By Elliot Foster

Jake Ball moved up the ladder towards another title shot with a hard-fought win.

The light-heavyweight, from Lightwater in Surrey, took the undefeated ledger of Joe Sherriff at York Hall.

The fight, which took place at the iconic London venue as part of the undercard to the JD NXTGEN bill, looked to be over early as Ball dropped Coventry man Sherriff twice in the second round.

But the Midlands man bravely fought back, and even gave Ball some issues of his own to deal with, before completing the 10 entertaining rounds.

Sole arbiter, Jeff Hinds, handed Ball –– who was iced inside a round by JJ McDonagh for the WBA International belt last November –– the decision by a margin of 97 points to 94.

The English light-heavyweight title, for which this fight was an official eliminator, is currently held by Joel McIntyre and that name and fight is one which ‘The Blade’ will undoubtedly be targeting following his triumph.

In defeat, 30-year-old southpaw Sherriff slips to 11-1 with three early, while Ball advances to 10-1 (8 KOs).

And Danny Dignum rolled on and remained undefeated with a victory against Lewis van Poetsch.