FORMER 126-pound champion Raymond Ford is heading back to Saudi Arabia on August 16, but is already looking ahead to the fight after that. Ford will challenge ex-IBF super-featherweight king Anthony Cacace of Belfast next. However, it’s the man who now owns that same 130-pound strap, Eduardo ‘Sugar’ Nunez, who seems to be first and foremost on his mind.
“I think it’s going to be easy. I think I’m gonna knock him out,” Ford asserted when asked how the Cacace fight will go.
Seemingly unimpressed by Cacace’s rolling momentum and strong form, Ford revealed that after his win over Thomas Mattice, he had a personal plan mapped out that did not include Cacace or a trip back to Saudi Arabia, the scene of his sole professional loss to Nick Ball in 2024.
With a little promotional arm-twisting, he realised that it was a case of take this bout or sit around waiting for a call that could take over a year to arrive. When asked by DAZN interviewer Chris Mannix whether accepting the Cacace bout was a quick yes, he honestly replied, “No, it wasn’t.”
“I said no at first,” continued Ford. “I didn’t want to go back to Saudi Arabia, especially right now in my career. I’m looking forward to fighting the world champion. So my main thing was getting in there with ‘Sugar’ Nunez and basically they told me I was going to have to wait.
“So, pretty much my best option in order to get another fight was to stay busy, just to fight him instead of waiting around, because they told me I was going to be waiting for about 12 to 16 months.”
Mexican Nunez picked up the IBF title with a 12-round points win over Masanori Rikiishi in Japan recently. Talking as if the Cacace contest is done and dusted, Ford, 26, went on to assess Nunez’s display on away soil.
“Yeah, I watched it [the Rikiishi win]. I think he looked good. He did what he was supposed to do and congratulations to him. Hopefully, we can make a big fight later on down the line.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn says that the Camden man must play the waiting game, take care of any Irish roadblocks in front of him and move on to fight for world titles.
“Right now, I’m just sitting and watching what’s going on. I gotta handle my business against Cacace. After I handle him, hopefully Nunez do whatever he do with his next up-and-coming fight and then we can get it on.”
And the Nunez fight, should it come to fruition, will also end in a Ray Ford knockout?
“Yes!” he grinned, as if the response was ever going to be anything different.
