Raymond Ford is ready to remain at featherweight for the right opponent.

The 24 year old recently transformed his career with the dramatic stoppage, with seven seconds to go of the 12th and final round, of Uzbekistan’s Otabek Kholmatov to win the WBA title.

His struggles to make the 126lbs weight limit had contributed to him requiring a knockout of that nature to secure victory, and also the expectation that he would move to super featherweight, but he is willing to delay those plans. 

“We have just got to wait and see,” he told ProBox TV. “But I feel that I could make one more fight at 126, depending on who it is against and the numbers – but I do want to go up to 130.

“I want to fight the world champions up there. So that is where we are now with that one.

“It was kind of tough making weight, but I also felt a little bit off early on in the fight.

“It was kind of hard, but that wasn’t due to me having a tough week; it was also down to his very good boxing IQ and good footwork, so I don’t want to take anything away from him.

“I couldn’t find my timing early on; I couldn't find my distance either, so that was another reason why I had to step into the pocket a little bit and take the fight to him. I couldn’t get my timing down, and my feet felt like they were trapped in quicksand.”

After his victory over the 25-year-old Kholmatov, the revered Shakur Stevenson – the WBC lightweight champion who won his first titles at featherweight – phoned Ford to congratulate him.

“He is my brother,” he said. “He has been in my corner since the amateurs. I have been with him in my camp for the last three or four fights. I have been at his house doing my camps with him, and he has been in my corner with me this whole journey.

“I know I made him proud, so seeing my transition from the amateurs into the pros and constantly getting better over time, I know he is genuinely happy for me.”