Nathan Heaney is still British middleweight champion, but only just after a hard-fought split draw over twelve rounds against English titlist Brad Pauls in their Birmingham headliner overnight. Elsewhere, Liam Davies wasted no time seizing IBO world gold at 122lbs with another fast finish after big wins for Pierce O’Leary and Dennis McCann among others on a busy undercard.
Heaney retains British honours but Pauls forces nervy finish
116-113, 114-115, 114-114: Nathan Heaney vs. Brad Pauls ends in split draw, Heaney retains British middleweight title
- Have we seen Heaney’s best? He tells me afterwards: “I might not have moved as good as I did against Denzel, I let him come in a bit… should’ve just been moving more, at times I was a bit too stationary but that’s where the mistakes were made. I shouldn’t be letting him get anywhere near me, that’s what let him into [the fight], I’ve got to learn from that.”
- Forward planning: Naturally, a rematch is the most likely outcome for this summer as Heaney’s Stoke stadium desire still burns brightly after what feels like a loss for him all things considered
- Frustration: Pauls and his inner circle will feel hard done by, having exceeded expectations and done enough in the second-half of the fight to snatch what would’ve been a career-best victory
RESORTS WORLD ARENA, BIRMINGHAM — QUEENSBERRY chief Frank Warren said Nathan Heaney would earn a world championship shot next if he came through his maiden British middleweight title defence against English champion Brad Pauls.
It was a voluntary defence but one that could’ve easily blown up in smoke for the Stoke man, again fervently buoyed on by thousands of travelling west Midlands supporters cheering him on through what quickly proved a gruelling 12-round duel.
Unlike when he skilfully snatched the strap in November against Denzel Bentley, there wasn’t the same bounce in his step and fluid head movement against a bullish underdog who’d already lost on the big stage before and wanted to make amends.
13 months ago, he was comprehensively outpointed over ten rounds by Tyler Denny on his first Sky Sports show and had to steadily rebuild again after a flat showing.
This shot wasn’t supposed to come so soon, having only just won the title Denny himself vacated in September with an eighth-round knockout over Mitchell Frearson.
That’s the context needed to better understand how he showcased a masterful motor in the latter rounds, complete with educated pressure and power shots aplenty to repeatedly sting Heaney in the final quarter of a relentless battle.
Pauls’ intensity in later rounds pays dividends
The defending champion wasn’t able to utilise his range and reach advantages for long, wilting from the fifth round onwards after an encouraging start with uppercuts not landing as often and whizzing hooks meeting air with time proving to favour a challenger unafraid disrupting the 34-year-old’s rhythm wherever possible.
Pauls made a conscious effort to constantly finish combinations and their exchanges with the final punch, and would’ve been further enthused after knocking Heaney’s mouthguard out and watching him catch it during round five.
Staying in his face, not allowing him time to manoevure or think about punch selection, they traded haymakers in the sixth and Pauls’ better head movement was visibly unsettling the favourite who didn’t box with the swagger he has previously.
By the seventh, the Newquay Bomb found a real home for the left hook – not the only fighter on this card to do so – throwing body-then-head combos as Heaney replied with dirty boxing in the pocket. Both were enjoying periods of success.
Some of these rounds were nip-and-tuck, but through seven rounds Pauls was likely leading 4-3 and the difference in their body language was telling after a frantic eighth.
Given their all-action start the pace naturally slowed a touch in the ninth, Heaney briefly rocked to the ropes and had his hands down potentially playing possum, but it wasn’t an encouraging visual from his perspective given how infrequently this sequence was seen by a more heavy-handed boxer in Bentley last time out.
Pauls jabbed well at mid-range in the tenth, while Heaney replied with three big right hands in another close round where the champion and his corner were being lectured for his mouthguard coming out a third time in five rounds.
Couple that with some messy boxing in the clinch, referee Lee Every should’ve asserted himself more from the off and given the pair stern warnings to discourage needless transgressions – rabbit punching and excessive holding included.
Pauls peppered him in R11 and badly hurt him on more than one occasion, as Heaney waded into the fire and got burned for his troubles. Appearing out on his feet at times, he was hanging on elsewhere as they went into a final round where the challenger threw caution to the wind and should’ve come out victorious.
Instead, it was an anticlimactic end to a busy bill in Birmingham where we’ve left with more questions than answers domestically at 160lbs. Perhaps it’s a fitting conclusion, seeing as Liam Williams’ recent conqueror Hamzah Sheeraz and former world champion Liam Smith were among the ringside audience.
Davies dices Robles inside two full rounds
R2, 1:17 — Liam Davies bt. Erik Robles Ayala, wins vacant IBO world super-bantamweight title and improves to 18-0
Liam Davies flew out of the blocks and set the tone for another fast night’s work, this time stopping Lee McGregor’s conqueror Erik Robles to win the IBO world super-bantamweight strap after defending European gold back in November.
The Telford-born fighter wasted no time getting to work by throwing a chain of combinations, first to the head and later body, landing one-twos and asserting himself in the early going against a Mexican who didn’t know what hit him.
