BoxRec

I'm well chuffed for the bloke. I did not see that happening.

I was trying to describe the equivalent to someone at work in regards to where Pauls & Thompson are from & I said Sheffield is like Detroit - a former industrial town with a solid boxing history - whereas I couldn't really come up with anything for Newquay. Portland, Oregon? Honolulu

Anyway, the IBF belt is vacant & Pauls is now their 2nd highest rated fighter at the weight. Etinosa Oliha of Italy is just above him. Hopefully he gets a shot at the belt this summer.

The WBC belt is going to be vacant too with Adames moving up. Bentley & Saavedra are going for the WBO belt (that's a pick 'em) & Lara has the IBF. The division is very weak, especially when you compare it to 6 pounds south. I wouldn't be surprised if the winner of Ortiz & Ennis moves up immediately.

What a fairy tail story it would be if Pauls got the belt then had a fight against one of those two in Vegas

He's sorta what the promoters WANT Dave Allen to be. The big upsets that they'd like to see Allen pull off. Pauls pulls 'em off. At least a few of 'em he has.

I would love to see him in a world title fight. Think our last champion was a certain Bob Fitzsimmons...

I was delighted for Pauls, but he was getting beaten all ends-up by Thompson and I wonder if he'd ended up losing on points, would we see Brad in a ring again

It's true to say Pauls didn't give up, but at times he wasn't even coming 2nd best and looked a fairly forlorn figure.

If the game plan was to take a drubbing for 8 rounds and pull it out of the bag in the 9th then I take my hat off to Pauls...but I suspect that wasn't the case.

It sounds very fanciful to me that Brad could land an IBF world title shot, simply because he isn't a world title contender, but I couldn't possibly begrudge him the opportunity

As I say, delighted Pauls got the win last night and it put a huge smile on my face

He seems a decent chap and didn't give up, kept plugging away till he landed one. Hope he goes on for a nice big fight and some decent money

Shows how quickly you can turn your career around. Hope he gets the title shot and a good payday he’s been a proper pro

This fight intrigued me. People were very high on Thompson even though the level of his competition wasn't all that, while Pauls had mixed success against higher-caliber opponents.

Thompson controlled most of the bout, and Pauls appeared befuddled at times. Not sure if Thompson got complacent or thought he could coast to the final bell, but Pauls capitalized on that lapse and made the most of it - if you don't mind the old cliché - snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

I would think - always dangerous when dealing with the alphabet organizations - Pauls should be next in line to fight Oliha for the IBF title, since he beat the fighter who was penciled in for the bout.

Boxing is about the toughest fella standing there at the end of the night

Pauls said after he was faking being tired to lure Thompson in.

Hopefully Shakiel learns from this & comes back stronger.

And hopefully Pauls gets that title shot.

MPW wrote: ↑29 Mar 2026, 10:32 This fight intrigued me. People were very high on Thompson even though the level of his competition wasn't all that, while Pauls had mixed success against higher-caliber opponents.

Thompson controlled most of the bout, and Pauls appeared befuddled at times. Not sure if Thompson got complacent or thought he could coast to the final bell, but Pauls capitalized on that lapse and made the most of it - if you don't mind the old cliché - snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

I would think - always dangerous when dealing with the alphabet organizations - Pauls should be next in line to fight Oliha for the IBF title, since he beat the fighter who was penciled in for the bout.

Pauls is limited, but a) very very tough and stubborn b) pretty heavy handed and c) good at what he can do. He was losing the rounds without getting particularly hurt (4th round aside).

I don't think Shakiel got complacent so much as he never adjusted to Paul's straight right - it landed a few times each round. On a different night he would have got away with it, but on this one Paul eventually landed the shot properly and Shakiel didn't pass the chin test.

dookus wrote: ↑29 Mar 2026, 12:35

MPW wrote: ↑29 Mar 2026, 10:32 This fight intrigued me. People were very high on Thompson even though the level of his competition wasn't all that, while Pauls had mixed success against higher-caliber opponents.

Thompson controlled most of the bout, and Pauls appeared befuddled at times. Not sure if Thompson got complacent or thought he could coast to the final bell, but Pauls capitalized on that lapse and made the most of it - if you don't mind the old cliché - snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

I would think - always dangerous when dealing with the alphabet organizations - Pauls should be next in line to fight Oliha for the IBF title, since he beat the fighter who was penciled in for the bout.

Pauls is limited, but a) very very tough and stubborn b) pretty heavy handed and c) good at what he can do. He was losing the rounds without getting particularly hurt (4th round aside).

I don't think Shakiel got complacent so much as he never adjusted to Paul's straight right - it landed a few times each round. On a different night he would have got away with it, but on this one Paul eventually landed the shot properly and Shakiel didn't pass the chin test.

Yeah there was always at least 1 or 2 shots each round that would make me wince and think "He don't want too many of those"

Pauls understood early on that a KO shot was his only path to victory, and was fighting accordingly from early on.