Judged by plenty of people as the most consistently exciting fighter in the sport right now, reigning and undefeated WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball is also a man plenty of people are expecting to see fight Japanese superstar and pound-for-pounder Naoya Inoue.
Inoue has not even fought at 126 pounds yet, more and more people seem to feel Ball, with his pure aggression, his non-stop attack and his power can become the first man to beat “The Monster.”
Ball was a guest on Talk Sport today, and the warrior from Liverpool said he wants to unify the belts at featherweight, but that he also wants the Inoue fight.
Ball said he would like very much to fight Stephen Fulton next, this in a unification showdown (Fulton of course fought Inoue and was stopped some months back, with Fulton now back on top at featherweight) – but that he will be ready for Inoue if and when the fight does happen.
Asked if he believes he could beat Inoue now, 28 year old Ball, 22-0-1(13) said “yeah, course I can.”
“Yeah, course I can. What good is it saying no? Obviously I believe in myself,” Ball said. “I’ve seen little thing in his fights, he’s been hurt, he’s been dropped in fights by lesser fighters than me. Everyone he fights, they get in there and they respect him too much; they get on the back foot straight away. I’m not that type of fighter. I’d get in there and push him back. I’d 100 percent be stronger than him, fitter than him, so there’s no reason why I can’t do that. But it’s all well and good saying it, we won’t know until it happens.”
And as talk of this fight goes on, and if Ball stays unbeaten, if Inoue stays unbeaten and then moves up to featherweight, the demand for this seemingly guaranteed thriller of a fight will grow and grow. Is featherweight too high a jump for Inoue, especially against a tank like “The Wrecking Ball?”
.webp?ssl=1 "The state of play at McLaren after three rounds of the 2026 season")
