Vargas vs Ball

Who won Vargas vs Ball?

Rey Vargas drew with Nick Ball by split decision in their 12 round contest on Friday, March 8th, 2024, at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh.

The scorecards were announced as 114-112, 116-110, 113-113, meaning it was a split decision.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Featherweight division, which meant the weight limit was 126 pounds (9 stone or 57.1 kg).

This contest was for the WBC featherweight championship of the world.

Ball was making his 2nd defense of the WBA World Featherweight Championship. He won this belt against Raymond Ford in June 2024. He had held this belt for 10 months and 25 days.

This fight appeared on the undercard of Anthony Joshua beating Francis Ngannou. Also on the undercard Zhilei Zhang lost to Joseph Parker for the WBO Interim World Heavyweight belt, Israil Madrimov defeated Magomed Kurbanov for the WBA World Super Welterweight title, Mark Chamberlain was victorious over Gavin Gwynne, Justis Huni beat Kevin Lerena, Jack McGann was overcome by Louis Greene, Ziyad Almaayouf was victorious over Christian Lopez Flores, Andrii Novytskyi beat Juan Torres, and Roman Fury defeated Martin Svarc.

Vargas vs Ball stats

Back in March 2024, Rey Vargas stepped into the ring with a record of 36 wins, 1 loss, and 0 draws, 22 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

Nick Ball made his way to the ring with an unblemished record of 19 wins and 0 draws, with 11 of those by knockout.

The stats suggested Vargas had a slight advantage in power over Ball, with a 61% knockout percentage compared to Ball's 58%.

Rey Vargas was the older man by 6 years, at 33 years old.

Vargas had a height advantage of 3 inches over Ball. That also extended to a 5-inch reach advantage.

Both Rey Vargas and Nick Ball fought out of an orthodox stance.

Vargas was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 18 more fights, and made his debut in 2010, 7 years and 2 months earlier than Ball, whose first professional fight was in 2017. He had fought 112 more professional rounds, totaling 246 compared to Ball's 134.

Nick Ball was ranked number 1 by the WBC in the 126lb division.

Vargas vs Ball form

Rey Vargas had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to O’Shaquie Foster on February 11, 2023, by unanimous decision in their WBC World Super Featherweight championship fight at Alamodome, San Antonio, United States.

Prior to that, he had beaten Mark Magsayo on July 9, 2022, by split decision in their WBC World Featherweight championship fight at Alamodome, San Antonio.

Going into that contest, he had won against Leonardo Baez on November 6, 2021, by unanimous decision in their 10 round contest at MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, Nevada.

Before that, he had beaten Tomoki Kameda on July 13, 2019, by unanimous decision in their WBC World Super Bantamweight championship fight at Dignity Health Sports Park, California.

He had defeated Franklin Manzanilla on February 9, 2019, by unanimous decision in their WBC World Super Bantamweight championship fight at Fantasy Springs Casino, California.

Ball remained undefeated as a professional, stopping 4 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Isaac Dogboe on November 18, 2023, by unanimous decision in their WBC World Featherweight championship fight at AO Arena, Manchester, United Kingdom.

Prior to that, he had won against Lodumo Lamati on May 27, 2023, by technical knockout in the 12th round at The SSE Arena (Odyssey Arena), Belfast.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Jesus Ramirez Rubio on November 11, 2022, by technical knockout in the 1st round at York Hall, Bethnal Green.

Before that, he had beaten Nathanael Kakololo on July 16, 2022, by technical knockout in the 12th round at Copper Box Arena, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London.

He had won against Isaac Lowe on April 23, 2022, by technical knockout in the 6th round at Wembley Stadium, London.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Nick Ball had been fighting more than Rey Vargas.

Going into this contest, Rey Vargas had last fought 1 year and 26 days ago, while Nick Ball's last outing had been 3 months and 19 days ago.

Vargas' last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years and 28 days, which means he had been fighting approximately every 1 year and 5 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 58 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 11.6 rounds on average.

Ball's last 5 fights had come over a period of 1 year, 10 months and 14 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 4 months and 17 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 43 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 8.6 rounds on average.

What time did Vargas vs Ball start?

The fighters were expected to ringwalk at around 9:15 PM UTC at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which was 4:15 PM EST or 1:15 PM PST on the West Coast of America, or 9:15 PM GMT in the UK.

Who broadcast Vargas vs Ball?

Vargas vs Ball was broadcast on DAZN PPV in both the United States and the UK.

What were the odds on Vargas vs Ball?

Rey Vargas was a 81/50 (+160) underdog going into the contest, while Nick Ball made his way into the ring at 1/2 (-200) with oddsmakers.