Frank Warren promotes another of his popular Maginificent Seven cards at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham this Saturday, and the nominal bill-topper sees Nathan Heaney defending his British middleweight title against Brad Pauls.
TNT Sports televise Heaney vs Pauls live in the UK.
Heaney (18-0, 6 KOs) is a huge ticket-seller, bringing an army of fans with him from Stoke-on-Trent, but many felt that he wouldn’t progress, with the IBO International belt his apex up to 2023.
A pair of wins over Jack Flatley did enhance the profile of ‘The Hitman’, and that earned him a crack at the British title, where he began as an underdog against Denzel Bentley, who had challenged for world honours a fight previously.
Heaney produced an inspired performance in Manchester last November, and clearly outscored the Londoner.
His first defence comes against Torquay’s Pauls (18-1, 10 KOs), who also proves a popular draw with his fans.
Pauls’ sole defeat came in February last year, when a resurgent Tyler Denny took a points wins for the English title, but ‘The Newquay Bomb’ won the vacant belt in September, stopping Mitchell Frearson in eight rounds at York Hall.
Prediction: Heaney is on a roll currently, and I think with him backed by his army of fans, he can turn back the challenge of Pauls and record a points win.
Return of ‘The Juggernaut’
The bill sees the return of Joe Joyce (15-2, 14 KOs), and the Putney heavyweight will need to make up for lost time, having suffered devastating back-to-back defeats.
‘The Juggernaut’ meets Kash Ali (21-2, 12 KOs) over a scheduled ten rounds. Joyce was stopped by Zhilei Zhang in six rounds last April, thanks largely to an eye injury, but Zhang emphatically won the rematch in September by third round knockout.
Zhilei Zhang KNOCKS OUT Joe Joyce! 🥊 💥#ZhangJoyce pic.twitter.com/jfvUnFBvkg
— Boxing on TNT Sports (@boxingontnt) September 23, 2023
Ali was unbeaten until being disqualified against David Price in 2019, and won six straight contests before being upset by seven-fight novice Bohdan Myronets in a six round points loss last July. Myronets would go on to defeat Nathan Gorman in his next outing.
Prediction: At 38, Joyce needs to move fast to resurrect his career. He can start by stopping Ali within the first four rounds.
Davies looks to keep momentum rolling
Liam Davies (15-0, 7 KOs) has become a breakout fighter of the Warren stable, and the Telford native looks to add the vacant IBO super bantamweight title when he meets Erik Robles Ayala (15-1, 9 KOs).
Davies came to prominence with a points win over Marc Leach in June 2022 to take the British title, and he added the vacant European belt to round off the year, outscoring the tough Ionut Baluta. 2023 was also a solid year for the 27-year-old, as he wiped out Jason Cunningham inside a round in July, and then halted Vincenzo La Femina in five in November.
Saturday night is more than just a fight for @Liamdavies_2 🥊
This is a chance for him to secure his family’s legacy forever🏆#Magnificent7 | Saturday | Ticket link in bio🎟️ pic.twitter.com/UCfYOmk6rZ
— Queensberry Promotions (@Queensberry) March 12, 2024
Ayala has been to British shores before, winning the IBO title with an upset points win against Lee McGregor in Scotland last July, and was last out in his native Mexico in December, taking a decision win against Cesar Vaca Espinoza.
Prediction: Davies is a real talent, and is pushing towards world level. He can use his boxing skills to negate Ayala’s danger, and can come through a clear winner on the scorecards.
Parker continues rebuild, O’Learly looks to shine and a big night for McCann
An intriguing crossroads clash takes place at super middleweight, where Zach Parker (23-1, 17 KOs) takes on Tyron Zeuge (27-1-1, 15 KOs) over twelve. Parker suffered a setback when in world title contention in November 2022, when he was forced to retire after four rounds against John Ryder due to a broken hand.
He did return last September at Wembley Arena, and made the tough Khalid Graidia retire after seven. Zeuge is a former WBA world champion, but lost that belt in 2018 via fifth round stoppage to Rocky Fielding, and although he has won five straight contests, four after a break of over three years, Parker should have too much for the German, and can win inside schedule.
Pierce O’Leary (13-0, 7 KOs) is another name to keep an eye on, and the Irishman defends his WBC International super lightweight title for the third time, this time against Hovhannes Matirosyan (16-0, 10 KOs).
O’Leary won the belt in 2022, and his last defence last September, where he dominated in a points win against Kane Gardner. Matirosyan hasn’t boxed outside his homeland of Belgium, and that should ensure an inside the distance win for ‘Big Bang’ O’Leary.
Pierce O’Leary 😳😳
📹 @BTSportBoxing #Boxing #PierceOLeary #Knockout pic.twitter.com/hSE7qVvGNM
— IFL TV (@IFLTV) July 16, 2022
Dennis McCann (14-0-1, 8 KOs) suffered his first blip in his last contest, having to settle for a technical draw against Ionut Baluta with the fight in the balance, and he contests the vacant WBO Intercontinental title against fellow unbeaten, Brad Strand (11-0, 3 KOs). McCann can take the title on the cards.
Eithan James (12-0, 0 KOs) can add the vacant English welterweight title to his WBO European strap, with a win on the cards against Owen Cooper (9-0, 3 KOs), and light heavyweight prospect Ezra Taylor (7-0, 5 KOs) steps up to ten round level, where he can halt Ghana’s Prince Oko Nartey (11-2, 10 KOs).
