Nathan Heaney vs. Brad Pauls Preview

Nathan Heaney vs. Brad Pauls Preview

By Alex Springer

Nathan Heaney went into his British middleweight title fight with Denzel Bentley in November 2023 as a 9/2 underdog. Heaney was unbeaten, with a height and reach advantage, but was given slim to no chance by the bookies and boxing fans. Bentley was expected to get Heaney out of there in quick fashion. But Heaney defied the odds.

Heaney delivered the performance of his career by beating Bentley by a majority decision.

Never short of confidence, and with the Lonsdale belt around his waist, Heaney was expected to take the momentum from the Bentley victory, into bigger fights, all the way to the Holy Grail of fighting at the Brittania Stadium, the home of his beloved Stoke City F.C.

Chris Eubank Jr. and Hamzah Sheeraz were mentioned as future opponents, but first Heaney had to defend his British crown against Brad Pauls.

Roles reversed, Heaney went into the fight in March this year as the 1/3 bookies favourite.  With his army of fans behind him, the MO was for Heaney to get past Pauls and continue on the path to the Brittania.

As is Boxing, things did not go to plan.

In an exciting fight in front of a raucous crowd, the bout was deemed a draw by the judges in a close-fought contest, with scores of 116-113 Heaney, 115-114 Pauls and 114-114.

Heaney won the majority of the early rounds, but Pauls came on strong down the stretch and had Heaney in trouble numerous times, landing the harder shots throughout the fight. A draw was not a satisfying end to a fantastic back-and-forth contest, so a rematch was more than warranted. As such, Heaney will defend his British middleweight title for a second time against Brad Pauls at The Resorts World Arena in Birmingham on Saturday night.

Unbeaten Heaney (18-0-1) is determined to put right what he thinks was a wrong from the first fight.  

‘The first seven rounds were easy. He won one round of the first seven.’ Heaney told the gathered media at the press conference on Thursday.

‘I switched off and allowed him to catch me in round 8 and caught me in round 11. It was just one of them.

‘It was a competitive fight, but I won the fight by two or three rounds. I didn’t agree with the fight being a draw at all.’

Inevitably, the question of fighting at The Britannia Stadium was posed to Heaney.

‘I’ve done everything asked of me all the way through. Every fighter I’ve boxed, I’ve beaten them, granted the last fight, but still even before the Denzel Bentley fight, that was the coming of age moment, and I beat Denzel Bentley. Every fight I’ve gotta keep going and keep winning to get to that point. It’s my dream to fight there [The Brittania Stadium]. My Stokies have backed me all the way, in thousands.’

Pauls (18-1-1) will take confidence from the first fight and feel that he’s more than capable of bringing the belt home to Newquay. Pauls is proud of his hometown, and although he trains Essex, he goes back to Newquay whenever he can. 

‘I go back as much as I can. It’s a lovely place.  Anytime I can, I go back to the amateur clubs, like the ones that I started in, and I go to the shows and hand out the trophies.  I do all the things that I didn’t get when I was there because if you can add any positive impact in your life to something, then you’ve done an amazing thing and I feel like I can do that. 

‘When I was that age, I didn’t even know a professional or knew someone who knew a professional. Now, there’s a little path there if someone else wants to do it. I love reconnecting with Cornwall and flying the flag.

‘Newquay has two separate clubs now, and they are massive, Cornish boxing is thriving. There’s belt holders, there’s multiple clubs, there’s packed gyms at full capacity, and that’s what you love to see.  Boxing at grassroots and upwards.’

Pauls has suffered defeat only once to Rowley Regis’ Tyler Denny, in February 2023, who has since gone on from strength to strength by winning and defending the European Title and landing a life-changing fight against Hamzah Sheeraz on the AJ vs Dubois undercard.

Pauls has seen first-hand what a big fight win can do. 

‘I watch every one of his fights, I’m his biggest fan.’ Pauls chuckles, reflecting on Denny’s journey since they fought each other. ‘It’s an incredible story. You’ve gotta respect it. He’s done amazing. He’s taken hard fight after hard fight. If you look at his last five or six fights, you gotta give him props.  He’s done it the hard way, and you’ve gotta respect it.  

‘The best thing that happened to me was losing to Tyler. I went away and I changed so much in my camp, so everything for a reason. I wish him all the best. He’s a nice bloke. You’re only one win away from fighting in Saudi and life-changing money.’ Pauls added as we discussed the boxing landscape.

‘Boxing is the best it’s ever been, the best fights you’ve ever seen and where there’s money, there’s options. Thanks to Turki Alalshikh, it’s opened a few doors.’

Pauls went into more detail about the changes he made after the loss to Denny.

‘I went away and added a nutritionist, shoutout Jack Coak. I doubled down with my mindset coach and just really really lived the life and done everything to the best of my ability at all times. It’s added 15-20 percent, the way I’ve changed. It’s fine margins in boxing. It’s the difference between winning and losing.

‘I did some of it [Mindset Training] before, but I didn’t do it as properly as I should have and really go through all of the things that you can get benefit from. There’s all sorts with mindset.  There’s grounding, meditation, recovery, all these little things where you might be able to steal a percent, and I really doubled down with it after the Denny fight, and it’s added up.

‘I do it [Mindset training] once a week with my coach, and then all the other things are implemented through the week that will help with my mindset. Anything that makes camp run smoother adds a percentage.’

All too often, in the first fight, Heaney allowed Pauls to close the distance and get shots off in close rather than staying at range and boxing from the outside, which he did brilliantly against Bentley.

Pauls will be hoping for more of the same from the first fight, but to get his foot in the door a little earlier in the contest this time around.

Back at the scene of the first fight, the Stoke following will no doubt be in full voice once more and with the Britannia Stadium carrot still dangling, Heaney will be determined to get back on the winning trail.

It will be up to Pauls to silence the crowd and finish what he started the first time around.