Rey Vargas vs Nick Ball Preview March 8th, 2024
WBC Featherweight and former WBC Super Bantamweight Champion Rey Vargas of Mexico will be defending his title against unbeaten Nick Ball of England this Friday, March 8th. The 12-rounder from Saudi Arabia can be seen live in most nations on pay per view on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou tilt. Vargas last fought in February last year for the vacant WBC Junior Lightweight Title but dropped a unanimous decision to O’Shaquie Foster. Ball last boxed in November when he beat former world champion Isaac Dogboe by a wide 12-round unanimous decision to retain his WBC Silver Featherweight Title.
Vargas vs Ball Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Rey Vargas +135
- Nick Ball -165
My Pick
The 33-year-old Vargas of Mexico City will climb into the ring with an impressive record of 36-1 with 22 Kos. He gave up his super bantamweight world title due to a broken leg after successfully defending it five times. He had won the vacant belt in February, 2017 via majority decision over Gavin McDonnell and defended it against Ronny Rios, Oscar Negrete, Azat Hovhannisyan, Franklin Manzanilla and Tomoki Kameda.
He then moved up in weight to beat Mark Magsayo by split decision in July, 2022 for the WBC Featherweight Crown then moved up to fight Foster in a shot at the WBC Junior Lightweight (Super Featherweight) Belt. Vargas also has wins over former world title challengers Juanito Rubillar and Cecilio Santos. The champ stands just over 5-feet-7-inches tall with 70.5-inch reach and has fought 234 rounds since turning pro in 2010.
Vargas enjoyed a pretty good amateur career as he won the 2009 Pan American Bantamweight Title and fought in the World Youth Championships a year earlier. However, he did lose to Oscar Valdez and Luke Campbell as an amateur. Vargas owns pretty good power as 61.1 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but the power has been missing in action lately as he’s gone the distance in nine straight fights with his last stoppage coming in the fifth round over Alexander Munoz in September, 2016.
Vargas is a solid pro with a pretty good chin and skills but hasn’t been particularly impressive in the past few bouts. He’s also won the IBF Youth, WBC Youth Intercontinental, and WBC Youth Silver Super Bantamweight Titles since turning pro as well as the WBC International Silver Super Bantamweight Crown.
The 27-year-old Ball of Liverpool, enters the contest with a perfect mark of 19-0 with 11 Ko’s and has 90 rounds of pro experience to his name since making his debut in 2017. Prior to that he enjoyed a good amateur career which saw him box at the 2013 Great Britain Junior Championships. He measures 5-feet-2-inches tall with an unlisted reach so gives up 5.5-inches in height to Vargas. He has decent power in his fists with 58 per cent of his wins coming by stoppage.
He won five fights in a row by stoppage and 11 of 13 until going the distance with dogboe in his last outing but has been a bit of a wrecking ball lately. That being said, 12 of his 19 opponents had losing records when they entered the ring but his last seven entered the squared circle with winning marks. He won the vacant WBC Silver Featherweight Title in April, 2022 when he stopped Isaac Lowe in the sixth round and has defended it three times against Nathanael Kakololo, Jesus Ramirez Rubio and Ludumo lamati, all by stoppage. Two of those wins came in the 12th and final round so it’s obvious Ball’s power is still evident late in fights.
Prediction…
Vargas’ power hasn’t been evident lately while Balls’ has. However Ball needs to work his way inside as he’s five-and-a-half inches shorter than Vargas and that’s not going to be easy. Ball has a ton of energy though and his pace may be just a bit too much for Vargas, who’s five years older than the challenger. Vargas will need to rely on his boxing skills once again to defend the belt and he usually manages to do just enough to win no matter if he’s the favourite or underdog. Still, I think Ball will simply outwork him and end up being crowned the new WBC Featherweight Champion on Friday.
Ball has the energy to pull off a bit of an upset.
Play: Ball -165 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Nick Ball betting • Rey Vargas betting