M&S BANK ARENA, LIVERPOOL -- Saturday night's 12-fight card was long, extended further by a six-round middleweight float bout immediately following Nick Ball's second world featherweight championship title defense, meaning there was plenty to cover.

Queensberry chief Frank Warren declared Ball the world's best featherweight during his post-fight interview in the ring and afterwards, he continued that praise when assessing the overall fight night performance.

Speaking to The Ring, the Hall of Fame promoter said: "Nick boxed extremely well against a real tough guy who came to fight, this was TJ's last chance and he took some stick. Nick broke him down and had another excellent performance, the away corner did the right thing pulling their man [corner retirement after 10 rounds]."

The 28-year-old has held championship gold for just nine months but after his fourth world title fight, there are lofty ambitions to unify the division before a long-discussed welcoming to the weight division showdown with undisputed super-bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue.

Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) scored a seventh-round TKO win over Doheny last September after the Australian-based Irishman couldn't continue with back spasms, though the former IBF world super-bantamweight titleholder came into this contest with renewed belief he could produce an upset and represented another challenging test for Ball to problem-solve his way past.

Stephen Fulton (23-1, 8 KOs), another former Inoue foe, became a two-weight world champion with the WBC title added to his collection once more after skillfully outpointing Brandon Figueroa in last month's rematch. He declared Ball's aggressive style "perfect" in a matchup against him last year and appears open for possibilities.

Rey Vargas (36-1-1, 22 KOs) hasn't boxed since escaping Riyadh with a split draw against Ball last March and underwent shoulder surgery over the summer, thus being named champion in recess five months ago.

The other two divisional champions, WBO titlist Rafael Espinoza (26-0, 22 KOs) and IBF belt holder Angelo Leo (25-1, 12 KOs) both have title defenses set for the month of May.

On what's next for Ball after a period of rest, Warren said they'll be working behind-the-scenes to find a willing fellow world champion for him to share the ring with.

"We'll work on it for him but you know, it's up to the fighters themselves to accept the challenge. He's a handful for anyone, like I said in the ring, he's the world's best featherweight and should be unified already - holding the WBC and WBA titles - people forget that. I think he's very capable of unifying the division."

Just as Warren departed for the night, he was approached by an older couple eager for a quick word. They introduced themselves as Nick Ball's parents no less, just wanting to take the time out to thank him for what he's done for their son.

He graciously appreciated the sentiment but thanked them, having instilled the value of hard work in a young man inspiring plenty to follow his footsteps, now reaping the rewards of his self-belief and dedication as he enters his prime.