Reporters’ star ratings for main events and undercards are based on in-ring entertainment, competitiveness and whether overall expectation was met
THE ‘Magnificent Seven Rides Again’ lived up to its promise with an action-packed show at a noisy Resorts World Arena topped by a domestic Fight of the Year contender that saw Stoke hero Nathan Heaney keep his British middleweight title after a split 12-round draw with Brad Pauls.
The consensus at ringside was that Heaney had done enough in the first half of the fight but Pauls put everything into the second half to make it close. Only Heaney, who just hours later was present at the BBBoC Awards in London, knows how he stayed on his feet in the eighth and 11th rounds.
Heaney benefited from a lengthy break in the eighth to replace his gumshield after Pauls smashed it out, and he was on shaky legs again in the 11th. Told by his corner he needed a knockout, Pauls went for broke and made the champion’s knees dip with rights.
The badly dazed Heaney survived the following storm as Pauls swarmed all over him, sensing he was only a punch away from taking the Lonsdale Belt back
