Nick Ball Calls Out Naoya Inoue After Victory Over Sam Goodman

Nick Ball (23-0-1, 13 KOs) called out Naoya Inoue on Saturday night, following his successful title defense of his WBA featherweight title against Sam Goodman (20-1, 8 KOs) at the ANB Arena in Riyadh

It wasn’t the kind of performance that would lend any belief that he would stand a chance of beating ‘The Monster’ Inoue or even deserve to stand in the presence of the Japanese superstar King.

“Yeah, definitely. It’s been spoken that much for it not to happen. Everyone wants it. So, let’s make it happen,” said Nick Ball to Queensberry about wanting to fight Naoya Inoue next after his win over Sam Goodman on Saturday night.

Ball’s victory over Goodman was not clear-cut and could have easily been scored a draw. Many fans on social media scored the fight as a draw, as did I. Goodman outboxed and out-punched Ball in six of the twelve rounds. That should have resulted in the fight being a 12-round draw.

The Goodman Fight Scorecards

The scores were 115-113, 118-110, and 117-111. Those scores didn’t reflect the fight that took place tonight, as Goodman used his body punching and close-range fighting to dominate the 5’2″ Ball. At times, Nick got frustrated with the technical masterclass that the Aussie Goodman was putting on, grabbing him and fleeing him. These anger-driven moves should have resulted in Ball being warned by the referee, but that failed to happen.

Bruce Carrington Calls Ball “Food”

WBC interim featherweight champion Bruce Carrington posted a message on social media in reaction to Ball’s performance, labeling him “Food.” He saw the same weakness that we all did in him, and he’s chomping at the bit, wanting to get a chance to fight him. Carrington had been wanked #1 with the WBA for over a year, and ignored by Ball. After tonight’s performance by him, you can see why.

F
O
O
D

— Bruce Carrington (@B_Carrington1) August 16, 2025