MatchroomHOUSTON, Texas – Matchroom will consider attempting to build Raymond Ford as an attraction in his home city if he wins Saturday evening’s contest with O’Shaquie Foster.
Ford’s long-term promoters and the promoter of the WBC junior-featherweight title fight at the Fertitta Center would have rebuilt his career from his WBA featherweight title defeat by Nick Ball in 2024.
Victory over Foster – the defending champion and another resident of Houston – would also represent the highest-profile of his career, and potentially allow him to inherit as a following some of those attending their fight.
As has most consistently recently been seen with Jaron “Boots” Ennis, Matchroom typically focus on building their fighters’ reputations in their home city. The 27-year-old Ford relocated from Camden, New Jersey to Houston while also accepting lucrative offers to fight in Saudi Arabia and has therefore not built a consistent fanbase, but in combination with the Texan Foster is, according to Matchroom, on course to draw a 5,500-capacity crowd.
When Ford lost on the occasion of his first title defence he moved up in weight and his career required rebuilding. His defeat also undermined Matchroom’s ambitions in the US – perhaps their most valued fight market – and at a time when their competition there is threatening to become increasingly intense.
Saturday’s fight also represents the first that the promoter has staged in Houston, where sport is so popular, and presents another opportunity to showcase some of their promising American talents like Zaquin Moses and Omari Jones to a new crowd.
“Ray hasn’t built a massive fanbase,” Eddie Hearn told BoxingScene. “He’s from Camden, New Jersey. But what he is is really good, so you have to do something [as a promoter to create opportunities]. That first [world-title] win, against [Otabek] Kholmatov, was massive. [Foster’s] arguably number one, with [Emanuel] Navarrete; a win would put Ray in that conversation.
“Neither of them are massive ticket sellers. When we looked at this fight, it was ‘Where do we do this fight?’. O’Shaquie Foster said ‘I don’t want the fight in New Jersey.’ He’s the champion – fair play. So, Vegas? It’s not really a Vegas fight so you go to a smaller arena. And then we started looking at Houston. O’Shaquie’s from Houston; he doesn’t have a big following yet. Ray Ford trains in Houston, so Shakur [Stevenson] – all those boys – are here as well.
“We’d never been to Houston. It hasn’t had a fight for some time. And it’s exactly the kind of arena you want for boxing – 5,500, perfect size. You go into a 12,000 [capacity arena] you’re putting a curtain up; you go into a 2,000 it’s not big enough. We’ll be sold out. Great fight card. The winner – if Foster wins, he can come back here and fight every time. Ray, maybe he fights in Houston [hereafter].
“It’s difficult when you’re from Camden, New Jersey, but you’re fighting all over – you haven’t had the chance to build yourself in New Jersey. You can still go back. But Ray’s the kind of kid where he don’t really mind. This could be a home for both. He’ll wanna be in the biggest fights. He’ll wanna fight Navarrete. He’ll wanna unify – and those fights can take place anywhere.”
Asked if he had come to consider it a mistake to have matched Ford with Ball on the Matchroom-Queensberry-five-versus-five, the promoter responded: “The issue was he probably only had one fight left at 126, and it was a good-money offer, and we thought he could win. But looking back – I thought he did win, by the way; it was very close – given the money he made and the profile of the fight I don’t think it was a mistake, [but] that week was really hard for him making weight.
“One of the most difficult things has been getting him a fight for a world title, ‘cause everyone knows how good he is. We had to pay out for this, but that’s how it works, and it actually paid off ‘cause it’s a really good fight; got a lot of interest; good crowd, and if Ray wins he becomes a star.
“I didn’t really look at it as ‘sacrificing’ a title. You go for the glory, and if you don’t, it’s a bit boring. I know it’s a business, but I’m really looking forward to [Saturday] night, for no other reason than it’s a great fight and I want Ray to win. I’m not going ‘If he wins, we can make some money there’. If he wins, he’s the 18 year old who come into my office in New York and is a two-weight, two-time world champion, which is only really touching the surface of what he could do, and that’s what excites me – and if he loses, he comes again, but he’s not good enough. That’s sport. If you’re not good enough, then you don’t win, and if you’re good enough, which I believe he will be, he’ll beat this kid.”
The 32-year-old, Top Rank-promoted Foster has previously been critical of Matchroom. He objected to the scoring on the night of his dramatic victory over Eduardo Hernandez in 2023, but the personal nature of Saturday’s contest has so far appeared limited to that between Foster and Ford.
“He fought for the world title on our show in Mexico,” Hearn reflected. “He was [effectively] beaten, and stopped ‘Rocky’ in the last round – that was fucking heartbreaking – so we get on alright.
“‘Till you work with people, the perception’s always different to the reality. Especially if he wins, I bet he’ll go ‘That was a great promotion – I enjoyed working with those guys’. But you’re always lined up to be an enemy of someone you’re not working with.”
