UBO Flashback: When Ryan Ford Stopped Sam Rapira For UBO World Title

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NOVEMBER 2, 2023 / BY BY UBO PRESS OFFICER

It was “The Real Deal” vs. “The Terror”, headlining a massive show with a total of four UBO title fights at the sold-out Foochow Building in Singapore.

A former New Zealand national and IBO Asia Pacific titlist, Rapira had more championship experience than Ford going in, but the Canadian also brought an extensive MMA background, and it was considered a very intriguing match-up in “The Lion City”.

Both fighters were up for a scrap, fighting hard with determination from the first bell. But as the bout progressed it was Ford taking over, landing big shots and eventually hurting and stopping Rapira in round nine.

Ford defended the UBO world title three months later with a technical decision over another Kiwi in Robert Berridge (29-6-1), before relinquishing the belt for a move down to Super Middleweight in late 2017.

In 2019 he was back at Light Heavyweight and captured the WBC International Silver title with a knockout of undefeated Serge Michel (8-0) in Germany.

In 2022 he got a chance to become a two-time world champion when he faced Shefat Isufi (35-4-2) for the World Boxing Federation (WBF) Light Heavyweight title, also in Germany.

It was not to be for Ford, as he fell victim to what some would call very questionable scoring, as all three judges saw Isufi as the winner by 115-113 after a fight Ford appeared to have won.