It would soon worsen for him: Robles had to climb off the canvas early in round two after eating a sneaky right-hand uppercut in close quarters. He barely beat the referee’s count and after a groggy assessment, ate a five-punch combo before referee John Latham waved it off – as he was mid-fall, being held up by the ropes.
Robles never had an opportunity to really get going and has only served to further showcase an exciting fan-friendly fighter in Davies, currently enjoying a rich vein of form and clearly riding the wave of momentum after passing recent gutchecks well.
Joyce eventually gets stoppage on return
R10, 2:53 — Joe Joyce bt. Kash Ali via TKO
Former interim WBO world heavyweight champion Joe Joyce left it late, but got the stoppage he and everyone was craving on his return from an unsuccessful two-fight series with Zhilei Zhang last year in the final seconds against Kash Ali.
Ending a six-month layoff here, Joyce came in at a career-heaviest 286.5lbs and the first thing you could see is just how slow this encounter was going to be fought at.
Sure, they’re big and beefy heavyweights – 525lbs combined – but there was no disguise behind their attacks, power being effectively nullified by the lack of movement and set-ups to unload those attacks when opportunities were there.
Watching ringside, it felt as if they were throwing punches on 0.75x speed and didn’t make for a great watch over a near half-hour where the most noteworthy action was coming from Ali’s corner with fighter-turned-trainer Richard Towers repeatedly berating him for failing to listen to instructions or punish Joyce’s slow tendencies.
Joyce spent large periods here pressing his former sparring partner against the ropes, pressing as Ali landed sparingly with wild counterpunching off the back foot.
Clearly wary of opening up, he didn’t have the Juggernaut‘s respect as far as punch power and found himself overwhelmed by volume against a man whose telegraphed punches weren’t being accurately stifled.
Hit too easily from minute one, 6ft 8in Towers continued to stick out like a sore thumb shouting expletives at Ali and angrily pounding on the ring apron.
Constantly looking at his corner, there were periods here where it felt like he didn’t want to be in the ring, let alone stick to a gameplan against a man deemed one of the world’s top five in the sport’s most dangerous division little under a year ago.
All of this combined to make it a painful watch for sustained periods, as Joyce couldn’t cut off the ring fast enough but was still getting away with throwing wildly and missing more often than not against opposition making him look sloppy.
Eventually the stoppage came, partly from sheer accumulation and a well-timed right hand shot, that an exhausted Ali couldn’t get up fast enough to beat referee Kevin Parker’s count. If only this outcome had arrived several rounds sooner.
Parker avoids Zeuge scare over ten rounds
96-94, 97-92, 98-91: Zach Parker bt. Tyron Zeuge via UD10
Zach Parker survived an early scare, where he was dropped heavy in the second-round, en route to a laborious decision win over former WBA super-middleweight world champion Tyron Zeuge as the 29-year-old racked up another morale-boosting win given the circumstances. Who he faces next from here though, is unclear.
This bout was bizarre to watch at times, messy in parts and baffling elsewhere as Zeuge appeared to hurt Parker more than once when they exchanged shots up close.
The longer this fight went, the more comfortable the Derby man became and that didn’t bode well for a German opponent who seemed all too content with histrionics – laughing and shaking his head after eating punches flush – rather than unloading more volume in the later rounds given the power in his hands.
Parker ignored this and went about his business astutely, appearing to sustain an ankle injury in the latter stages, landing awkwardly as Zeuge briefly pressed the action and made the younger man move to stay out of the way of telegraphed power shots while racking up body work of his own.
A forgettable fight but ten rounds banked against deceptively difficult opposition, Parker must now be matched tougher to see whether he has what it takes to match those very same divisional rivals he’s been longing to box – whether at 168lbs or 175.
McCann masterclass snaps Strand’s unblemished record
118-111, 116-112, 116-111: Dennis McCann bt. Brad Strand, defends WBO Intercontinental and wins British super-bantamweight title
Dennis McCann answered some questions on his return and produced beautiful boxing when needed, deftly outpointing Brad Strand to unify titles at 122lbs.
The 23-year-old talent scored a second-round knockdown with an overhand right Strand didn’t see coming and from that sequence onwards, it felt like ‘The Menace’ could do whatever he wanted to, whenever.
He was the more active puncher in a cagey start, sticking the right hand in Strand’s face frequently and getting big reactions early. A right might’ve dropped the Scouser but the left hand was also landing too through six minutes, as McCann did lots of posturing waiting for openings to arrive, stalking his prey patiently with confidence.
Strand’s best attacks by contrast were through body work and counterpunching – neither landed often enough to deter Dennis from being on the front foot.
Strand landed a good right early in the fourth but again was second best, McCann connecting clean with angled single shots as time continued to pass without much in the way of Strand success.
The fifth was more of the same, Strand’s extended team – complete with Nick Ball and Boma Brown – could be heard in the media section frequently barking instructions and encouragement but their man was a step slow to execute efficiently.
McCann began mixing up his attacks in round six, digging to the body, flashing uppercuts and charging forward as it became clear this was being fought at his pace.
The jab did its job for the younger man through seven, Strand not doing enough to win rounds with less noteworthy attacks from both.
