Nick Ball’s “Toughest Test” Or Easiest Payday? Sam Goodman

Nick Ball is calling Sam Goodman as his “toughest test” of his career going into their 12-round co-feature clash this Saturday, August 16th on DAZN PPV in Riyadh. Ball (22-0-1, 13 KOs) is defending his WBA featherweight title against Goodman (20-0, 8 KOs), a fighter that he chose from the super bantamweight division to defend against.

“He’s going to be coming. He’s unbeaten. He’s got this big opportunity, and he’s going to be wanting to become a world champion and take what I’ve got [WBA featherweight title] off me, and it’s not happening. So, it’s going to be an exciting one,” said Nick Ball to Boxing News about his fight against Sam Goodman on Saturday.

Goodman: 122-pounder, Not 126

The real question is, why did Ball choose Goodman as his opponent? He’s a super bantamweight, not a featherweight, and he’s not viewed as one of the talented fighters from the 122-lb division. If the idea was for Ball to comb that weight class for his challenger, why didn’t he select Ramon Cardenas? At least that guy can punch and would have a shot at beating him.

“Well, he is, isn’t he? He is the toughest test because he’s the next one in line. You can’t look past him. That’s one gone [38-year-old TJ Doheny]. So, this is the next one,” said Ball.

Who is Ball kidding? Sam Goodman isn’t his “toughest test” of his career. This is a cherry-pick like his last two fights against the old veteran, TJ Doheny, and 34-year-old Ronny Rios.

Goodman can’t punch and is a super bantamweight just like Ball’s two previous opponents, Doheny and Rios, whom he selected to defend his WBA featherweight title against. Ray Ford is Ball’s toughest career test to date, with Rey Vargas coming in as a close second.

Vargas Fight’s True Outcome

“Bad feeling. Robbed,” said Ball about his failure to get the victory against WBC featherweight champion Rey Vargas in March 2024.

Interestingly, Ball is still bitter about the results of his fight against Vargas, despite him being gifted a 12-round draw in that fight. He should have lost the fight. Ball hasn’t let go and is in denial about what actually happened in that fight. Vargas won in the true sense, but the referee’s blown call on a knockdown in the eighth resulted in the fight being scored as a draw.

The fight Ball is referring to is his title challenge against WBC featherweight champion Rey Vargas last year on March 11, 2024, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was scored by the judges as a 12-round draw, with the scores 114-112 for Vargas, 113-113, and 116-110 for Ball.

Many of Ball’s fans believe he deserved to be given the victory because he had dropped Vargas twice, putting him down in rounds eight and eleven. However, Ball roughly shoved Vargas down, and as he was falling, he punched him.

It clearly wasn’t a knockdown, but the referee, Giovanni Poggi, ruled it as a knockdown. If you take away the bogus pushdown by Ball, Vargas should have won the fight. As such, it was NOT a “robbery.” On the contrary, it was a fight that should have gone to Vargas.