AS one of the most elite operators at super-featherweight, Raymond Ford believes that his ambition to become a two-division world champion remains far from straightforward.
Last year, the slick southpaw claimed his WBA featherweight strap in truly awe-inspiring fashion, halting Otabek Kholmatov with a stunning 12th-round finish after trailing behind on two of the three judges’ scorecards.
Then, while openly admitting that he was struggling to make the 126lb limit, the American once again produced a scintillating performance against Nick Ball.
In that fight, however, Ford, 16-1-1 (8 KOs), found himself on the wrong end of a fiercely contested split decision before making the sensible move up to 130lbs.
So now, while boasting an extra four pounds to play around with, the highly-skilled technician looks to put himself in pole position to challenge for world honours.
A routine unanimous decision victory last November saw him return to the win column, with the 26-year-old hoping to extend his success against Thomas Mattice this Saturday.
Their showdown will take place on the undercard of Jaron Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis’ welterweight unification at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
But while he remains laser focused on the task at hand, Ford has nonetheless expressed his desire to become a two-division titlist.
The fourth-ranked contender with the IBF could, in theory, be in line to face the winner of Eduardo ‘Sugar’ Nunez and Masanori Rikiishi’s ordered clash for the vacant red and gold belt.
From Ford’s vantage point, though, it would appear that Nunez, along with super-featherweight champions O’Shaquie Foster and Emanuel Navarrete, are in no mood to face him.
“It’s not really sounding too good on Sugar Nunez’s end,” Ford told Boxing News. “If he wins the [IBF] title, I don’t think he’s going to want to fight me.
“I ain’t heard from him directly but word gets around, and I hear stuff. That’s why I’m going to have to work my way up to the number one spot, and become [the mandatory challenger] for a world title.
“O’Shaquie [Foster] just wants to fight on Twitter. And Navarrete, I never really had a back-and-forth with him but he’s with Top Rank, and they’re not just going to put me in there with him. It’s a bad risk for them.”
While Nunez and Rikiishi’s matchup is yet to be announced, Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn, who promotes both Ford and Nunez, has previously highlighted that as a fight he would be keen to make.
But even so, Ford remains convinced that each super-featherweight champion would be hesitant to put pen to paper for a potential voluntary defence.
