Brad Pauls: “If you compare the Denny fight to the Heaney one, you can see I’ve made huge improvements.”

Brad Pauls: “If you compare the Denny fight to the Heaney one, you can see I’ve made huge improvements.”

By Matt Elliott

Queensberry Promotions’ Magnificent Seven concept is certainly an intriguing one. At a time when the future of big-time boxing in the UK is under the microscope, thanks in part to the deep pockets of the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia, it is important that Queensberry and Matchroom don’t lose sight of their British fanbase, and that they strive to continue to put on quality shows within the UK as regularly as possible.

With this in mind, the Magnificent Seven format, or a variation thereof, could well be the solution moving forward. Rather than one standout headline fight, you put on several competitive matchups, each of which could stand alone at the top of the card. This format had its first airing in Manchester last November, where Nathan Heaney overcame the odds to defeat Denzel Bentley and become the British Middleweight champion. In the second show, just over three weeks ago in Birmingham, Heaney could consider himself fortunate to retain that title, as he was pushed all the way by the English champion Brad Pauls, in an enthralling encounter which ultimately ended in a draw. 

I caught up with Pauls over Zoom this past week to reflect on what has been an eventful twelve months, as well as looking forward to what might come next. When we had last spoken, it was in the immediate aftermath of his English title defeat to Tyler Denny last February. At that point, his overriding emotion was one of disappointment, not so much in the defeat itself, but more in his performance, with a feeling that he hadn’t done himself justice. This time, whilst naturally still disappointed, I found him in a much more upbeat mood as he recognised the positive steps he had taken since that loss. 

“It’s been a really good year, probably the period in which I have learnt the most, and a very influential year in my boxing career. I have to give credit to my manager Steve Goodwin for that, as he has got me these opportunities. Looking back to the Denny fight, I needed a loss to develop and move forward, and I can physically see how I’ve got better because of that defeat. We’ve changed things in camp, I’ve brought in a nutritionist as well as other changes, and if you compare the Denny fight to the Heaney one, you can see I’ve made huge improvements. So, everything happens for a reason, it’s been a good twelve months, and I feel the next twelve months will be just as good if not better.”

Turning to the Heaney fight, it was undoubtedly the biggest night of Pauls’s twenty professional outings to date. The Denny contest had given him a taste of the big shows, but this was another level as he headlined for the first time on a large platform and in front of a televised audience. Now that the dust has settled, I wondered how he reflected on both the fight, but also the experience as a whole.

“It was an important experience for me, and the decision is hard to take. I’ve had seventy-odd fights in my life, both amateur and professional, and you can sort of feel whether someone has gotten the better of you. It’s not a case of scoring the fight but you can just sense it, and I didn’t feel as if he got the better of me, I didn’t feel like he had the beating of me and he never really hurt me. It was also my first taste of what it’s like to be the away fighter on a big card. They didn’t televise my ring walk, there’s a narrative which is posted on social media, in the sense that they’ll put up videos and photos of me getting punched, but very few of my highlights where I hurt him, and they are not speaking positively about me until they had to after the sixth round. So, it was my first look into having all of those little percentages against you. It’s just one of those, though. I don’t feel deflated by it. That’s just boxing. It’s the way it is sometimes.”

One pivotal moment in the fight occurred in the eighth round. After a slow start from Pauls, he grew into the fight, and by the middle rounds, he was having the better of the exchanges. During round eight, he rocked Heaney with several shots and backed him up against the ropes. Amidst this, the champion’s gumshield came out, and whilst the action was allowed to continue for a brief period, referee Lee Every appeared to jump in prematurely just as Heaney looked as if he could wilt under the pressure. In total, Heaney’s gumshield came out three times during the fight, yet a point wasn’t deducted, and that ultimately proved pivotal in denying Paul’s the victory. Did he see that as a defining moment? 

“The rule is that the referee should wait until there is a lull in the action before he steps in. If you look back, there was no lull, I had him on the ropes and I was unloading on him, and then the referee jumped in and stopped the action, and my opportunity evaporated into thin air. The corner then took their time, putting it back in, which gave him time to recover. I believe that was the second time the gumshield came out, and there were three in total. On another night, you might see a point deducted, but again that’s boxing.”

