Raymond Ford Says O’Shaquie Foster “Hated” on His Title Moment

“It was a point in time where I was getting ready for a fight. This is before I was even in the world title talks at 126. I had texted O’Shaquie on Instagram like, ‘Yo, can we get some sparring? Can we get some work in?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, cool.’ We set up the date and everything. Then, when the day came, I texted him the night before like, ‘We still good for tomorrow?’ and he left me on seen,” said Ford to the Mr. Versace podcast at Ring Magazine.

“When I got to the gym, he wasn’t there. So that’s where I’m like, damn, this is soft. Why would you set up sparring, give me your word that we going to work, and then you don’t show up? After I won my title at 126, he went to Twitter and said I was food. That’s when I started getting on that time with him. I felt like you was hating on my moment. I still don’t think he really want to fight me,” Ford said.

Ford also expects a hostile atmosphere in Texas, but believes the crowd reaction will motivate him once the fight begins.

“I’m expecting them to be there for him. We in Texas. Texas people, they going to ride for their own,” said Ford. “I’m expecting to get the boos and all that walking into the arena. But that’s going to fuel me. That’s going to turn me into a different person on that night and I can’t wait for it. My job is to keep them quiet.”

Ford later predicted a dominant performance against Foster while discussing what fans should expect from him on fight night.

“He doing whatever I want in there. Dominating. I know he said the same thing, but I’m really going to bring some pain,” said Raymond.

The fight marks Ford’s first attempt at becoming a two-division world champion after previously holding a title at featherweight.