Ford Shifting Into Overdrive, Faces Ball for WBA Title
Generous Ford vs Ball Odds For the Latter

The WBA featherweight title is on the line when Raymond Ford and Nick Ball meet in Riyadh on Saturday. The Ford vs Ball odds expect a close fight, with Ford favored to retain his belt at -160. However, it’s a fight that could go either way. They are 34-0-2 between them, so this week’s boxing is packed with high-quality fights, especially on the Wilder vs Zhang undercard.
🥊 Ford vs Ball 🥊
Records: Raymond Ford (15-0-1), Nick Ball (19-0-1)
Day/Time:
Location: Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Streaming: DAZN
Driven for Success: Ford Making a Name for Himself
The 25-year-old American is ranked only seventh in the world, but he’s amassing quality wins on his record. He came off a TKO win over Otabek Kholmatov earlier this year when he stopped the fight in the 12th round.
Ford wasn’t ahead of two of the judges’ scorecards before the fight was stopped, so it was a clutch final-round win for Ford, which came with just seven seconds left on the clock.
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The TKO won him the vacant featherweight title, and he looks to keep that title against a tough opponent in Ball, who is 19-0-1. It won’t be an easy fight for the New Jersey native, who also scored a good win against Jessie Magdaleno and a knockout win over Sakaria Lukas.
He’s predicting a finish of Ball, which are fighting words for the Ford vs Ball odds favorite.
“Either he will quit, or his trainer will throw in the towel. His trainer has been doing a lot of talking. I really want him to throw in the towel,” Ford said.
“I always knew it would come to this point where I was a world champion, but I don’t know. It’s an unreal feeling.”
His boxing schedule has been busy, and it’s his second fight of 2024. We think that holds the -160 favorite in good stead.
Underrate Ball at Your Peril
There is nothing wrong with the fight record of Ball, who comes off a draw against Rey Vargas. The 27-year-old had a 116-110 advantage on one judges’ scorecard, so many believed he was hard done by against a quality boxer.
Boxing news covered the draw, and the majority of critics thought he won. However, he now needs to recover for Ford.
“Everyone watching knew what happened, it was a terrible decision, but you can’t change it, so leave it where it is. It’s in the past,” Ball said.
Ball had beaten Isaac Dogboe before the draw, which in itself is a great form guide. Dogboe is a quality British opponent, and Ball steamrolled him with ease.
The Ford vs Ball odds have Ball at +130, and that’s a generous price for the challenger. British boxing is doing great things, and he won’t be afraid of the big lights.
He handled the pressure well against Vergas, which was held at Kingdom Arena, so he knows Riyadh well.
“The way I’m feeling, I feel like I’m going to do something different but you don’t know until you get in there. I’d be lying to you saying I’m gonna do this, do that, I don’t really know until I get in there, but the way I’m feeling I feel like something else is going to come out of me on Saturday night,” Ball said.
Getting +130 for Ball is a fair price from the sportsbook. He has every chance of beating Ford if Ford isn’t near his best.
Ball Won’t Drop the Ball
We respect Ford and Ball, and it’s a tough fight to call. However, based on their most recent fights, we’re taking the value odds for Ball. It’s unlikely that Ford will drop Ball, and Ball is better at winning rounds, as he showed against Vargas.
The fight should go the distance, so we’re also including over 9.5 rounds at -330. It has been heavily backed with good reason, but it’s worth including in boxing parlays.
The Ford vs Ball odds are generous for Ball at +130, so we’re locking in the challenger to realize his world title dream.
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