Brad Pauls puts his British middleweight title on the line against Denzel Bentley, while the vacant European belt is also at stake at the SSE Arena in Wembley on Saturday.
Frank Warren’s Queensberry promote Pauls vs Bentley on TNT Sports in the UK, whilst DAZN broadcast the card in the USA.
After building an unbeaten record mainly down south in his native Newquay, Pauls (19-1-1, 11 KOs) branched out to this very arena last February, and came unstuck in a points loss for the English title against Tyler Denny.
‘The Newquay Bomb’ would win the same prize seven months later, stopping Mitchell Frearson for the vacant strap in eight, and that earned him a crack at British champion Nathan Heaney in March.
It was a thriller, and an absorbing fight couldn’t find a winner, with the bout declared a draw. The immediate rematch in July was a cracker, and Pauls, 31, eventually outlasted Heaney, finding the finishing punches in the final round for a famous win.
His first defence comes against Bentley (20-3-1, 17 KOs), a man who has held the Lonsdale Belt twice before.
‘2 Sharp’ won the belt for the first time against Mark Heffron, but then dropped it in a third round loss to Felix Cash in his first defence, and he would win it back again in May 2022, taking a split decision against Linus Udofia.
A spirited loss for the WBO world title came next, as he was outpointed by now-unified champion, Janibek Alimkhanuly, and after defending his British crown in just 45 seconds, the 29-year-old was then upset by the aforementioned Heaney on the cards last November.
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There have been a pair of second round wins since, with Danny Dignum vanquished for the vacant WBO International belt in May, and Derrick Osaze blasted out in August.
Prediction: Pauls has had no problems in going into the trenches when needed, and Bentley will likely pour the pressure on early on here. I think Bentley may outlast his man, and take the win in the later rounds.
Noakes battles Walsh
Exciting talent Sam Noakes heads the undercard, and he defends his British, Commonwealth and WBO International lightweight titles against the experienced Ryan Walsh.
Noakes (15-0, 14 KOs) has been almost flawless to date, with only Yvan Mendy taking him 12 rounds, losing them all in April, and he was last out in September defending his European title in a retirement win against Gianluca Ceglia.
Walsh (29-4-2, 13 KOs) has had a long career, and has only boxed twice in over two years, and his September warm-up for this saw him destroy Reece Mould inside a round.
Prediction: Noakes has impressed more with each passing fight, and I think he can get the job done against a slowing Walsh inside the first half of this bout.
Okolie meets Muhamed
Lawrence Okolie makes a Queensberry and heavyweight debut, when he faces Hussein Muhamed.
Okolie (20-1, 15 KOs) bounced back from a sole professional defeat to former stablemate, Chris Billam-Smith by winning the WBC bridgerweight crown with a first round victory over Lukasz Rozanski in May.
’The Sauce’ relinquished the belt to in pursuit of heavyweight honours and first up is Muhamed (18-1, 14 KOs), who has suffered one defeat himself, a third round knockout loss to Zhan Kossobutskiy in November 2022.
Prediction: Okolie should mark his heavyweight bow with a victory inside the scheduled ten round distance.
Dacres-Adeleye meet for English heavyweight crown
An interesting clash for the English heavyweight title could be a close one to call, as David Adeleye challenges Sol Dacres.
Adeleye (12-1, 11 KOs) is looking to rebound from a stoppage loss to British champion, Fabio Wardley last October, whilst Dacres (9-0, 3 KOs) retained his title with a seventh round stoppage over Michael Webster in July.
Prediction: Adeleye should take the title by stoppage.
Remaining Undercard
Sean Noakes (8-0, 4 KOs) is the second Noakes in action on the evening, and he can make the first defence of his English welterweight title by outscoring Mathew Rennie (14-0-1, 1 KO).
Aloys Junior (8-1, 7 KOs) is one to keep an eye on in 2025 and beyond, and the cruiserweight should be able to take another stoppage win, this time against Lewis Oakford (6-1).
In the only eight rounder on the bill, Royston Barney-Smith (12-0, 6 KOs) can round off his year with a stoppage win at super featherweight against Andres Navarrete (12-2, 3 KOs).
Another super featherweight attraction should see Billy Adams (4-0) take another points win, this one against Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira (6-16, 5 KOs).
The sole four rounder sees a debut for Billy Crotty, who can get the better of Dylan Courtney (2-17-2, 1 KO) on points at light heavyweight.
