Raymond Ford officially kicked off his second year as a pro looking well poised beyond his 21 years of age.
The unbeaten featherweight southpaw soundly boxed his way to a six round decision over Houston’s Eric Manriquez. Scores were 59-54, 60-53 and 60-53 for Ford in their DAZN-USA livestream opener Saturday evening from a makeshift outdoor venue in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Action was all one-way, with Ford using his steady right jab to set up his economical offensive attack. Manriquez sought to force an inside fight, which only kept him in the punching range of the Camden, New Jersey product.
Ford scored the bout’s lone knockdown in the opening seconds of round three. Manriquez offered a lazy left jab, which was immediately countered with a right hook over the top to send him to the canvas. Ford went back to boxing after his opponent made it to his feet and beat the count, continuing to work his jab and following with straight lefts.
Manriquez landed his best punch of the fight in round four, briefly switching to southpaw to score with an overhand left hand midway through the frame. Ford took the shot well, responding with a one-two combination and reestablishing his desired space.
Ford comfortably boxed his way down the stretch, mixing in left hand shots to keep Manriquez honest. His composed performance was well-reflected in the final Compubox numbers, landing 50-of-170 (29%) compared to 21-of-142 (15%) for Manriquez who suffers his fifth straight loss in falling to 7-11-1 (3KOs).
As for Ford, it's his first win of 2020 after having been out of the ring since a 1st round knockout which aired live on DAZN last December in Phoenix, Arizona. Ford improves to 6-0 (2KOs) overall, though acknowledging there is work to be done.
"I was out of the ring for [eight] months," Ford told DAZN's Beto Duran. "It wasn't my best performance."
Headlining the five-fight telecast, long-reigning undisputed welterweight champion Cecilia Brækhus (36-0, 9KOs) defends her crown versus unified junior welterweight titlist Jessica McCaskill (8-2, 3KOs) who moves up in weight.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
