Brad Pauls exclusive: I really want to take Nathan Heaney’s belt
The heavy handed English middleweight champion fights Heaney for the British title in Birmingham on Saturday night and he is relishing the opportunity to write his name into the history books.
“I’m not here by accident”
“It’s not something that happens very often is it? I’m going to make sure I enjoy every minute of it,” Pauls told 32Red. “The other day somebody sent me a list of all the previous British middleweight champions. There are some good names on there. I’ll be part of that list on Saturday.
“It’s all about your mindset and people have to remember that I’m not here by accident, I’m here by accolade. I won the English title and that’s put me in this position. Nathan seems like a lovely bloke but I just really want to take that belt off him.”
If this is the night Pauls has spent his entire boxing life working towards, Heaney faced his own moment of truth last November. A sizeable underdog for his British title challenge to the dangerous Denzel Bentley, Heaney thrived and produced the performance of his life to outpoint the Londoner.
Now it is Pauls’ turn to prove he can perform when it matters the most. The 30 year old from Cornwall has been a professional for nine years and has always had his eye on winning the famous Lonsdale belt. That focus sharpened when Heaney won the title and Pauls revealed that he almost spoke his shot into existence.
“I believe Nathan’s very beatable”
“What goes up, must come down. He reached his lifelong dream and now it’s my time. It’s a belt I want more than anything and I can only give Nathan credit for his last performance and the way he beat Bentley, I just believe Nathan’s very beatable. We’ll see on fight night,” he said.
“Funnily enough I mentioned it before the fight was even offered. I said I’d love to fight Heaney because I think he’s quite beatable. A couple of weeks later I got a call to fight him. It was almost like destiny to be honest.”
Pauls won the Southern Area title by knockout and claimed the English title by stopping Mitchell Frearson in the final round of their fight. He carries the type of power that will make him dangerous for every second of the bout. However, so did Bentley and Heaney found a way to neutralise him.
Pauls goes by the nickname ‘The Newquay Bomb’ but whilst he does have genuine power, he also has a pretty efficient delivery system. Pauls was a talented amateur fighter and won national titles before becoming a professional. He may just prove harder to defuse than many expect.
“I’ve got the power to hurt Nathan”
