BARRY MCGUIGAN: Nick Ball doesn't have the profile he deserves yet - but that will come very soon

Nick Ball makes me look tall. At 5ft 2ins he is bull-like in style, attacking and entertaining to watch.

Next week in Saudi he makes his third defence of my old WBA featherweight belt on the Moses Itauma-Dillian Whyte undercard.

On paper at least his Australian opponent, Sam Goodman, does not look to have the pedigree to trouble him unduly. Nevertheless, Ball will want to defend in style before calling out WBC champ Rey Vargas, who is ready to return after injury.

The pair fought to a split-decision draw last year for the WBC belt, leaving Ball bitterly disappointed after twice sending Vargas to the carpet in the eighth and 11th rounds.

Apart from his aggressive fighting style, what I admire most about Ball is his humility, a quality sadly lacking among today’s mouthy crowd. Arrogance seems to be the default setting for fighters hunting clicks.

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Ball is a lovely, well-mannered kid, doing his talking with his fists. Like last week’s subject, 5ft 6ins Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Ball is very effective with the jab, despite his height limitations.

If you don’t jab properly you are all out of shape. Goodman is stepping up in class here and I would be surprised if he gets past eight rounds.

The four belt era offers opportunity for kids like Goodman to fight for titles that didn’t exist in my day. Back then it was only the WBC and WBA. Though the IBF came in in the early Eighties, it took years to become established.

To get a world title fight you had to be aligned with the right promoter and broadcast partner. Without that it was very difficult to progress.

The featherweight division remains one of the classic weights. Believe it or not, at the very beginning of the sport the middleweights were actually the big guys.

Ball is a worthy champion. He would have been hard to beat in any era. He hasn’t yet got the profile he deserves, but that will come with big fights.

A rematch with Vargas would certainly stir the imagination. As would a rematch with Raymond Ford, who he beat on a split-decision for the WBA title three months later.

Ford has since moved up to super featherweight, but would jump at the chance of revenge. It’s all about creating narratives, forging a reputation in battles against rivals.

Next week’s duel might not meet the super high standard of the Vargas and Ford fights, but Ball still needs a good performance to keep his story bubbling.

Follow Barry on X at @ClonesCyclone @McGuigan’s_Gym