Jamie Ball believes he has the edge in both power and strength going into his English title eliminator next month.
The Coseley southpaw tackles fellow-unbeaten Nasser Al Harbi in a eagerly-anticipated ten-rounder on a Dave Coldwell-promoted bill at Birmingham's New Bingley Hall on March 16, with the winner in-line for a crack at English 11st boss Erik Ochieng.
Ball is adamant that man will be him and is also looking to settle a score in the biggest Birmingham-Black Country clash since Wayne Elcock defended his British middleweight title against Dudley's Darren McDermott at Wolverhampton Civic Hall in 2008.
Elcock retained his Lonsdale Belt with a controversial two-round cut stoppage that night and the current Midlands Area light-middleweight champion wants to restore pride to the Black Country with his 14th professional victory in 15 [one draw, four inside].
Yet Al Harbi, the 22-year-old who holds a developmental WBC strap at welterweight, has quickly earned a reputation as one of the most avoided prospects in Britain. Undefeated in 13 [one quickly] and trained by dad Naji, the fast-fisted Brummie saw testing-looking scraps with the likes of Matthew Hall and then-unbeaten Dean Byrne fall through in 2011.
But the 30-minute battle in the Second City is [on paper] a career-hardest assignment for both - and the reward for the victor could be a British title fight in two contests time, possibly against Birmingham's Max Maxwell, who boxes for the belt against former victim Brian Rose in Blackpool on March 31.
That would do excellent business in the West Midlands and Ball thinks the fans are the winners from this bout onwards. "This is a great fight, for both the fighters and the public," said a 27-year-old who, after three inside-the-distance victories on the bounce [including the Area title-winning body shot KO of durable A.A Lowe in February], is quickly gaining a reputation as a puncher.
"But i am stronger, bigger and hit harder than Al Harbi - and i'm the first southpaw he'll have faced. From what I've seen of him before i think he's a good technical boxer, has fast hands and good footwork. Then again, i'm not unbeaten for nothing and have more to my game than just brawling.
"If i win this then it's going to open even more doors for me, what with English and British title fights around the corner," he continued. "Every boxer wants respect from those inside and outside of the trade and i'll get that if i beat an avoided fighter like Nasser.
"It's still two weeks away but i'm ready for this now and more than confident that it'll be me going onto those big fights," added Ball, who's trained by his uncle and former undefeated pro Shaun Cooper.
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