Who Gets Hit the Most Among Featherweight Champions: Ball, Espinoza, Fulton or Leo
On August 16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, WBA featherweight champion (up to 57.15 kg) Nick Ball of Britain, 28, will face 26-year-old Australian Sam Goodman. This fight is something of an echo of the potential Ball–Inoue clash, which not long ago was being actively discussed. Goodman had been lined up to face Naoya, but was unable to step into the ring due to a cut and a recurrence some time later.
At the same time, the featherweight division is stacked with top-tier champions who are completely different in their fighting styles. Ball will certainly have plenty to do in his division against the reigning titleholders. Today, we compare them by one particular metric – punches absorbed.
Currently, the featherweight belts are held by Nick Ball (WBA), Rafael Espinoza (WBO), Stephen Fulton (WBC) and Angelo Leo (IBF) — four fighters with distinct styles, and even their physical dimensions differ significantly: Ball stands 157 cm tall, while Espinoza measures 185 cm. Given this, as well as the high accuracy of Sam Goodman, which we noted in our detailed breakdown of his fight with Nick, we explain how often the featherweight champions get hit. The professional judges of Ready to Fight counted the punch statistics in the last two bouts of each champion, and the analytics team compiled all of it into final figures and explained what they mean.
Espinoza has the highest percentage absorbed. Ball is right behind him in the top rankings
Style dictates everything. There are rare cases when fighters betray their own style — for instance, boxers who generally fight offensively switch to counterpunching, or those who normally box on the back foot press forward. But these are exceptions, usually forced by a specific opponent or situation.
Among the featherweight champions, we see two clear aggressors — Rafael Espinoza and Nick Ball. These are fighters who are almost entirely focused on offense and accept the consequences. First, each of their opponents is forced to move backward. Second, they regularly take a fair amount of punches.
The leader in punches absorbed among the reigning champions is Espinoza, who in his last two bouts took an average of 39.5% of his opponents’ punches. This is a significant figure, especially considering that one of those opponents was two-time Olympic champion Robeisy Ramirez, who landed 44% of his shots. Nevertheless, Rafael won both bouts, and did so before the championship rounds — knocking out Vasquez (who landed 38% of his punches) in the sixth and Ramirez in the seventh.
In second place is Nick Ball, whose opponents have landed 31.9% of their punches. The British fighter’s all-out attacking style inevitably leads to this. On average, Nick throws more than 600 punches per fight, constantly presses forward and applies pressure. Fighting this way, it is impossible not to run into counterpunches. Still, it did not stop him from securing convincing victories over TJ Doheny and Ronnie Rios.
This is also important in the context of Ball’s meeting with Goodman. Sam is very accurate — in his recent fights, his average connect rate has been 38%.
Angelo Leo and Stephen Fulton are noticeably more skilled defensively. Both are far less risky in attack compared to their championship peers. The most masterful in this regard is Fulton, who in his last two fights absorbed an average of 23.9% of opponents’ punches. Leo’s figure is slightly worse, at 24.6%. The minimal difference of 7.3% between Fulton and Leo, on one side, and Ball and Espinoza on the other, once again underlines the diversity among the featherweight champions.
In absolute numbers, Espinoza takes fewer punches, but Ball is still near the top
Percentage is important. It shows how much a fighter gets hit on average, regardless of the opposition. Looking at these figures over time, you can get a sense of how much an opponent might land, and also what a fighter should or should not change in his approach.
But it is no less interesting to shift from percentage to absolute numbers — and here the picture changes somewhat. Overall, Fulton takes the most punches, despite having the lowest percentage absorbed. This is no paradox: both of Stephen’s last opponents threw a huge volume — Castro and Figueroa each launched more than 600 punches. Fulton took an average of 155 punches per fight, which works out to just over seven per round.
You might expect Espinoza and Ball to be on top here, since their style invites more incoming shots. But no — second is Ball, with 141 punches taken per fight in his last two outings. Espinoza, in fact, is last among the champions, with just 88 punches absorbed. Even the more cautious Angelo Leo takes more — an average of 114 punches per fight.
If we break this down to a per-round figure, the results are: Ball — 7.05 punches absorbed per round (20 rounds in his last two fights), Fulton — 7.04 (22 rounds), Espinoza — 6.7 (13 rounds), Leo — 5.1 (22 rounds). Based on the hard numbers, the fact-backed conclusion is this: Nick Ball gets hit more often than any other featherweight champion. Not more overall, but more often. He has the highest rate of punches taken per round, along with one of the highest percentages absorbed.
If we compare the total number of punches thrown at each fighter, in Ball’s last two bouts he faced an average of 441.5 punches, versus 648 thrown at Fulton — a difference of 206.5 punches. Fulton fought two more rounds overall, yet took fewer per round. Even Espinoza, with his aggressive style, does not allow opponents to land as often as Ball — but here size matters, as the Mexican is much bigger than any of his rivals, giving him a natural advantage.
It is also interesting to compare the number of power punches absorbed to the average percentage landed with them against the champions. The ranking by total power punches absorbed looks similar: Fulton — 107, Ball — 105.5, Leo — 95.5, Espinoza — 68.5. The accuracy of opponents’ power punching against them is as follows: Espinoza — 45%, Ball — 35.5%, Leo — 30%, Fulton — 30%. Again, with the same overall numbers mentioned above, Ball is near the top in punches absorbed — this time in power shots.
Does this make Ball a bad boxer? Definitely not. He knows how to win and use his strengths in a way that forces his opponents to lose. That is what matters. But it does create opportunities for the opposition. When a fighter consistently takes punches this often — and here we are talking about frequency, not just totals — it gives an opponent more chances to land a decisive blow, or at least land more punches that will wear down the champion and lead to defeat. And that, in turn, increases the chances for an accurate puncher to pull off the win.
Ball takes the most to the body
To understand a fighter’s strengths and weaknesses, it is important to know where he takes the most punches. Having precise data, not just visual observation, allows for better correction of mistakes and more effective game-planning against a specific opponent.
For example, the average accuracy of punches to Stephen Fulton’s head is 74.5% — the highest among the champions. Just 25.85% of shots that land on him go to the body. Given Fulton’s mobility, attacking his midsection would be logical, but he rarely allows it.
Angelo Leo is next — an average of 65.15% of punches that land on him go to the head, and 34.85% to the body. Third is Rafael Espinoza, who, due in part to his size and high guard, is difficult to reach upstairs, so his figure is 62.3% to the head and 37.7% to the body.
Ball protects his head better than his body. Nick has a genuinely strong guard and solid upper-body defense, which is important given his size and style — but his body takes more punishment than any other champion. The distribution is 47.85% to the head and 52.15% to the body.
Given these numbers, the fight with Goodman becomes even more intriguing, as Sam lands on average 40% of his power punches and more than 180 shots to the body.
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