Nathan Heaney v Brad Pauls as it happened – Absorbing British title fight ends a draw, Joyce stops Ali in round 10

It was a long wait for the co-main event but how they both delivered. A fight of the year contender as Nathan Heaney and Brad Pauls could not be split for the British middleweight title, while Liam Davies produced a breathtaking display in stopping former champion Erik Robles Ayala to take the IBO super bantamweight title.

We will meet again on Friday when Chris Bourke and Ashley Lane meet for the British bantamweight title.

Nathan Heaney v Brad Pauls can be watched in the UK & Ireland on TNT Sports.

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TNT Sports pundit Steve Bunce is very confident a rematch will happen in the summer, despite Frank Warren’s reluctance to commit to it tonight.

“He’s not committing but he’s like a bad poker player, he’s desperate for it to happen,” Bunce said.

“Nathan’s a fit man, he’ll recover quickly. If you got to see Nathan on Wednesday you wouldn’t believe he’s been through 36 minutes here. He’s that type of athlete.

“Brad Pauls will want it. I know there might be a world title fight out there but why can’t we have that outdoors in September. Let’s go outdoors, let’s go in June, let’s have a rematch.”

“I thought he won it by a couple of rounds,” Warren said.

“I didn’t agree with the scoring but Brad deserved to get some accolades from the fight.

“He showed a lot of heart in the other guy’s backyward.

“It takes two to make an entertaining and edge of the seat fight, but I thought Nathan won it.”

Warren would not be drawn on the clamour from surely all watchers for a rematch.

“He’s going to go home, have a rest and then we’ll talk in a week,” Warren added.

“I’m gutted, I wanted to win, I didn’t want a draw,” Heaney said.

“I thought I did enough to win, but I let him into it as well. Credit to Brad.”

Pauls felt similarly: “Mixed emotions to be honest. The crowd enjoyed it so I’m happy about that – I always want to entertain.

“I wanted that belt more than anything in the world.

I like him, I just wanted his belts. It’s nothing personal.”

Heaney retains his British title, one judge had the score 116-113 for Heaney, another 115-114 in Pauls’ favour and the third 114-114. That feels morally the right result. Surely they do this again.

Pauls landed two big left hands and wore one himself with the champion then trying to keep him at bay with his straight shots from range. Heaney is given a warning for holding but showed a champion’s heart to keep his man at pay with straight shots inbetween dancing around the ring. Heaney won the fight but both deserve so much credit. How about they do this again in Stoke in the summer?

An incredible round! Both started looking pretty ragged but Pauls lands a big left hand and then a double left which forced the champion back. Heaney bravely tried to fight him off, but a huge right hand had him rocking wildly. Pauls then stalked Heaney who desperately held on until the English champion rang out of gas. Somehow the British champion rode out the storm.

Pauls is finding it easy to close the distance and though he is taking more right hands himself, he is landing the more damaging shots. Heaney again gets a break with his mouthguard coming out. He could get a point deducted if his keeps happening.

A fine recovery round from Heaney, boxing at range and with Pauls maube taking a breather after exerting so much in the previous round. On the bell, Pauls landed once more with a flurry. A warning for Heaney the job is far from done.

A massive round from Pauls and he had the champion rocked badly with straight rights and left hooks. Heaney’s mouthguard came out giving him much-needed restbite. Heaney breavely tried to fight off the ropes but when they go toe-to-toe it is clear Pauls has the greater power.

Heaney is still controlling the fight with his jab but it is not stopping Pauls as much as it did earlier. A lovely right to the body left to the head combination caught Heaney’s attention, but he also ate a couple of straight one-twos.

Paul’s best round. He landed with left hooks early and then a fine right hand in the final minute. For the first time it felt like he was dictating the pace.

Both fighters with bloody noses during this round, Pauls’ hooks catching Heaney and the champion fighting fire with fire landing a sharp one-two and then later a right cross which rocked Pauls. Heaney’s issue seems the greater with him noticeably gasping for air open mouthed.

Heaney’s quicker feet have allowed him to pick off Pauls with his jab and he has kept his right hand high to protect against the left hook, but as the round went on he did land a few jabs which could set up his honey punch.

Pauls caught Heaney with left hooks to body and head but Heaney still had the better of most of the round with his boxing from range. Pauls is landing more though and he is the bigger puncher.

Heaney lands a few consecutive one-twos midway through the round and forced Pauls backwards, but the English champion landed a nice looking right hand and left hook just before the bell.

Heaney forces Pauls on the back foot early on with jabs and right hands to head and body. Pauls slips in the first round and is struggling to set a platform to land on Heaney, lunging in on jabs to the body and hooks. Heaney’s round, but Pauls showing enough to give himself confidence.

Liam Heaney (18-0, 6 KOs) defends his British title against English champion Brad Pauls (18-1, 10 KOs).

The Stoke fans in attendance are loving it.

“I beat a proper champion there,” Davies said on TNT Sports. “It’s the first of many world titles.

“He’s beat some good fighters. This is a start of a massive 2024.

“I’m a council kid from an estate, who had a massive dream from the start and I’ve turned it into reality.”

Frank Warren was effusive in praise of his fighter.

“Everything he’s done, he’s done in style,” Warren told TNT Sports. “That was world class performance.”

What a way to win a title! Robles Ayala looked to close the distance in the round but Davies remained patient and then landed a devastating right uppercut, left hook combination which the Mexican didn’t see. The referee let the fight go on but immediately a flurry had Robles Ayala sinking against the ropes and the referee called a halt to the contest.

A good first round from Davies working off his jab and showing a range of punches, especially the right uppercut.

Liam Davies (15-0, 7 KOs) is taking on former champion Erik Robles Ayala (15-1, 9 KOs) for a version of the world super-bantamweight championship title.

• Joe Joyce KO10 Kash Ali
• Zach Parker W10 Tyron Zeuge
• Dennis McCann W12 Brad Strand
• Owen Cooper W12 Eithan James
• Pierce O’Leary KO9 Hovhannes Martirosyan

A short right hand finally ends the most stubborn of resistance from Ali. His opponent was chastised once more (a little distastefully) in the corner and landed two right hands in the first minute. Joyce kept landing big hooks to the body, but Ali with the end in sight got on his toes in the last minute and landed a left hook and right hand but once more they have no effect. It seemed he was set to reach the final bell until a short right hand put him down for the count.

Both corners say the other fighter is tired, with Richard Towers imploring Kash Ali to deliver more. He just looks to be in survival mode though now and Joyce hurst him a it with a right to the body then steps up the gas in the final minute after a shot upstairs and Ali does well to hear the bell.

Ali begins the round looking to meet Joyce in the middle but the Juggernaut forces him backwards with double jabs. Joyce was prepared to take a right hand to deliver one and it looked to make Ali wince.

Ali hangs on a little longer after a left hook to the body from Joyce. He keeps attacking the body with straight left and rights. Finally it looks like Ali is not enjoying the contest.

As Richie Woodhall says, Joyce has not done himself any favours coming in at 20 stone 6lbs. He landed a few more right hands in the round but did not have much impact. Ali still landed with the odd haymaker himself.

Ali is defending well but Joyce really is lacking confidence. It is hard to say, but he looks a shadow of the fighter he was a year or so ago.

It was more of a war in this round wirth both trading swinging right hands, but you want to be seeing more from Joyce at this point and the crowd is noticeably silent.

The same pattern is happening. Joyce landing jabs and body shots but also taking the odd wild right hand.

Ali takes a knee when pushed down by Joyce and Ali’s corner complain about Joyce hitting him on the back. Ali lands a few overhand right which bounces off Joyce like these shots used to before he met Zhang. Joyce lands some big body shots which hurt Ali, but he doesn’t land his own right hand upstairs which could bring an end to the contest.

Ali showing something early. On the back foot but launching a few big right hands from range and a few jabs to the body. Joyce is being patient, just walking him down, throwing his jab and waiting for openings to hook to the body.

Joe Joyce (15-2, 14 KOs) takes on Kash Ali (21-2, 12 KOs), his first fight since the defeats to Zhilei Zhang. I’m going to say this will buck the trend of the night and be an early stoppage.

Parker takes the fight on all three scorecards 96-94, 97-92 and 98-92.

Parker happy with a scrappy round. Zeuge lands a few times with Parker on the ropes, but the Brit holds on whenever they are in close. A short right caught Parker’s attention int he last thirty seconds but the German did not have enough in the tank to really threaten.

Zeuge throws a few haymakers early and lands with a left, but there seems to be less in the shots now. Parker himself lands a nice right hook, early then another one two minutes into the contest. Zeuge complains about an infringement but the referee tells him to get on with it. Parker seems to have injured his ankle, which Zeuge might take advantage of going into the last round where he needs a knockout.

A bit of a scrappy round as both boxers are tiring. Parker’s corner are asking their man to land a right over the top but it could be a dangerous move as Zeuge is anything but naive and is waiting for a big shot so he can counter. Parker lands some nice shots in close towards the end of the round.

An interesting round, Parker’s corner asked him to push back his opponent but this led to a bit of success for his opponent who is clearly counting on stopping his opponent late. Parker goes back to fighting on the back foot and takes the round, but warning signs are still there.

Zeuge launches a few big swings but doesn’t land and Parker instead adds another round in the bank boxing off the back foot.

It’s not exciting from Parker but it is effective. Mixing jabs to head and body mean he is keeping his man from loading up shots and building up a points lead.

Maybe Parker’s best round, landing southpaw jabs and hooks to the body. The German is still smiling though, he feels he can get to the Derby man again.

As always Richie Woodhall such and educatational listen. Parker in danger when dropping short on punches and as he looks to switch hit on the front foot. A close round.

Parker wobbled by a beautiful right hand from Zeuge and Parker takes a count after touching down with his hand. The old adage, the last thing a fighter loses is their punch. This was exactly what Parker didn’t want to happen to give his opponent hope. Parker gets a few nice body punches in late, but then ate another overhand right on the bell.

Not a great deal in the first round. Zeuge looks a little fleshy. You wonder, with his career on the downslope, if he will have the incentive to dig deep if Parker starts to land big shots.

Zach Parker (17-1, 6 KOs) takes on a former world champion Tyron Zeuge (26-1-1, 15 KOs). His second fight since losing a world title eliminator against John Ryder.

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He takes the verdict on all three scorecards 118-111, 116-111 and 116-112. McCann’s record improves to 15-0-1 (8 KOs).

McCann takes this round landing his jab with more regularity than his opponent’s counter rights to end a pretty comfortable victory but one where he had to work each round.

Strand’s corner telling him he needs a stoppage to win the contest. He lands a good right-left early on and then knocked McCann a little off-balance a couple of times with right hands. Enough to win the round but not much more.

McCann started to back Strand back into the corner, but the Scouser fought him off with a good one-two, but they weren’t enough to stop the momentum of the contest.

McCann noticeably targeting downstairs feeling this is where Strand is vulnerable and it has the dual effect of allowing him to land upstairs as Strand lowers his guard. Strand landed a few lefts but he took a massive deep breath as he headed back to his corner.

Strand throws some nice shots but they are far too intermittent. After each exchange his instint is to walk backwards. That said, this was a closer round than most have been.

Good heart from Strand landing jabs and rights to the body to try to keep Strand at bay, but as the rounds go on the Londoner takes more control and he is building up a big lead.

McCann is getting increasingly confident and stalking Strand now and as the round went on he couldn’t miss with left hands which has left his Scouse opponent’s face a mess. Don’t be surprised if he looks to close the show in the next round.

Another fairly quiet round but McCann seems to be edging these ones, even when not landing big shots.

We are back to the typically cautious orthodox-southpaw contest with neither dominating, but a short left from McCann at the end of the round got Strand’s attention.

Strand has recovered, though was tentatice early on. He landed a couple of right hands on the southpaw, including one to the body which got McCann’s attention. A fairly even round/ Strand dabbing his nose is never a good sign though.

Massive round for McCann! He sent Strand to the canvas with a chopping reverse one-two early in the round, then wobbled him badly with a straight left later in the stanza. Strand’s legs did not seem to recover and he did well to last the round with his ruddy nose telling a story of the punishment.

Not much in the first round. Maybe McCann took it. His shots slightly more eye catching but maybe because of his luminous green gloves.

Dennis McCann (14-0-1, 8 KOs), who drew his last fight after an accidental clash of heads, takes on another unbeaten fighter in Liverpudlian Brad Strand (11-0, 3 KOs) in another fight where someone’s O has got to…. you get it. The vacant WBO inter-continental and McCann’s WBO European super-bantamweight championship are on the line.

A good decision by James’ cornerman to pull him out the fight. He took big shots throughout the fight and was in trouble at the end of the ninth. Even with just a round left he could have been hurt in the final three minutes – and realistically he was never going to find a knockout which he would have needed being behind two, three and five rounds behind on the scorecards.

Cooper with another left which looked like it came from the back of the arena but it caught James flush and twisted his head awkwardly. A right near the end of the round had James wobbling more than he has since the first round.

Lovely flurry from James with two straight rights then a left from a southpaw stance. He does lack the power to turn the fight but deserves credit for his unrelenting spirit. Cooper rocked him with a right as he was coming in and a lunging left hook, but James took them and deserves the round.

It was a close round but Cooper’s late flurry rocking James’ head back with shots from either hand tilted it in his direction.

James trying to lean on Cooper and cramp him on the ropes but he is eating left hooks and straight rights doing so. Back in the centre of the ring towards the end of ther ring James had more success but Cooper’s round.

It is a pet peeve of mine fighters switch hitting unless they are Terrance Crawford or Oleksandr Usyk. James doing well as a southpaw but he moves to orthodox and immediately gets caught with a left hook. Still James maybe took this round.

The rounds are getting closer. Cooper still edging with the more powerful shots, but James having some success too.

James mainly boxing southpaw now which may help a little defending the left hook but he ate a big right hand against the ropes. He is landing a few shots himself, including a couple of left uppercuts, but his chin looks so vulnerable being high in the air.

Cooper piled on the pressure once more near the end of the round. A lunging straight left wobbled James, then he landed a couple more hooks and right hands. It feels James is getting used to the power a little now, but he needs to provide some offence.

What a shot from Cooper! A huge left hook put James on the deck and he landed the shot twice more big shots with his opponent against the ropes before the referee stopped the fight to put James’ mouthpiece back in. Cooper then landed short right hands and the referee was surely not far from stopping the contest.

And someone’s O has to go…. Eithan James is 12-0, while Owen Cooper is 9-0 (3 KOs).

“I had a six-week training camp, but I found it hard to get my own rhythm,” O’Leary said on TNT Sports.

“I kept missing the jab. In the corner they were saying to stay relaxed and trust the work I’ve done.”

O’Leary moves to 14-0 (8 KOs)

O’Leary boxed clever in this round, coming in and out of range making it harder for Martirosyan to land and then when the time came he landed a beautiful left hook which put the Belgian down and he waited for the referee to count him out. A win which O’Leary will take a lot from.

The cards were very close going into the ninth round.

“That will stand him in good stead going forward,” Frampton said on TNT Sports.

“He forgot about his jab. It needs to be slightly better. This was a learning fight for him.”

This is a hell of a fight. Both land big shots and have turns putting the other on the back foot. Martirosyan landed a right which stiffened the legs of O’Leary in the final round. Carl Frampton has O’Leary three-up winning the last three. Some of them have been very close.

O’Leary rocks Martiroysyan with the left hook again and the Belgian’s legs to a funny dance once more. But he also lands a couple of big right hands of his own. The Belgian also falls to the canvas but the referee rules it a slip. The blood is pouring out of Martirosyan now. A fine round, with O’Leary taking it.

O’Leary needs to move his head a bit more. He is too easy to land jabs on and he cannot eat right hands with the same regularity. Martirosyan has a cut to the side of his left eye which looks nasty but shouldn’t hinder him.

Who knows how the judges are scoring this, but I have this level now, which seemed inconceivable after O’Leary dominated early and put the Belgian down. Once more Martirosyan is cleaner.

O’Leary is doing most of the pressing but the Belgian is landing the cleaner, if more infrequent, blows. A difficult round to score.

The Belgian is gambling that his right hand is the best way of turning the fight his way and it seems wise. He has landed his honey punch a number of times, leading Heaney with blkood on the nose and above the eye. O’Leary had his moments too, but Martirosyan’s round.

A short sharp right hand from O’Leary rocked the Belgian once more and then another left hook had his legs wobbling and he did well to stay on his feet. He landed a good straight right himself in the last minute and forced O’Leary to the ropes with another flurry. The Belgian’s heart cannot be denied. Many at this level would have wilted already and lost their ambition.

Martirosyan goes down! After a patient first two minutes, O’Leary landed a picture perfect left hook, just as his opponent was looking to throw a right hand and put the Belgian on the seat of his pants. The Belgian did not look unduly rocked though and found his rhythm again before the bell.

Irishman Pierce O’Leary (13-0, 7 KOs) takes on Hovhannes Martirosyan with ‘Big Bang’ defending his the WBC international super-lightweight championship.

It is the first of many…

In the undercard to the Magnificent Seven bill, Ezra Taylor met Gogi Knezevic and ‘The Cannon’ produced an explosive stoppage.

Thanks for joining our coverage of the Magnificent Seven. We will be following the action with you throughout the night and all seven fights from Birmingham, topped by the battle between Nathan Heaney and Brad Pauls for the British middleweight title.

The undercard will start at 18:30 UK time on Saturday, March 16, live on TNT Sports 1 and discovery+.

Nathan Heaney’s British middleweight fight with Brad Pauls tops the bill, with six other contests taking place before that – including Liam Davies against Erik Robles Ayala for the vacant IBO world super bantamweight title.

Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallist Joe Joyce is among the others in action.

The action starts from 18:30 in Birmingham, with Nathan Heaney v Brad Pauls topping the bill – the fight card is below, with the headline act at the top:

• Nathan Heaney v Brad Pauls, British middleweight championship
• Erik Robles Ayala v Liam Davies, vacant IBO world super-bantamweight championship
• Joe Joyce v Kash Ali
• Zach Parker v Tyron Zeuge
• Dennis McCann v Brad Strand, vacant WBO inter-continental and WBO European super-bantamweight championships
• Eithan James v Owen Cooper, WBO European and vacant English welterweight championship
• Pierce O’Leary v Hovhannes Martirosyan, WBC international super-lightweight championship

Nathan Heaney v Brad Pauls can be watched in the UK & Ireland on TNT Sports.

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