Fight week is underway and Brad Pauls will be fully focused on beating Nathan Heaney and becoming British middleweight champion on Saturday night. The thought of winning the prestigious Lonsdale belt should be motivation enough, but if the 31-year-old Pauls needs an additional source of inspiration, he doesn’t need to look far for an example of just how different his future could look with a win.
When Tyler Denny successfully defended his English middleweight title against Pauls on the undercard of Adam Azim-Santos Reyes last February, few would have predicted the Birmingham, England, fighter’s career taking the trajectory it has.
Denny went on to become the European champion, and in June he beat Felix Cash to establish himself as one of the major names on the British middleweight scene and therefore earn himself a fight with Hamzah Sheeraz at London’s Wembley Stadium on Sept. 21.
Pauls (18-1-1, 10 KOs) rebounded well from his first career defeat. He picked up the English belt in his next fight and in March came agonizingly close to taking the British title from Heaney. Pauls badly hurt the undefeated Heaney twice during the closing stages of their exciting title fight, but he had to settle for a split draw. The two meet in an intriguing rematch at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena.
Pauls admires the way that Denny has built himself up from the small-hall scene he once fought in, but if he can get past Heaney and achieve his dream of becoming British champion, “The Newquay Bomb” will put himself back within his old rival’s orbit, and he would welcome the opportunity to even the score.
“You’ve gotta give him credit,” Pauls told BoxingScene. “He’s done it the hard way, coming from the small halls and working his way up. He’s took the hard fights back to back and he’s improved. He’s a good fighter, Tyler. He’s a really, really good fighter.
“Obviously, it’s a rematch I’d love in the future. He’s gone on and proven himself. A European champion versus a British champion is quite a good fight and it’d be interesting to see how much I’ve improved, so it’s one for the future possibly.
“There’s a load of middleweights around that I could fight at the moment. The options are endless.”
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