British title classic ends in draw
Nathan Heaney and Brad Pauls battled to a split-decision draw last night in the Magnificent 7 main event for the British middleweight title in Birmingham.
After 12 all-action rounds, one judge scored the fight 116-113 in favour of Heaney, another had it 115-114 to Pauls and the third judge presented a 114-114 scorecard.
Despite Heaney dominating the early rounds by boxing on the back foot, Pauls hurt the British champion in rounds eight and 11 and was close to scoring a couple of knockdowns.
Pauls landed a powerful right hand in the eighth, knocking Heaney’s gum shield out of his mouth and then letting his hands go before the referee briefly halted the contest.
And in the eleventh, Pauls connected with another flush right hand which staggered Heaney, who survived by holding and then responding with a left-hook right straight combination towards the end of the round.
Indeed, Heaney-Pauls was competitive throughout, with Pauls having to close the distance as the shorter man and Heaney using his reach to stay out of harm's way.
In the first three rounds, the bout displayed a similar pattern with the 6’1 Heaney landing the lab and the straight right hand from distance as the 5'10 Pauls struggled to have much noticeable success.
From round four onwards, the contest became a back-and-forth affair with Heaney winning the rounds when out of range yet getting caught with big power punches from Pauls on the inside.
Round five saw Heaney catch Pauls with a few solid right hands and left hooks, though this still wasn’t enough to deter the challenger from coming forward.
Then in rounds six and seven, both men started to land clean on each other with Pauls landing the left hook and Heaney being relentless with more straight right hands.
However, in the twelfth, Heaney who ended the fight stronger by dictating the round with his jab and straight punches.
Overall, Heaney versus Pauls was a classic boxer-against-brawler contest where the champion controlled the fight for longer periods but the challenger had the more eye-catching moments.
The judge's decision allowed Heaney to retain the British title but he is likely to have a rematch with Pauls later this year.
Heaney was a strong favourite going into his first defence against Pauls after causing a major upset by outpointing Denzel Bentley in November.
Pauls lost to Tyler Denny in early 2023 yet was on a two-fight winning streak following wins over Patryk Polasik and Mitchell Frearson.
In the chief support, Liam Davies destroyed Erik Robles in two rounds to capture the IBO Super Bantamweight Championship, landing a brutal right uppercut come left hook before forcing the stoppage.
Earlier in the night, Joe Joyce made a winning return by knocking out Kash Ali in the tenth round with a short right hand, although the ‘Juggernaut’ failed to impress.
Zach Parker survived a second-round knockdown to outpoint Tyron Zeuge in a lacklustre performance.
Dennis McCann proved too sharp and powerful for Brad Strand, attaining a unanimous decision against his British rival at Super Bantamweight.
Owen Cooper dropped Eithan James in the first round prior to claiming a ninth-round corner stoppage.
And Pierce O’Leary knocked out a tough competitor in Hovhannes Martirosyan with a thunderous left hook in the ninth round.
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