Nick Ball and Isaac Dogboe are all set to meet at the crossroads.
Both boxers easily made weight ahead of their WBC featherweight title eliminator. Liverpool’s Ball (18-0, 11KOs) was a slim and fit 125 pounds as he faces his first former titlist. Dogboe (24-3, 15KOs)—an Accra, Ghana native who trains in Washington D.C.—was 125.2 pounds in a bid to bounce back from a WBO featherweight title defeat to Robeisy Ramirez earlier this year.
Their scheduled 12-round bout will headline a full card which will air live Saturday evening on TNT Sports in the U.K. and on ESPN+ in the U.S. from AO Arena in Manchester, England. The winner will become the mandatory challenger to the yet-to-be-scheduled Rey Vargas-Brandon Figueroa WBC featherweight title consolidation bout.
The evening’s co-feature pits former title challenger Denzel Bentley and unbeaten Nathan Heaney (17-0, 6KOs) in a scheduled 12 rounds British middleweight title bout.
Bentley (18-2-1, 15KOs) was 160 pounds for his second fight since his failed WBO title bid, though in a strong showing versus Janibek Alimkhanuly last November 12 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Stoke-on-Trent’s Heaney (17-0, 6KOs) was 159.4 pounds ahead of his first career 12-round contest in what fittingly marks a considerable leap in competition.
Undercard weights:
Liam Davies (14-0, 6KOs), Donnington, Telford, 121.1 pounds vs. Vincenzo La Femina (13-0, 7KOs), Campania, Italy, 121.4 pounds—12 rounds, junior featherweight
Solomon Dacres (7-0, 2KOs), Birmingham, 246.2 pounds vs. Michael Webster (9-0, 6KOs), 246.4 pounds—10 rounds, heavyweight
Hannah Rankin (13-6, 3KOs), Luss, Scotland, 153.4 pounds vs. Ema Kozin (23-1-1, 12KOs), Ljubljana, Slovenia, 153.7 pounds—10 rounds, vacant WBC and WBO junior middleweight titles
Nathaniel Collins (13-0, 7KOs), Glasgow, Scotland, 125.1 pounds vs. Zak Miller (13-0, 3KOs), Manchester, 125.6 pounds—12 rounds, featherweight
Ekow Essuman (19-0, 7KOs), Nottingham, 146.3 pounds vs. Harry Scarff (12-2, 3KOs), Derby, 145.6 pounds—12 rounds, welterweight
Amaar Akbar (5-0, 1KO), Batley, Yorkshire, 145.8 pounds vs. Christian Lopez (14-32-2, 12KOs), Bratislava, Slovakia via Culiacan, Mexico, 141.1 pounds—6 rounds, welterweight
Callum Thompson (7-0, 1KO), Kirkby, 136.9 pounds vs. Joshua Ocampo (8-19-5, 6KOs), Valencia, Spain via Cucuta, Colombia, 136 pounds—6 rounds, junior welterweight
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox