Nick Ball faces Sam Goodman in Saudi Arabia next month
Frank Warren has warned Nick Ball about the importance of beating Sam Goodman in order to secure a showdown with Naoya Inoue. Ball will take on the Australian in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday, August 16, as part of the undercard for Moses Itauma’s heavyweight showdown against Dillian Whyte.
The Everton Red Triangle fighter stopped TJ Doheny back in March in the second defence of the title he won against Raymond Ford last year. Doheny was pulled out by his corner before the 11th round as ‘The Wrecking’ once again showed why he is viewed as one of the best fighters in the world.
After two years as mandatory, Goodman finally gets his maiden world title shot, although he is moving up from super-bantamweight in order to do so.
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And Warren admits that a victory against Goodman is imperative in order to keep alive the hope of getting Ball and Inoue in the ring together.
He said: “Nick is flying and Goodman will be a good fight for him. I just think Nick in these fights is getting better and better.
“He knows how important it is to win these fights because long-term, the next eight months, it is all about if we can get him in the ring Inoue, but he has to keep winning.”
But amid all the talk about a showdown against Inoue, who is the reigning WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine super-bantamweight champion, Scottish featherweight Nathaniel Collins has revealed he is targeting an all-British world title showdown with Ball at the turn of the year.
“I just want to be cracking on to world titles now,” he told BBC Scotland. “It’s easy for Queensberry to make world title fights because I’m a featherweight, they’ve got a world champion featherweight in Nick Ball.
“He’s fighting in Saudi Arabia in the next couple of months as well, so by the end of the year, or starting next year, that’s an easy fight to make. An all-British Scotland v England world title fight – it makes sense.
“We were meant to fight a couple of years ago for the British title, and things didn’t work out that way, and then I’ve been calling for that ever since.
“Now’s the time for it because he’s having a great career and building a lot of attention; I’m starting to build a lot of attention, so hopefully within the next six months that becomes a thing that comes to fruition.”
