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Nick Ball vs TJ Doheny: Who has the edge heading into the fight?
WBA featherweight world champion Nick Ball (21-0-1, 12 KOs) looks to remain undefeated when he clashes with veteran TJ Doheny (26-5, 20 KOs) at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England on Saturday, live on DAZN .
Ball is coming off a 10th round bulldozing TKO of Ronny Rios in October, while Doheny suffered a knockout at the hands of Naoya Inoue in September.
Here, DAZN News analyzes which fighter has the edge across three key categories entering this world title bout.
Boxing style
Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
Behind a tight guard and constant forward movement, Nick Ball produces an incredible amount of pressure.
Standing just 5-foot-2, the WBA featherweight world champion lunges into his offense, especially successful when piecing together combinations punctuated by compact left and right hooks.
He will be facing a crafty veteran in Doheny who is moving up from super bantamweight and expects to be the stronger man on fight night.
Doheny is a scrappy, durable southpaw who sits on his shots well to leverage his power.
Whether that style is enough to withstand the immense pressure and fireworks Ball sets off is a tall order and remains to be seen.
Doheny said during the fight press conference that Ball’s style is “tailor made” for him. Well, now he has got to prove it.
Edge: Ball
Experience
YUICHI YAMAZAKI/AFP via Getty Images
Doheny is 10 years older than Ball with nine more fights than the reigning WBA featherweight world titleholder.
His fighting exploits have taken him from world locations such as Australia to the United States, Thailand, Dubai, Ireland, and Tokyo, Japan where he suffered a seventh-round TKO loss to pound-for-pound superstar Naoya Inoue during the fall.
That fight came to an end on a vicious body shot and stands as the only knockout loss of Doheny’s career.
Other quality opponents that Doheny has clashed with include Sam Goodman, Michael Conlan and Daniel Roman.
In fewer bouts, Ball has fought quality opponents too, with the likes of Raymond Ford, Rey Vargas and Isaac Dogboe.
But at 38 to Ball’s 28 years of age, Doheny has just experienced more and now it is about the Irish boxer channeling that savvy with an incredible opportunity in front of him.
Experience: Doheny
Mental warfare
Not being able to continue his fight against Inoue due to a devastating body shot in September took a lot out of Doheny.
During the fight press conference, the Irish fighter even conceded that critics saying he quit against 'The Monster' is something that is driving him crazy.
That said, the challenger has moved up from 122 pounds to 126 pounds and is naturally the bigger man with better reach.
Still, suffering the first knockout loss of his career against an explosive Inoue is a giant mental hurdle that Doheny is going to have to clear.
Edge: Ball
Who has the edge in Ball vs. Doheny?
Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
Transitioning from Inoue to Ball, who constantly manufactures pressure and will be in hot pursuit, certainly will not be easy for Doheny.
Ball is not as explosive or skilled as Inoue but still packages enough fighting-forward force to put Doheny on the back foot, having to figure things out in real time.
Ball has the 2-1 edge entering this world title fight.
