The matchmakers knew what they were doing when booking Nick Ball vs. Sam Goodman. Following an entertaining affair, the former beat the Aussie to retain the WBA featherweight title.
It was Ball’s (23-0-1) third successful defense of the belt. Goodman (20-1) failed to capture gold for the first time. However, after missing out on an opportunity to face Naoya Inoue, Goodman brought it to the Liverpool native.
The scores were 117-111, 118-110, 115-113 in favor of Ball.
Goodman made Ball back up a few times, controlling the distance early on. He used his reach advantage to land solid combinations. It was a good start to his run at featherweight. As time went on, Ball managed to find his man, landing uppercuts when Goodman led over his front foot.
Ball seemed off his game in the fourth, but looked like himself in the fifth, landing combinations to back Goodman up by the ropes. The champion attacked the head and body in the sixth. Goodman countered with blistering blows, but Ball took control in the eighth with combinations.
MORE: Moses Itauma vs. Dillian Whyte full card results
Ball landed multiple combinations later on that rattled Goodman, a nice change from attempting haymakers earlier. Still, Goodman would find ways to make things interesting. In the 12th, both gave it their all, and the judges believed Ball impressed enough throughout the fight.
Per CompuBox, Ball out-landed Goodman 134-123 in the second half of the fight. The former landed 27 more power punches.
Ball could potentially face interim champion Mirco Cuello next. He could also compete against the other champions in his division or wait for Inoue to move up in weight to face him.
The Sporting News provided results from the entire Ball vs. Goodman fight card.
Nick Ball vs. Sam Goodman full card results
- Moses Itauma def. Dillian Whyte via KO (1:59 into round one)
- Nick Ball (c) def. Sam Goodman via unanimous decision for the WBA featherweight title (117-111, 118-110, 115-113)
- Hayato Tsutsumi def. Qais Ashfaq via KO (round three)
- Filip Hrgovic def. David Adeleye via unanimous decision (98-91, 99-90, 99-90)
- Raymond Ford def. Abraham Nova via unanimous decision (96-94, 97-93, 97-93)
- Mohammed Alakel def. Yumnam Santosh Singh via KO (round one)