Images: Mkuu Amani / pmedialive
There may have been some confusion about his next opponent’s name but with 8 KOs out of the 10 bouts he’s contested there is none whatsoever about his punching power – so when Kelcie Ball heads to Kensington’s Royal Albert Hall on Friday 27th September to take on the ambitious unbeaten boxer from Battersea Denzel Ntim Mensah or as he is now more commonly known, Denzel Bentley, Ball knows what he’ll be up against.
It’s a return to Middleweight for the Tamworth boxer and marks a return to the division in which he made his professional debut when he out-pointed Shaun White at Villa Park in Birmingham back in October 2015. Over the three years that followed Ball added to this an impressive run of eight straight wins, most of them coming at Super Welterweight (including a 7th round stoppage of the thoroughly seasoned Yorkshire boxer Danny Little) and the remainder of which came at Middleweight class.
The sparkling run of form was enough to secure Ball a crack at the Midlands Area Super Welterweight Title and he appeared at Arena Birmingham on Saturday 8th September where (on the undercard of the Khan v Vargas fight) he faced a previous sparring partner and the reigning Champion, Ryan ‘Ruthless’ Kelly.
It was an explosive encounter with both boxers trading big blows from the outset and Birmingham’s Ryan Kelly coming out on top courtesy of a stunning right hand that rocked Ball followed by a vicious and relentless onslaught that, despite his courageous attempts to fight back, eventually forced referee Shaun Messer to stop the contest just 1 minute and 30 seconds into the first round.
Ball returned to the ring eight months later where in his first appearance at Walsall Town Hall he notched up an eighth points win and secured his 10th professional victory in a Super Middleweight bout against Lewis Van Poetch.
Now at 10-1-0 the Tamworth boxer steps in with the 10-0-0 Battersea prospect over eight rounds knowing that a victory can propel him back into title contention.
“I’m feeling fit and ready to go,” he told bcb-promotions.com. “It is certainly a dangerous fight, he’s had 10 wins out of 10 and eight of them have been by stoppage. I’m not going to be in there for a move around though, or to make him look good like the others may have.
“I’ll be in his face and fighting fire with fire if that’s what he brings. It can certainly boost me right back up rankings and get me more big fights and big pay days, so it’s a big fight for us both.
“You could argue he’s my toughest opponent to date but it is close between him and Ryan Kelly whereas I’m definitely his toughest test so far. Let’s see how he gets on.
“I have no pressure on me for this fight. No fans to please, no tickets to sell; I’ve just got to turn up and do my thing. The pressure is on him and we will see how he deals with it.”
‘Cannon’ has been sparring Sam Eggington in preparation for fight night, which is promoted by Frank Warren and is headlined by Daniel Dubois’ Commonwealth Heavyweight Title clash with Ebenezer Tetteh. Eggington, a former Commonwealth and British Champion, travels to Italy to challenge for the IBF International Super Welterweight Title.
Ball believes that the experience will stand him in good stead this weekend.
“Sparring with Sam is great preparation,” he added. “He’s a tough, come forward fighter who can bang. He’s operated at a high level and that sparring, along with the work put in with my trainer, Shaun Cogan at Smokin Joe’s, will stand me in good stead.
“I’ve been in there with better opposition and I have been sparring with better, more experienced lads, so I don’t fear what Denzel brings.
“Camp has gone great up to now and I’m ready for whatever comes my way.”
Tickets for the September 27th bill at the Royal Albert Hall will be available to purchase from http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk and http://www.royalalberthall.com
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