The biggest fight Nick Ball can land is a showdown with Naoya Inoue and what a showdown it would be if the Japanese star jumps to featherweight. After dominating numerous weight classes on his way to the top of the pound-for-pound list, Inoue looks set to move to 126lbs and Ball could be his biggest test.

And it’s not just bluster, the veteran Australia-based Irishman has a long history of proving detractors wrong, and he bids to do it again on Saturday night when he challenges for the WBA featherweight title in champion Nick Ball’s hometown of Liverpool, inside the Echo Arena.

Connor O'Neill reports from the M&S Bank Arena after Nick Ball retained his WBA featherweight title against TJ Doheny