O'Shaquie Foster shows levels to boxing skills in Ray Ford victory

When boxing fans say that there are levels to the sport, Saturday night's super featherweight matchup between O'Shaquie Shock Foster and Raymond Savage Ford for the WBC title is what they mean.

Ray Ford is a good young fighter. He's solid defensively, opportunistic offensively, and he never puts himself in a position to be knocked out or even knocked down in his career.

But Ice Water Foster, the fighter he ran into Saturday, has a bag that is way deeper than that, and he used that bag to retain his title with a majority decision win in front of a lively hometown crowd in Houston.

The lead-up to this fight was fraught with animosity, reckless talk, and multiple shoves. The fighters brought that exact energy into the ring.

The match started off rocky when Foster and Savage tied up in the first round. Ford, looking to make the fight ugly early, wedged an elbow against Foster's neck during a tie-up near the end of the first round.

Foster responded by swinging his feet to give himself a better angle for leverage, then he tossed Ray Ford right out of the ring.

The push was definitely intentional, but the result wasn't. Ford flew through the bottom ropes of the ring, arms first. Thankfully, he wasn't hurt and was able to hop right back in the ring and finish the fight.

In the press conference after the fight, Foster said that in the moment it happened, he was worried the referee was going to disqualify him.

I saw some fans on social media asking why he wasn't DQ'd as well. In my view, if your opponent wants to make the fight dirty and the referee isn't going to do anything about it, then you kind of have to protect yourself anyway you can.

Foster didn't mean to throw him through the ropes, but he did mean to push him off of him as a way of saying, 'don't put your elbow on my neck.'

The referee let the fight continue after a warning to both fighters and Ford and Foster traded punches and rounds throughout the first third of what was a pretty even fight.

Then in the 5th round, Shock took off.

The consistent punches O'Shaquie landed in Ford's midsection started to pay dividends as Ford started to show signs of fatigue halfway through the fight.

And Foster didn't let him off the hook, making it a point to dig to the body right through the final bell.

Suddenly, the defense and counterpunching that had been present in the first four rounds were lacking once Shock got going.

He stacked rounds on top of rounds consistently until the 10th, when Ford mounted a spirited comeback that was driven, once again, by him making the fight dirty.

Boxing isn't a clean sport and sometimes you have to get dirty to get the win in the end. But Foster is a veteran in the ring, and he again showed levels to the game by weathering the 10th round and sweeping the championship 11th and 12th rounds from Foster with little resistance.

What's next for O'Shaquie Foster?

The final bell rang, and after O'Shaquie Foster jumped on the ring aprons to celebrate his win with his hometown fans (quick side note: the Houston crowd was amazing all night. They were engaged and loud throughout the whole fight. And this wasn't a barn burner. Both fighters landed about 100 punches each, according to Compubox, and yet the fans remained loud from the opening bell to the final bell.

But the drama wasn't over.

Shakur Stevenson, who is good friends with his fellow New Jersey native Ford, was sitting ringside watching the fight.

Foster has called out Shakur Stevenson in the past, and both sides have been very disrespectful to one another.

Before the fight, Foster said he was going to beat Ford, whom he called mini-Shakur, and use that as a springboard to get the big fight against Stevenson. And with Stevenson right there sitting ringside, Foster immediately invited him into the ring after the referee raised his hand in victory.

After the heated exchange in the ring, Stevenson went on social media to say that he was ready to make the fight between the two happen next.

The only problem is that Shakur Stevenson recently fought at 140 lbs, and Foster hasn't fought above 130 lbs since 2018.

With Shakur being the A side in that fight, Shock would definitely have to move up in weight. The two could meet at 135, but if I know boxing, Shakur is going to want the fight at the higher weight limit.

We'll see if Shock wants the fight that badly.

So that leaves WBO and IBF unified super featherweight world champion, and Ring Magazine pound-for-pound ranked Emanuel Navarrete as the next logical opponent.

Foster has said he wants to be on the pound-for-pound lists, so beating a guy on the list and holding three of the four belts in the division would definitely get him there.

Whatever comes in his future, O'Shaquie Foster definitely raised his profile in the sport by putting on a show in what became one of the most anticipated fights of the year based on the buildup.

Between the drama with Shakur Stevenson and the potential for legacy-building fights at a weight class where he has found a home, the future seems bright for Ice Water Foster.

Related: David Benavidez, WBC outmaneuver Zuffa for world title fight

Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 31, 2026 at 8:07 PM.