Promoter Frank Warren previews his March 15th show at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England. The main event will be a Nick Ball WBC 126-pound title defense against former 122-pound title holder TJ Doheny [26-5]. Here is what Warren had to say: "When we returned to the banks of the Mersey in October, I said I wanted to fire up the fight scene again and make it a regular thing. Now we are back again with a top quality card that has seen to it that tickets have been flying out of the door. This is in no small way down to the exploits of Liverpool’s very own featherweight champion Nick Ball [21-0-1], who is the catalyst for what I believe will be a boxing boom here. Nick had an incredible 2024. He challenged for the WBC world title [vs. Rey Vargas] and, in my opinion, was cheated by it being scored a draw. A couple of months later he was back in the ring taking on a formidable champion in Ray Ford for the WBA belt and this time there was no denying him. It shouldn’t be underestimated how big a win that was because Ford is a fantastic fighter who will surely reach the top at super featherweight.
"Then Nick had his homecoming against Ronny Rios and it was a very special night, his first in the city since early 2020 and his first in the Arena. I know how much it meant to Nick to perform in front of his own people and he gets to do it again against a tough, rugged former world champion in TJ Doheny. One of the great things about Nick is that he has no wish to sit back and ponder his achievements, he wants to be fighting and we will be back here, if everything goes to plan, a little bit later in the year."
ADDITIONAL BOUTS
Warren continued, "we’ve got a firecracker of a fight as chief support tonight. Andrew Cain [13-1], who I believe will be looking at world titles himself sooner rather than later, goes up against former flyweight champion Charlie Edwards [20-1] in a fight that has got people talking. Andrew had a good year in 2024, winning the British and Commonwealth [bantamweight] titles. Now he takes on Charlie, who won the European title last time out.
"Another from the Everton Red Triangle Gym, headed up by the prolific Paul Stevenson, is Brad Strand [12-1], who is back in title action tonight against Ionut Baluta [16-5-1] at super bantamweight. Brad is a quality operator who has responded magnificently to the setback of losing to Dennis McCann and is now showing a more spiteful side of his game.
A Scouse derby is happening at super flyweight, with the baby-faced knockout artist Jack Turner [10-0] taking on his biggest test to date in Commonwealth champion Ryan Farrag [23-5]. I know Joe McNally and the team at the Rotunda Gym have very high hopes for young Jack."
