Ball (23-0-1, 13 KOs), The Ring’s No. 3 featherweight, puts his WBA title on the line against No. 7 Brandon Figueroa (26-2-1, 19 KOs) in Liverpool on Saturday night. It will be the fourth defense of his title and the third of those to take place in his home city of Liverpool. He is hoping another victory will pave the way for the featherweight unifications he craves, but the 28-year-old is also eying a potential move up to junior lightweight.

There he would find his fellow Scouser Dickens, The Ring’s No. 9 at the weight who is the WBA champion. Like Ball, the 34-year-old has his own business to attend to as he prepares to defend against Anthony Cacace in Dublin on March 14.

However, should they come through their fights, Ball has confirmed he would be open to a clash with the southpaw, who he used to train alongside at the Everton Red Triangle gym. The fight was discussed in 2024 but Ball, who has sparred Dickens, described it as a backwards step at the time. Now it would offer him the chance to become a two-weight world champion.

“That fight was an option before,” Ball said. “I would definitely consider moving up in weight to fight him if he beats Cacace. “But I’ve got to beat Figueroa first haven’t I? So we’ve both got big fights coming up which we need to focus on, but then definitely that would be good, moving up to become a two-weight world champion. “He used to be in our gym so I trained alongside him. He’s a nice lad, Jazza.”

Amazingly, a clash between Ball and Dickens would represent the first all-Liverpool showdown for one of the recognized world title belts. The city has produced a number of world champions over the years but none of them has ever defended against someone from their own city. The closest they came was in 1998 when Shea Nery stopped Andy Holligan in the sixth round for a minor junior welterweight title. On Dickens’ recent run to his position as world champion, which came at the end of his 14th year as a professional, Ball added: “It has been good to see. He’s showed that staying disciplined and believing in yourself works. “He’s shown that hard work pays off in the end no matter how long it takes. You’ve got to keep believing in yourself and putting the work in. Hard work beats everything else.”