Denzel Bentley pinpoints where the Nathan Heaney-Brad Pauls rematch can be won and lost

Denzel Bentley will be an interested observer as his domestic rivals Nathan Heaney and Brad Pauls meet in their British middleweight title rematch in Birmingham this weekend (July 20). 

Although Bentley, 19-3-1 (16 KOs), lost a decision to now unified WBO and IBF middleweight champion, Janibek Alimkhanuly, in November 2022, he performed well and gained plenty from the experience. He rebounded with a clinical first round stoppage of Keiran Smith and appeared to be a fighter on the rise. 

His momentum came to a halt when Nathan Heaney shocked him to take his British middleweight title with a deserved majority decision late last year.

Earlier this year, Bentley got back to winning ways again with a dominant second round stoppage of Danny Dignum and is hunting down a second world title shot. This week it was announced that he will fight Derek Osaze, 13-1 (3 KOs), at London’s York Hall on August 17th.

The 29-year-old Londoner takes a keen interest in happenings in the middleweight division and will be watching events in Birmingham on Saturday night as Heaney, 18-0-1 (16 KOs), and Pauls, 18-1-1 (10 KOs), meet in a rematch of the thrilling split draw they battled out in March.  

“Good fight. The last one was very interesting,” the two-time British middleweight champion told BoxingScene. “In that last fight, I don’t think Heaney lost focus. I think he just slowed down and Brad Pauls picked it up. I don’t think it’s a thing where in the second fight he needs to be switched on to win. I think he needs not to slow down or get tired. I don’t know exactly what it is what I’m looking for but he slowed down and Pauls picked it up.”

Pauls took his time to get going first time around and Heaney bossed the opening rounds of the fight with his movement and habit of firing straight back when caught. Pauls finally broke through in the eighth round, badly rocking the 35-year-old, and seemed to be on the verge of a stoppage victory again in the 11th when he had Heaney in serious trouble. Although badly shaken, Heaney did remarkably well to present a constantly moving target and prevented Pauls from landing what would likely have been a title winning coup de grâce.

Bentley knows what it is like to blink and find yourself behind on the scorecards against Heaney. He fully admits that he entered their title fight as a distracted and unfocused fighter and by the time he came to terms with the threat posed by the unrated fighter from Stoke, his title had all but slipped away.

Bentley doesn’t believe that either man needs to make wholesale changes to the tactics they employed in the first fight but thinks that both men can help their chances by implementing small but crucial tweaks.

“Rather than trying to win, he [Pauls] actually believes he can win so we’re gonna see a lot more from Brad Pauls I think,” he said.

“I think he knows his problem. He gets tired so if he starts fast, he won’t finish strong. I think he wants to warm up the engine and then finish strong but he might give up too many rounds. I don’t think Heaney is going to slow down because he knows he [Pauls] is gonna come on late but he’ll still expect a fast start. If he lets Heaney get into a rhythm then he might let a few rounds go.”

“Heaney shouldn’t be thinking, ‘This guy doesn’t know how to finish me, I’ll be alright.’ He should be thinking, ‘I’m gonna stay away and not get hurt.’ He’s got the ability to do that because he’s got the longer reach. Pauls is the shorter man, he’s gonna have to come in close. 

“Heaney’s gonna be on his toes for twelve rounds. He shouldn’t be thinking that Pauls had him in trouble but doesn’t know how to finish and Brad Pauls should be thinking that he’s gotta start a couple of rounds earlier or maybe stick it on him early, take the middle rounds off and finish strong. They’re both coming with the same strategies from what I’m hearing.”