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Is the ‘next Mexican idol’ Rafael Espinoza on a unification collision course with Nick Ball?
The featherweight division has four champions – in fact five if you are counting the WBC’s featherweight champion in recess – and all have valid claims to be the best at 126lbs.
Liverpool’s Nick Ball is 22-0-1 (13) and earlier this year made his second successful defence of his WBA featherweight title when he stopped former world champion TJ Doheny.
Ball is 28 and very much in his fighting prime. He is a no-nonsense type – even in interviews – and while ambitious in the extreme he was quick to rebuff reporters asking him about a fight with ‘pound-for-pound’ star Naoya Inoue in the run up to the Doheny fight when he said, “Come back to me when he’s my weight.”
This is in reference to the fact that ‘The Monster’ is a super-bantamweight (who started his career weighing 108lbs) who has never boxed at 126 and who is no racing certainty to actually move up to featherweight.
Indeed, Inoue looks to have the next 12 months planned out, so we can forget about him fighting Ball for now.
The Japanese star moved to 30-0 when he got off the floor to stop Cardenas in Las Vegas earlier this month, and the confirmed he would fight Uzbek southpaw Murodjon Akhmadaliev in September before a blockbuster all-Japanese showdown with fellow Japanese superstar Junto Nakatani by the end of May 2026.
One fighter who could be on Ball’s radar though is WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza. On the same weekend that Canelo Alvarez – William Scull was setting records for the fewest combined punches attempted in CompuBox history for a 12-round fight, Espinoza showed that exciting, educated Mexican pressure fighters will never go out of fashion.
The tough as nails Espinoza eased to the third defence of his WBO strap when he stopped the durable Edward Vazquez in seven rounds on Cinco De Mayo weekend.
Vazquez is a capable operator whose only defeats came in close fights on points to Raymond Ford and Joe Cordina.
However, Espinoza – who looked at least two weight divisions bigger than his opponent - absolutely dominated and walked through Vazquez to hand him his first inside the distance defeat as a pro.
‘El Divino’ – a pro since 2013 – had been flying under the radar until recently but at the age of 31 now looks to be in his absolute prime.
Leigh Dawney/Queensberry Promotions
It’s somewhat ironic that while Espinoza has a close personal relationship to Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera, he fights much more like Barrera’s eternal rival Erik ‘El Terrible’ Morales.
His counter uppercut is one of the best in the game and the pride of Guadalajara is also a relentless body puncher.
The Mexican has now stopped 18 of his last 20 opponents, and in terms of marketing it doesn’t hurt that he is a decent singer too.
After bashing up Vazquez, Espinoza even stuck around to serenade the crowd of 8,000-plus with a variety of Spanish songs.
“I want to be the next Mexican idol,” Espinoza 27-0 (23) said after the fight. “In order to achieve that, I need to have great fights. I want to demonstrate that. This was more than pressure. It was about excitement. I knew if I gave everything, people would notice.”
Well people are noticing. Being 6ft at 126lbs with long levers means he is a unique test physically for most featherweights.
However, Ball will fancy his chances as the truth is Espinoza is there to be hit.
Visually any bout between Espinoza and Ball would be incredible, not least because of the crazy difference in terms of height.
Both fighters are industrious with a relentless punch output, and Scouse pocket rocket Ball always brings the smoke.
Espinoza threw 241 punches in three rounds against Vazquez. For some context Mexican idol Canelo threw just 152 punches in 12 rounds in schooling the somewhat reluctant Scull on the same weekend.
However, the old boxing adage that ‘styles make fights’ has endured because it is also a truism.
Ball hits way harder than Vazquez and pressures way better. That height advantage would be massive, but Ball is a very underrated fighter who at 5′ 2″ is obviously used to boxing men who are bigger than him.
Stephen Fulton, Rey Vargas and Angelo Leo are the other featherweight champions in a lively division, but the thought of Espinoza and Ball throwing down – be it in the UK, America or Saudi - really sets the pulse racing.
Is Espinoza the next Mexican idol? I believe the Spanish translation for “time will tell” is “el tiempo lo dirá,” but don’t sleep on Ball throwing an aggressive Scouse spanner in the works.
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