BACK TO THE BANKS OF THE MERSEY

By Frank Warren

WITH HIS EXPLOITS over in Riyadh, Nick Ball has made a name for himself around the world. On October 5 it is time for him to make a big noise on his own doorstep

Yes, on the first Saturday in October we make a return to the M&S Bank Arena – formerly known as The Echo –  with our little big man headlining in his home city for the first time.

As a company we have been absent from Liverpool since mid-2016 when Liam Smith made a second defence of his WBO super welterweight world title and, a few months before that, when Terry Flanagan defended his WBO world lightweight against local man Derry Mathews.

For whatever reason, these nights didn’t capture the imagination of the Liverpool fight fans in terms of attendance and the venue has subsequently been recognised across the industry as a bit of a hard sell.

I’ve wanted to alter this perception and make a go of it for some time now, but you obviously need the talent and characters to make it happen.

To this end we’ve worked very hard in tandem with our friend and colleague Paul Stevenson – who heads up the prolific Everton Red Triangle gym – to develop and shine a light on a particularly fine crop of young fighters who have been with us near enough from the off.

The names are well known across boxing circles and beyond now, with Nick leading the way since he seized his big moment at Wembley Stadium against Isaac Lowe back in 2022. If it wasn’t for a very serious hand injury that required extensive surgery, Andrew Cain I believe would be on level pegging with Nick, but he is up and running at bantamweight and is now the holder of the British and Commonwealth titles.

As well as this dynamic and ferocious duo, we also have Brad Strand in the mix at super bantamweight, Boma Brown as a promising heavyweight and a new signing in welterweight Lucas Biswana, who recently demolished all-comers at what used to be known as the senior ABAs.

Paul is doing the business at the 100-plus year old boxing club, make no mistake, although he assures me he isn’t the founding trainer.

To strengthen our Liverpool connections, we have also struck up a relationship and signed a couple of top, top prospects from the Rotunda Gym, where Liam Smith learned his trade.

Young super feather Jack Turner looks like a real livewire who packs a serious punch, with six of his eight wins ending in first round stoppages. We also have the thrilling Cuban super feather Jadier Herrera, who is already 15-0 – with 13 stoppages – at the age of just 22.

They are real ones to watch and they will be performing on October 5.

On the night, Nick will make a first defence of the WBA world title he won by defeating Ray Ford in a classic encounter as part of our victorious 5 v 5 competition back in June.

This will be a third 12 round world championship fight for Nick in the space of a year, with the other being his highly contentious ‘draw’ with WBC champion Rey Vargas in March.

For his next trick he goes up against the experienced Mexican-American Ronny Rios and he is promising to bring the fire.

In another fine supporting fight, Henry Turner will challenge for the vacant British super lightweight title against the Commonwealth champion Jack Rafferty, a fighter we rate highly and know to be a real handful. Henry’s WBC International Silver belt will also be on the line.

This fight has got all the makings of a true belter and it is the perfect fight for both young men at this stage of their careers. Henry is a classy operator who is filling out into a more powerful specimen, while Jack – like Henry, a strong amateur – adopts a more bullish approach and will be looking to make a real fight of it.

I want to make Liverpool a regular feature in our fight calendar once again and really get the scene firing. With quality fighters like Nick and Andrew leading the way, I see no reason why this shouldn’t become a reality.

WE ENJOYED ANOTHER successful development show at York Hall on Friday night and congratulations go to Sam Noakes for his successful defence of his European lightweight title against a tough old customer in the Italian Gianluca Ceglia.

Sam got the job done without too much bother, but he wasn’t particularly enamoured with his own performance. He shouldn’t be so hard on himself because he has achieved massive things over recent times, holds a string of major titles and is now very handily placed in the world rankings of two governing bodies.

Also a big well done to Masood Abdulah for winning the Commonwealth featherweight titles, as well as John Isaacs and Keano White for making successful and impressive professional debuts. We will be seeing much more of them in the months and years to come.