Raymond Ford looking forward to putting draw behind him
It is very well known that, for fighters, boxing can be an extremely lonely sport. This is one more reason why when boxers do get notable attention and limelight, it is insanely easy to get distracted. One of the most famous recent incidents of this happening was with heavyweight Andy Ruiz. Following his upset win over unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, Ruiz got caught up in the money and big stage. As a result, he suffered an embarrassing loss in their immediate rematch. A similar situation, yet not as dramatic, happened to undefeated featherweight fighter “Savage” Raymond Ford (8-0-1, 4 KO’s).
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When the talented southpaw was last in the ring he was saddled with an unpalatable draw against Aaron Perez. Going into the prizefight, the New Jersey native thought that Perez would more or less be easy work. Apparently, Ford had been reading his own headlines and began believing all he had to do was show up to win. Once in the ring, and not fighting the most strategic fight possible, Savage was unable to secure the win for the first time in his professional career. Luckily, as he told IFL TV, Ford was able to learn from his folly.
“I think in my last fight I was throwing too many big, hard shots just to try to get him out of there. And I was believing in my own hype. You know, a lot of people and the commentators and everything like that. I was listening to what they was saying about my last fights and my power and all that stuff. So I am just going to go back to the basics and do what I do best and that’s box and dominate. And if the knockout comes, then I am going to get it.”
LEARNING FROM MISTAKES IS KEY
While Ford did learn his lesson, he does not deny that it was a painful one to absorb.
“In the beginning it felt like a loss to me! I ain’t even going to lie, I went back the locker room, I cried. When I got home, I didn’t go outside for like two weeks. That draw really hurt me. I felt like I did win the fight, I felt like I did enough to win the fight but it wasn’t my best night. It wasn’t pretty at all, I wasn’t happy with my performance. But it just gave me that hunger, like now I don’t even think about the draw no more.”
“…The greats had draws, losses and all that, so I’m not even focused on the draw anymore. I don’t even look at that. I’m just worried about moving forward. I tried to get the rematch with the guy so that I could clean that up and get that off my mind. But he didn’t want to fight, so this fight is good for me. Like after I beat him [Bellotti], everyone will forget about the draw. And I already forgot about it so we just going to keep moving forward.”
IT’LL GET GREATER LATER
In his next bout, Ford will take on Reece “Bomber” Bellotti (14-4, 12 KO’s) on August 14. Bellotti is coming off back to back losses, both by decision, and is 2-4 in his last six bouts. Even still, in Ford’s opinion his upcoming fight on DAZN will be a great bounce back performance to get him back to his dominating ways.
“Just make sure you tune in, this is going to be a great fight. It’s like my breakout fight that is going to get me to that next level. It’s my first ten round [fight] against, like you said, a top fighter, that’s been in there with some tough competition; only lost to good competition. So definitely make sure y’all tune in!”
By: Bakari Simpson
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