Updated 05/10/2024 at 22:49 GMT

Nick Ball completed his first successful defence of his WBA featherweight title with an impressive 10th round stoppage victory over Ronny Rios at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.

Ball rose to the occasion against the experienced American, who absorbed an incredible amount of sustained pressure before eventually succumbing to defeat in the tenth round.

The victory gave Ball a 21st victory of his career, and 12th by stoppage, while Rios suffered a fifth defeat following a gutsy display.

Ball set his stall out with a display of blistering aggression in the first round, landing several early combinations against the high guard of Rios.

The 27-year-old was showcasing some incredible hand speed in round two, and everything Rios was throwing seemed to bounce off Ball’s guard.

Arguably the pick of the shot was a sublime left uppercut, and the American appeared to be on borrowed time already.

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It was therefore no surprise when Rios was sent crashing to the canvas after a brutal left hand from Ball landed, but beat the referee’s count and somehow made it back to the corner.

The Liverpudlian was continuing to showcase his wonderful repertoire of shots with a superb lead left-uppercut combination, but Rios was continuing to hold on.

The man from Santa Ana was beginning to gain some belief and gained some joy on his jab, as Ball battled with a bloody nose.

Despite a promising round five and six, Rios was sent tumbling again in the seventh after being caught by a left hook with a hint of a push, but the challenger remarkably clung on by surviving the referee’s count to eight.

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Rios was continuing to grow with confidence, but Ball was landing a series of brilliant right uppercuts – albeit causing the devastation he craved.

The sheer will and determination of Rios to keep going was admirable, but he was withdrawn from the contest from his own corner after being dramatically forced out of the ring with a devastating final flurry of punches from Ball.

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