O’Shaquie Foster keeps the story close to him, like a coveted tome for safe keeping, brought out when necessary. It’s the story about a rail-thin 12-year-old living in the harsh reality of Orange, Texas, where most teenage men wound up either dead by 20, or in jail. That’s where Foster may have been heading if not for boxing, if not for the staunch, unbending love of Christie Williams, his mother.
Foster watched her shrivel in front of him from cancer, and eventually die at the age of 31. Each time young O’Shaquie would win an amateur tournament, he made sure Christie got the trophy, or ribbon, or championship cup. Each time, he made sure that was salve for mom’s pain. It made her OK for the moment.
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Until she was not there anymore.
He knew then, when he was 12, he would one day be a world champion. That started the day of Christie’s funeral, when he stood there sobbing over his mother’s casket, and then left the funeral to compete and win a Golden Gloves tournament.
That crying, fearless 12-year-old still exists today in the WBC super featherweight champion. It’s why Foster (24-3, 12 KOs) takes on challengers like Camden, New Jersey southpaw Ray Ford (18-1-1, 8 KOs) with a calm well anchored in self-confidence.
The two are the featured event on DAZN this Saturday night from the Fertitta Center, in Foster’s hometown of Houston. It will be the 32-year-old’s second title defense, coming off the most impressive victory of his career after dominating former two-division world champion Stephen Fulton in his last outing, winning by a lopsided, unanimous decision.
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“Ford has nothing for me,” Foster says in his thick-as-rawhide Texas drawl. “You see and face the things that I have in my life, I fear nothing. You can say that 12-year-old, the kid who went from his mother’s funeral to fight in a boxing tournament that [same] night, you can say he is still inside me. Things like that never leave you. I always felt I had to do something for my mom.
“It was torture seeing her in bed [dying of cancer]. You see that at 12, that stays with you. Every time I won something, I gave it to her. So, when she passed, I felt I would not do it anymore, but I had to remain strong and still fight for her. Those moments take me to another level. When I get in the ring with Ford, she’ll be on my mind. She’s always going to be with me.”
Foster may be one of the more underappreciated fighters in the world today. He’s suffered one loss in the past decade, a split decision setback to Robson Conceicao, which Foster avenged in their 2024 rematch to retain the WBC super featherweight title.
He started boxing when he was 8, drawn to the gym by a cousin and the urge to corral his rambunctiousness. Whenever Foster was around, whoever he was with, he would drive them nuts with his constant energy. He’d often get kicked out of the gym, only to return undeterred the next day.
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“Boxing helped me control and harness the rage, which may have had to do with mom being in bad health, or where we living, and me being such a little kid, I always felt like I had something to prove,” he says. “My problem growing up was that I was never afraid of anything.”
He still feels like that today.
Three years ago, Foster was supposed to have a tough time with then-undefeated Rey Vargas for the vacant WBC super featherweight world championship. No problem. Foster won by unanimous decision. Four years ago, then-undefeated Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov was supposed to beat him. Nope. Foster won almost every second of every round, downing Yaqubov in the 12th.
Now he faces Ford, whose lone loss came against featherweight contender Nick Ball by close, split decision in 2024. Since then, Ford, 27, has won his last three.
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“My goal this year is to break out to become one of the biggest names in boxing, and I won’t get there without beating Ford,” Foster says. “Everyone likes putting these names out there, who I want to fight next, what’s my next move, how important it would be to unify against [IBF/WBO super featherweight world champion] Emanuel Navarrete, or someone like that. I won’t get there unless I beat Ford, and he’s pretty good.
“I feel like I’m in the prime of my career. I’ve put the work and I finally got a big name in Fulton, and I took care of business. I’m headlining in a real arena, in my hometown, and I feel like the boxing world is watching me to see what I do next. This is my time.”
Foster feels the biggest difference between him now and him a few years ago is health. He was on the cusp of being a pound-for-pound fighter before Conceicao. He admits he became complacent, though nagging injuries were also cutting in his preparation and training. Foster always prided himself of putting his foot down on the gas.
It certainly was not his left foot, where he was dealing with the pain from plantar fasciitis.
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“I put the work in, but after the Vargas fight, I thought I could fight through the injuries,” Foster says. “Against Vargas, I started to get plantar fasciitis in my left foot. I worked; I just couldn’t put in the kind of work I wanted. It started to flare up more with each fight after, and with Conceicao, it was one thing after another, after another. It’s why my performances were [lacking]. I couldn’t spar the last two weeks going into the Conceicao fight.”
Foster stressed he is more attuned to what his body is telling him today.
For the second straight time, he will be taking on a fighter from the Philadelphia area.
“It’s nothing against Philly, they have some great fighters, and didn’t even know Camden was that close to Philly, but so many great fighters come from the area, so you’re bound to fight them,” Forster says. “The Fulton fight proved to me that I am who I thought I was. Going into the fight, I was hearing all this chatter about skills, and I wasn’t hearing my name. It’s what I’m hearing again [for this one].
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“So for the Fulton training camp, I was sharpening my skills, and when I went into that ring, I was in there to prove it. After the loss to Conceicao, in time, the boxing world turned its back on me. Adversity helped shape me. I didn’t like hearing the negative, but I knew that wasn’t the best version of me. I like being doubted.
“Something inside me unlocks when my back is against the wall.”
Foster is the favorite entering the Ford fight. He’s healthy. He’s in shape. He’s ready.
“I don’t really know much about Ford, and I have watched him for the last few years,” Foster says. “I think he’s a good fighter all around, but I feel I do everything better than he does. Honestly, I feel I’m the more superior fighter. He has talent. He has good speed, but I’m too much. I’m the superior fighter. That started young.”
With an underlying motivation that pushed him.
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