Since his victory over Denzel Bentley, the noise around a big fight for Nathan Heaney had escalated. He has always made it clear that it is his lifetime ambition to fight at Stoke City’s bet365 stadium and talks about that becoming a possibility had intensified, even if it was just media speculation. With that in mind, was there any feeling from Pauls that Heaney had underestimated him?

“If he did underestimate me, I don’t think he knew he was doing it. I don’t think he’s stupid enough to think I was going to be an easy night’s work. There were people around him though who were talking about what was next, and perhaps that was at the back of his mind a little bit, the thoughts of fighting at Stoke or a possible world title fight, or whatever. I think he prepared well, but that carrot was dangling, and he knew he had to beat me to get that opportunity. The fight was probably a bit more difficult than he thought, but I can’t blame him if he did think that, if you look at how I boxed against Denny, and compare that to how I fought against him, the improvements are there to see.”   

With the judges unable to determine a winner on the night, talk turned to a possible rematch, with Pauls calling for that opportunity on his social media channels. I questioned whether anything had progressed in that regard or if those calls had fallen on deaf ears. 

“I’ve made it known that I want the rematch, both to Nathan and Frank, but it doesn’t seem like that is part of their plans. My manager has lodged an appeal with the board, so we will find out in the next nine or ten days whether they might force the immediate rematch or possibly make me the mandatory. Whatever happens, though, I think I should get another shot at the title, and if it’s not immediate I’ll have a keep busy fight. There’s a lot of moving parts though and nothing is guaranteed, a lot can change but there are some good opportunities out there, and I’m feeling positive, and I have faith that the board will do the right thing.” 

If the opportunity for a rematch is not on the immediate horizon, surely the performance Pauls put in will open up the door to work with Queensberry again in the future, or perhaps one of the other mainstream promoters. Pauls indicated that despite some initially positive signs, nothing has progressed on that front so far.

“It’s funny how it works. I spoke with Frank at the press conference and asked if we were going to work together in the future, and he said, let’s see how you get on first. Then, post-fight, he was like one hundred per cent I’ll work with you. Let’s do it, let’s sort something out. And then, silence, nothing, which is strange, really. People seemed to enjoy the fight, so you think maybe another opportunity will come, and I’ve proven I can sell tickets, but yeah, complete radio silence, no offers and no other promoters have indicated they want to work with me. It’s just one of those. There’s not much more I can do about it, so it looks like it could be back to the small halls for me, unfortunately.”

Before we wrapped up our conversation, I was keen to understand the current position with the English title, that Pauls had won with a TKO victory over Mitchell Frearson back in September of last year. What was the latest position with that belt, and reflecting on the night he won it, which came just seven months after missing out against Tyler Denny, how good was that feeling when he finally got his hands on the belt?

“I actually don’t know the current position. I need to speak to my manager, as I don’t know if I’ve still got the title or not, it’s a bit of a strange one. It was fantastic to get that belt, though. It was really good to be able to put into practice that night, all of the things we’d been working on in the gym. When you have an off night in boxing, sometimes the doubts start to creep in, not within me, but people can question your ability and wonder if you’re good enough. So, it made it much more satisfying that I didn’t get it the first time and had to dust myself down, rebuild, and then come back stronger. It’s definitely one of the best nights of my career because no one can take that away from me. It’s nice to get belts, and I think the route of Southern Area, English, and then British champion is such a good one. It would’ve been lovely to complete the collection, but hopefully, that opportunity comes again.”

Whatever happens in the weeks ahead, Pauls’s is determined to remain active. Whilst he hopes for positive news from the board, he is not about to sit around and wait, instead preferring to remain busy. 

“For me, sitting out of the ring for six months is no good for anyone, and I hate not being active. I’m also away from Cornwall, and I need a reason to justify that in my head, and a fight date to prepare for gives me that. You are very quickly forgotten about in boxing. I might have just held the British champion to a draw, but if I don’t fight again now for several months, then no one will remember that, so activity is very important to me. Whatever happens with the British title decision, I’m looking to fight in June, then hopefully something comes up in September or October, but activity wise I’ll definitely fight at least twice more this year and hopefully pick up a belt in the process.”