Rey Vargas v Nick Ball: Briton's WBC featherweight challenge ends in split-decision draw
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Nick Ball scored two knockdowns over 12 rounds
Nick Ball failed in his bid to become Britain's newest world champion after his WBC title challenge against Rey Vargas ended in a draw.
The Liverpudlian, 27, controversially floored the champion in the eighth round after appearing to push the Mexican before landing a left hook.
Vargas hit the canvas again in the 11th courtesy of a legitimate right hand.
The judges scored it 116-119 to Ball, 114-112 to Vargas and 113-113, with the fight ending in a split-decision draw.
"I had two knockdowns and was putting the pressure on for the whole fight. I was the aggressor and thought I did enough to win it," Ball told Dazn.
"It's a bit frustrating but that's how it is. I can't get angry at it."
Ball, who maintains his unbeaten record, and promoter Frank Warren felt they should have been awarded the decision and called for a rematch.
Ball mixes it up to test Vargas
The wiry and experienced Vargas, 33, started strongly in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - establishing his jab and keeping the fight at range.
Standing at just 5ft 2in, Ball gave away six inches of height to his opponent and was at a significant reach advantage.
Vargas countered to the body as Ball, who made his debut in a Liverpool nightclub in 2017, lunged in with his attacks in an attempt to close the distance.
The challenger became frustrated as Vargas found success with left hooks to the body to win the early rounds. Ball was warned by the referee in the third for bodyslamming his opponent to the canvas.
Vargas varied his attack with a combination to head and body in the fourth. Running out of ideas, Ball momentarily switched to a southpaw stance in search of something different.
The difference in height did not lend itself to the most enthralling contest but Ball began to turn the tide by turning it ugly, smothering Vargas' attack and landing on the inside.
Shouts of 'Wrecking Ball' from a small contingency of fans spurred the fighter on as he pushed Vargas onto the ropes in the sixth, landing a telegraphed right.
In a terrific seventh round he rocked Vargas with a bruising overhand right. With Vargas backpedaling, Ball surged forward - knowing he could hurt Vargas.
Then came the contentious and messy knockdown. With the pair tangled up on the inside, Ball outmuscled and pushed Vargas before landing a left hook.
Vargas remonstrated with the referee as the round drew to a close. He recovered well to land a thudding left hook in the 10th.
As the fight entered the championship rounds, Ball chased the weary looking Vargas around the ring. Ball landed with a thudding right to drop him for a second time in what was this time a legitimate knockdown.
The general feeling ringside was Ball had done enough with the two knockdowns to become Britain's first new world champion since Savannah Marshall and Natasha Jonas' world-title double in July 2023.
"Nick Ball should be a world champion tonight and will no doubt be in the very near future," his promoter Warren said.
Parker outpoints Zhang to win WBO interim title
In the chief support to Anthony Joshua's battle with Francis Ngannou, New Zealand heavyweight Joseph Parker, 32, recovered from two knockdowns to claim the WBO interim title with a majority points win over Zhilei Zhang.
Dropped by a left hand straight down the barrel in the third and a left-right hook combination in the eighth, Parker was rewarded for an otherwise composed performance on the scorecards.
China's Zhang, 40, was 3st 2lb heavier than Parker at the weigh-in and was unable to keep pace with his opponent for most of the 12 rounds.
Former world champion Parker, who cruised to a win over Deontay Wilder in December, was given the decision by two judges, while a third scored the contest a 113-113 draw.
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- Published11 January
