There’s just something about the British middleweight title these days.
Always a coveted belt, not to mention a beautiful one, the title has in recent years experienced quite the glow up, inspiring anyone boxing for it to reach untapped levels of superhuman strength. With it on the line, we have seen competitive fights, big upsets, and stunning climaxes. There has also been no small amount of emotion; both during fights and after them. In short: the British middleweight title has done its bit to make boxing seem pure again; sport rather than business. It has reminded us all, just when we perhaps needed reminding, that there is still a point to all this.
Certainly, if you ask Brad Pauls, the latest owner of the belt, what it means, he will say this: “The world.” It means the world to Brad Pauls because to win the British middleweight title he had to challenge its previous owner, Nathan Heaney, not once but twice. Not just that, to eventually outlast and overcome Heaney, which he did last night (July 20) in Birmingham, Pauls had to go to hell and back, his emotions dragged through the proverbial ringer. Indeed, if it wasn’t enough to brawl his way to a hard-fought draw with Heaney in March, Pauls was then trying to this time avoid leaving the decision in the hands of the three judges, which is what motivated and galvanized him in round 12 and ultimately saw him stop Heaney with just two minutes left on the clock.
It was, for Pauls, and for all those watching, every bit as dramatic as it sounds. Dropped once already in round four, Heaney had managed to admirably claw his way back into the fight only to later find himself harassed all over again in the final round by a man, in Pauls, determined to leave nothing to chance. Coming forward, and sure the finish was his to secure, the Newquay man effectively bullied Heaney into a corner and proceeded to club him with several right hands until Heaney, stiff and unable to escape, collapsed to the canvas like sick cattle. It was then Michael Alexander, the referee, counted Heaney and it was then, with his opponent stuck on one knee, Brad Pauls knew the job was done.
And it was. As much as Heaney wanted to rise from one knee, and as much as he wanted to give it one last go and turn things around, he knew at that moment that the British title was a commodity too hot to handle; something as valuable to other men as it had been to him. With reluctance, then, he knew it was time to give it up and let someone else try to hold on to it for a while.
Seeing these thoughts cross Heaney’s mind, Pauls got ready to celebrate and did exactly that the second Michael Alexander crossed his arms and the noise increased inside the Resorts World Arena. Now, having spent so long in the ring accompanied by only a referee and an opponent, Pauls was suddenly ambushed, surrounded, swallowed by the hugs and jubilation of friends and family.
Brad Pauls drops Nathan Heaney
Interestingly, one of the men in the ring congratulating Pauls was Linus Udofia, whose 2022 battle with Denzel Bentley as good as kickstarted this recent run of dramatic and compelling British middleweight title fights. Udofia, from Luton, has still to win this particular belt, but it was of course Bentley, the man who edged Udofia that night, who went on to defend and lose the title in another minor classic against Heaney, the underdog. That then led to a cracker between Heaney and Pauls in March followed by this, a last-gasp stoppage win for Pauls and the culmination of everything he has worked so hard to achieve in boxing.
“It’s history, man,” he told TNT Sports after the fight. “I’m the first Cornishman since 1939 (to hold this belt). This little belt is going to Newquay, a little surfer town. It’s crazy. But I’ve worked my arse off for 21 years and I gave it everything I’ve got in that fight. Here it is: the new British middleweight champion.”
Of course, given how quick the turnover has been in recent times, one now wonders how long Brad Pauls, 19-1-1 (11), can hold on to this belt that clearly means so much to him. One also wonders whether Heaney, someone whose style and character seems to blend so well with that of Pauls, will be granted another shot at the belt and turn this rivalry into a trilogy later this year.
At 35, Heaney will know he hasn’t a great deal of time with which to play. Yet Pauls, on the other hand, a fighter four years Heaney’s junior, will feel he is better equipped to defend the belt and perhaps rack up enough successful defences – three – to ensure it is a belt he wins outright. That will probably be the aim, one would think. In fact, as far as goals go, winning outright a belt as beautiful as the British title would presumably rank high on the to-do list of most British boxers. For not only is this belt objectively beautiful, there comes with it a demand on the champion unmatched by any other belt outside of a major world title. It has to be earned, in other words, and last night Brad Pauls did just that: he earned it.