Strand’s best round came in the eighth as he began to time his entries better and was landing more from a defensive stance than he had been doing for some while, chaining together two and three-punch combinations.
McCann responded with urgency early in the ninth, perhaps consciously unhappy with a lull in the action beforehand as they finished it exchanging successful shots up close against the ropes. Strand landed more often with his left hand in the tenth, but this success came half-an-hour too late.
McCann looked fairly disinterested by this stage and it was a direct consequence of him being unafraid of danger, evidenced by a R11 sequence where Strand landed six punches in quick succession but ate one in reply and the difference said it all.
Power isn’t everything and while some might’ve expected McCann to invite more risk by pushing for a highlight reel KO in the middle rounds, he used placement and angles to do most of the work as he went the 12-round distance for the first time too.
Just far better technically, he would’ve felt that way from the off and it merely reinforced why he’s long been primed for bigger things in a deep weight class. Not everyone’s cup of tea and that’s okay, but most important we’ll wait to see whether he can complete his unfinished business with a certain someone later this year.
Cooper is champion after career-best scalp
R9, 3:00 — Owen Cooper bt. Eithan James via TKO (corner retirement), wins English and WBO European welterweight titles
Any worry about fan fatigue after O’Leary’s fun firefight at 140lbs was quickly abandoned, as Owen Cooper’s beautiful first-round left hook knockdown foreshadowed a dominant win in a career-best showing to unify titles at 147lbs.
He would’ve loved to put an exclamation mark on his performance with a knockout finish – most expected it would go the distance – especially as he unloaded a barrage of punches after a sequence saw James’ mouthpiece go flying past the TNT broadcast booth ringside. Somehow, they were still boxing a while longer.
James’ legs weren’t fully underneath him and he was repeatedly getting lit up by the left hand during the subsequent rounds, almost like clockwork. Too durable for his own good and absorbing punishment aplenty as the contest continued, his corner mercifully pulled him before the final stanza.
Some in media row were arguing about the timing of said corner intervention, that he should’ve been pulled a few rounds sooner. Regardless, it was an impressive showing as Cooper showed why Frank Warren has kept faith in him at 147lbs.
O’Leary succeeds in duel of unbeaten contenders
R9, 2:39 — Pierce O’Leary bt. Hovhannes Martirosyan, retains WBC International light-welterweight title and improves to 14-0
Irish light-welterweight prospect Pierce O’Leary didn’t have it all his own way, but emerged through adversity to snap Hovhannes Martirosyan’s 16-0 unbeaten run with an explosive left hook TKO win deep into their 10-round contest.
It came late in a frantic back-and-forth battle where both had their moments and O’Leary could be forgiven for thinking he had an early night’s work ahead of him after earning a flash knockdown in the first. That merely added to the spectacle.
The crowd were baying for a furious finish after watching him land whipping rights and lefts in the second, but Martirosyan grew into the encounter to bank most of the middle rounds as he timed his entries better and was landing more often.
O’Leary was cut over the nose and below his right eye, the Belgian’s team making their presence felt as their man had clearly found a rhythm. A chopping right was the frequent method of attack connecting flush on the 24-year-old’s face, as it became clear he needed slick head movement and to stop throwing single shots by the sixth.
Perhaps ego and bravado stopped him from being defensively sound, but he had confidence in his power and that showed early in the seventh – wobbling Martirosyan – before a bad cut underneath the visitor’s eye was clear in this round.
They exchanged haymakers in the pocket during a nip-and-tuck eighth stanza, and you could sense the knockdown might prove key if it went the distance.
I had O’Leary a round up heading into the ninth, where he closed the show clinically with a hellacious hook the Belgian didn’t see coming:
Taylor takes another stoppage win
In the card’s opening bout, Ezra Taylor improved to 8-0 as a pro and earned his second consecutive stoppage win with a fourth-round TKO against Prince Oko Nartey to become the Commonwealth Silver light-heavyweight champion.
The difference in their power was clear from the off, Taylor wobbling him more than once as you could quickly tell this wasn’t going the full ten-round distance.
A sloppy knockdown was called by referee Kevin Parker in round two, and another should’ve followed as Nartey was propped up by the ropes alone after absorbing more unprotected flurries in the second frame.
Taylor wasn’t worried by the power flashing back his way but was still a tad defensively open as you could hear his supporters calling for him to use the jab and set up attacks better, rather than roughing up in the clinch and exchanging wildly in the pocket.
Nartey was docked a point for excessive holding in the third and soon enough, it was over altogether. Taylor dropped the Ghanaian with a right hook early in the fourth, then was aggressively winging punches with the 30-year-old up against the ropes, ready to be mercifully retired.
After briefly emptying the tank, the referee had finally seen enough – a bizarre scene at the end saw Nartey angrily contest the stoppage and confront Taylor about it.
That sequence merely reinforced the belief he was badly concussed, seemingly believing he was okay to continue.
Far from it, and now Taylor must continue to step-up the levels against trickier opposition like former Joshua Buatsi opponent Ricards Bolotniks.
Picture source: Queensberry, all quotes procured by me
Mo and Sports 