Ringside Report: Brad Pauls Stops Nathan Heaney In Birmingham To Win The British Middleweight Title
By Alex Springer
A British title fight delivers once again with a barnstormer between Nathan Heaney and Brad Pauls on Saturday night in Birmingham.
Heaney made his ring walk to the familiar sound of Delilah, whipping up the frenzied Stoke crowd in the process, while Brad Pauls patiently waited in the ring, relaxed and seemingly revelling in the atmosphere by singing along to the Tom Jones classic.
The first few rounds were nip and tuck. Pauls came out in round one behind a high guard, landing jabs with a couple of left hooks, but Heaney was also using his own jab well and threw in a nicely-timed uppercut to boot to let Pauls know that he wasn't going to have it all his own way.
Pauls (19-1-1) landed a lovely left hook to the pit of Heaney's stomach at the start of round four, which put Heaney on his heels for a while. It definitely had an effect. Heaney managed to navigate his way through the majority of the round before Pauls landed a peach of a right hand that sent Heaney to the canvas.
Heaney (18-1-1) got to his feet without any major concerns and took the eight count. The referee was satisfied for Heaney to resume and see out the rest of the round.
Despite the knockdown, Heaney started round five strongly before receiving another body shot from Pauls. The right hand from Pauls was continuing to land, but Heaney stood firm and refused to wilt in front of his Stoke faithful.
Pauls right hand consistently found a home in the 6th and Heaney's legs looked unsteady at times. Pauls had expanded a lot of energy at this point, with half of the contest still to go.
Heaney's heart and grit can't be questioned, as he turned the tide in round seven. He got to working behind his jab again, and stayed out of range better than he had during the fight so far.
But whatever success Heaney was having, it didn't have the effect needed to stop Pauls putting the pressure on. Conversely, Pauls power had an impact on Heaney from the outset.
Pauls landed big right hands again in round eight, sending Heaney into the ropes, but once again, Heaney, biting down on his gumshield, showed real heart. Pauls was a little over eager at this point, with the occasional wild swing, due to the success he'd been having.
Remarkably, in true British Title fight style, Heaney sunk a body shot into Pauls in round 9 that put him on the backfoot. Heaney continued to work in the following round, countering Pauls tiring shots and, somehow, he started to look fresher.
Heaney started off round eleven in similar fashion, but it didn't last long as Pauls, as if remembering the confusing emotions he felt when he heard the scorecards read out at the end of their first fight, came forward like it was the last ten seconds of the fight landing huge right hands, but Heaney again resisted and somehow stayed on his feet soaking up the barrage.
Pauls smelt blood and marauded forwarded landing a procession of right hands on Heaney at the start of round twelve and, finally, Heaney wilted, fell back into the ropes under the sustained pressure and hit the deck.
Heaney managed to get up onto one knee and gazed out into the crowd as the referee counted to nine. Heaney rose at the count of ten, but it was too late. With two minutes left in the round, Pauls was the new British Middleweight champion.
'The system we've got at the minute is perfect.' Pauls told me in the dressing room post-fight.
'The lads in the gym, the coaches in the gym, Terry [Steward], Danny Barber, Ellis Steward, Ben Jones, Linus Udofia and a few others, my nutritionist, my mindset coach; the way we're going about things, the system works.
'It's the best I've felt, the fittest I've been, I'm hitting PB's, it's the most I've improved.
'If you look at the Denny fight and then look at the fight I just have to say there's massive improvements. It's obvious.
'I've got one of the best coaches in the country, and he doesn't seek the limelight, and that's so rare in boxing. The system we've got is perfect, and if we keep doing what we're doing, more success will come.
'This belt's gonna go on a whole tour of Cornwall, and I'm gonna show the next generation that it can happen.' Pauls proudly stated.
'I didn't have that when I was growing up. I started boxing in 2003, and there were no professional boxers from Cornwall, and now they can see it can be done.
'Southern Area, English, British, it doesn't matter where you start. I grafted my arse off for years and years and years, you can get there. Now I've set the precedent and made the path for the next generation, so I've done what I set out do, I've had my moment. [They'll be] more Cornish pros coming.'
In the aftermath of such a momentous occasion, Pauls was happy to touch on the future.
'I feel like a third fight [with Heaney] would be the right thing to do, but there are other options, I'll speak to Frank and see where we go.'
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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