HOUSTON, Texas – O’Shaquie Foster has dismissed Raymond Ford’s criticism of his reign as WBC junior-lightweight champion and insisted that his challenger is making a mistake by reading into some of his closer fights.
The 32-year-old Foster defends his title on Saturday at the Fertitta Center, and he does so not only as the lead attraction but as one of the most in-form fighters in the world.
His most recent victory, in December over Stephen Fulton, was at lightweight, but came after victories over Robson Conceicao, Abraham Nova, Eduardo Hernandez and Rey Vargas that transformed his career.
Foster ultimately required knockdowns in the final rounds of contests against Hernandez and Nova to ensure that he retained his title, and it is those from which Ford – the former WBA featherweight champion – is partly taking confidence.
Ford is convinced that he is a superior fighter to both and therefore that on Saturday he is capable of victory. Foster, regardless also believes that his previous opponents have made a similar mistake in underestimating him, and that he is entering his latest title defence in his physical and technical prime.
“The close fights wasn’t a thing of what my opponents was doing, and I ain’t making no excuses – it don’t matter to me anyway, ‘cause I didn’t make no excuses when the fight happened,” he told BoxingScene. “But what I was gonna say is it was a health problem – going into these fights with injuries; a foot injury, of course your performance is gonna get altered ‘cause now you’ve gotta compensate for injuries. It was my lead foot, so being able to pivot and do certain things that you see me do with Fulton, I couldn’t do those things.
“That’s why you see the Ray Vargas [performance] and you see the Fulton fight – you see my angles and you see my movement was fluid, but look at Eduardo, Nova and Conceicao, it was real basic. I fought four times in a 12-month span, so I weren’t giving my body no time to rest or anything like that. I chalk it up to that – I didn’t take no damage or anything. Me and Rocky had that one round – we kind of went crazy. That was fun. But as far as me taking damage, it wasn’t like that.
“It’s super difficult to prepare for a fighter like me, being able to fight from both sides. Like we’ve seen with Terence Crawford, it’s hard to prepare for that, because you don’t know if I’m gonna be right-handed or orthodox; if I’m gonna stay orthodox. What kind of sparring do you get? It comes to the point where I can fight on the inside or the outside. It’s very difficult, but from the outside looking in it looks easier; when people get in front of me it’s a whole different ball game.
“[Fulton] was my best win and for sure my best performance. I would throw Rey Vargas in there but I didn’t get to show the versatility as much with Rey Vargas, as far as switching southpaw and showing everybody I can do it; I can be great from both sides, orthodox or southpaw, and doing whatever in there. I definitely think that last fight was the biggest. Mentally, physically, I’m in my prime. I’m happy in my mind – I’m just ready.”
Despite being matched with Fulton at lightweight, Foster weighed in at the 130lbs junior-featherweight limit. He has therefore avoided the risks involved in being an ageing fighter losing weight and is also relishing the prospect of fighting in his home city, where Ford also lives.
“It feels amazing [to be fighting in Houston],” he explained. “It feels great. I feel comfortable. I don’t feel no extra pressure. The only pressure I was feeling a little bit was ‘Let’s see how the ticket sales do’ and they doing great, so it’s time for me to put on a great performance now.
“That’s just the start of something big that’s planned for me. Coming off of a win like that with Fulton and then going straight to a homecoming fight – that was my coming-out party, and this is to stamp me as one of the top guys in the sport. I’m just excited about it.
“I can make 130; 135; 140; whatever, and I’ll be walking around the same. I don’t get big; I don’t get out of shape, so making 130 really isn’t a problem at all. Of course I want to go up and challenge myself and other people. Sometimes the weight cut, you do get tired of it a bit, but I’m cool.”
