Can Nick Ball defy the odds to dethrone Mexican star Rey Vargas this Friday?

This weekend, British featherweight Nick Ball (19-0-0) will challenge Rey Vargas (36-1-0) for the WBC featherweight world title in Saudi Arabia on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou.

Ball, ranked No.1 with the WBC, is mandatory challenger for Vargas’ title, which he won back in 2022 after a split decision victory over Mark Magsayo.

The Brit comes into the biggest fight of his career on fine form, most recently beating former WBO super-bantamweight world champion Isaac Dogboe in Manchester last November.

With 11 stoppages in his 19 victories, Ball undoubtedly possesses the power to hurt the Mexican, however, an opponent with the stardom of Vargas must be given respect.

Vargas has an incredible resume, beating names such as Gavin McDonnell, Ronny Rios, Oscar Negrete and Tomoki Kameda.

He has only tasted defeat in one of his 37 bouts, which was his most recent outing when he challenged American hotshot O’Shaquie Foster for the vacant WBC super-featherweight world title.

Now back defending his world title at his usual weight after challenging Foster up at Super Featherweight, you can expect Vargas to be at his best on Friday.

This is undoubtedly one of the fights of the year so far in 2024.

It’s not often that we see a hungry British fighter get the chance of World Championship glory against a fighter of the calibre of Vargas.

The height difference between the two men is massive, with Ball standing at 5”2 compared to the 5”7 Rey Vargas.

You can certainly expect Vargas to try and keep Ball at a distance and utilise his extreme height and reach advantage.

Whereas Ball needs to be explosive and get up close and personal with Vargas, where I believe he will have lots of success.

Ball is definitely the fresher of the men, six years younger and way more active.

Vargas has only boxed six times in the last five years, compared to Ball entering the ring 12 times.

However Vargas has unquestionably boxed at a consistent high level against world class opponents.

The Mexican has seen hungry challengers before, and has never lost while defending a world title. Can he stop Britain from having another world champion on Friday night?

Don’t forget to tune in on Friday! The fight is live on DAZN PPV on an unbelievable fight card topped by Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou.