‘It’s great when you have a belt, everything’s on your side, but as soon as you lose, it’s just like you never existed; thrown to the sides and forgotten.‘
Last July, Brad Pauls became the first Cornish boxer to win a professional British Boxing title in 82 years.
On a raucous night at the then Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, Pauls put on the best performance of his career to win the British Middleweight Title against Stoke’s Nathan Heaney.
Pauls was hailed a hero in his home town of Newquay and all around Cornwall, but he didn’t have much time to celebrate.
His first defence was scheduled for December against the dangerous Denzel Bentley who, like Heaney, is a Queensberry promotions fighter.
Pauls lost his cherished British Title by unanimous decision to Bentley, suffering an eye fracture en route.
After a spell out of the ring, Pauls returned against the little known Panamanian, Omir Rodriguez, in May and won via unanimous decision over 8 rounds.
I caught up with Pauls to reflect on the last 12 months.
‘It was definitely the best night of my career.’ Pauls said of his pulsating fight with Nathan Heaney.
‘I’d say my best performance; good memories. I just want more like it. That’s the plan.’
Before the rematch with Heaney, Pauls made major changes to his camp. A nutritionist and sports psychologist were brought in to boost performance. At the time, Pauls said the additions were life-changing.
Had anything changed for the Bentley camp?
‘Everything was fine in camp; perfect. I grafted.
‘It was just stepping up in levels. I’d say Bentley is probably above British level so, it’s just lessons that you learn along the way. I think I gave a good account of myself and obviously, the fractured eye socket in the 10th killed off the end of the fight.
‘But Denzel is European, maybe world level. I’d just reached British level. So it’s sort of learning as you go and all experience. Every time I’ve lost, I’ve always come back stronger. So I feel like it’ll be similar this time.’
Pauls had three fights in 2024, in what was the most successful period of his career. So why did it take six months to fight again after the Bentley loss?
‘It was nothing that was in my control. It was down to the promoters.
‘I was obligated, or promised a comeback fight with Queensberry. It was a deal that ran for six months after the Bentley fight, so I couldn’t fight elsewhere, but they wouldn’t even reply to us; I was stuck with them. They wouldn’t even give us the time of day to say, well, this is happening, that’s happening; wouldn’t even reply. So there’s nothing that you can do in that situation.
‘Three weeks after I came out of the contract, I fought in Torquay.’
A fight with Omir Rodriguez is not exactly what Pauls was hoping for after such a great 2024 but it played its purpose in getting him back on track.
‘I was training anyway, just in case something popped up, but I had about five weeks’ notice [for the Rodriguez fight]. It was back on small halls so I had to sell tickets. It was short notice for people, but I did alright, I sold about 150 tickets which was fine.
‘It was good to get the eight rounds; he was durable. He gave me exactly what I needed to get that ring rust off. It gets me back in a good position, and sets me up for a bigger fight, hopefully.’
Pauls is not currently tied to a promoter, but this comes with its pros and cons.
‘It would be nice to be signed and be backed by a promoter, but for one reason or another, I haven’t got the face that fits, so I’ll just keep winning and force my way back into the position that I was last year.’
Without promotional backing, scheduling the next fight is not always straight forward.
‘Whether my manager goes to them [the promoters] ,or they come to him, they’ll have conversations and negotiations and plot and plan.’ Pauls explains.
‘For the British title, I’m not a mandatory challenger so I’d have to get picked [as a voluntary challenger]. They’d have to contact my manager and plan when and how the fight’s going to take place.
‘Because I’m now a free agent, I can fight wherever and whenever I want, which is good. So let’s see; boxing’s strange. You’re one win away from being the guy and one loss away from not being the guy.
‘It is cut-throat. My advice to anyone is don’t lose, if you can help it. It’s great when you have a belt, everything’s on your side, but as soon as you lose, it’s just like you never existed; thrown to the sides and forgotten.
‘You get forgotten very, very fast in boxing, and one of the worst things you can do is lose and then not fight for a long time.
‘Unfortunately that’s what happened to me, but luckily, it was only six months.
‘I love boxing, but there’s some things I don’t love about it so much.’
During his time out of the ring, Pauls kept his eye on the Middleweight landscape and got sucked into the furore that was Eubank Jr vs Benn.
‘Loved it. I absolutely loved it.’ Pauls beamed.
‘I watched it in a pub in Newquay, in The Walkabout, and it was real edge of your seat sort of stuff. It was an old school classic tear up.
‘It was a few weeks before my fight as well, so I was absolutely buzzing.
‘I love it when boxing delivers fights like that because the casual fans get entertained. It was quality’
Pauls didn’t buy into the narrative of the rehydration process having a major impact on Eubank Jr, but had his own take.
‘I think maybe there’s a little bit of father-time getting in there. Alot of fighters make weight exactly how Eubank did it; they just don’t post it [on social media]
‘I think with the differences in weight, obviously the advantage for Eubank was the strength and the power, but Benn was so much faster for the first six to seven rounds. Where father-time was getting him slightly was shown by the difference in speed.
‘But Eubank still has the engine that will just keep going and going and going, and he’ll get you in the end. I think he still looked like he’s got quite a bit left.’
But Pauls questions Eubanks ability to win a legitimate world title at this stage of his career.
‘You look at the current champions [at Middleweight] and you think which one would he beat? I don’t know if he beats any of them.
‘Is he fringe world level? Would he beat a lot of these B level, C level guys? Yes, but will he beat the elite?
‘The times he’s stepped up to the elite guys, like [George] Groves he sort of gets [found out]. I think he’s limited in his boxing ability, but what he lacks in that he makes up for in having a good engine and athleticism. But is he world class? Maybe just below.’
With regards his own career, despite having already won the British Title, Pauls is still hungry for more.
‘I want to get as many belts as physically possible, and whatever belts they are, at this point, it doesn’t matter as much because I already got the belt that I always wanted. But I’d love to be able to say two time British champion.
‘[Kieron] Conway is currently the British champion. Whether he stays and defends the belts, is one story, or whether he vacates and there’s other people lined up for the vacant belt is another story. Who knows, the phone might ring for a bigger fight. So I’ll just navigate myself towards the British title; stay active and stay ready for an opportunity that comes up.
‘It’s a busy division, Middleweight. There’s loads out there; Shakiel Thompson, [Tyler] Denny, it’s a stacked division. So it’s going to be one of these guys [that I’d be fighting], I guess, for the British title, so all good fights. It’s exciting.
‘I just want the best fights, the toughest fights and the biggest belts for the next two years and then I’m going to bounce, and you’ll never see me again.’
Pauls has goals beyond boxing, so the size of the financial rewards will determine what fights he takes next.
I am 32 years old; I can’t do this forever. I want to move back to Cornwall to start a family, but I’ve got another couple of years in me.
‘Realistically, I’ve got to provide.
‘I want to have a family, and money will play a part in what my life looks like after boxing. So if you said you can have a British title shot for X amount or a big money fight for no belt, I’d probably pick the big money fight.
‘One thing I said to my manager the other day; no matter what, I’m not sitting out for six months again. Something will happen in that time. I will fight again.’
Images: Getty
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