Brad Pauls defends his IBF international middleweight belt against Bradley Goldsmith on Saturday at Southampton's St Mary's Stadium. The 33-year-old Cornish boxer is trying to turn that defence into a better ranking and a possible route toward the vacant IBF's world middleweight belt.
Pauls is eighth in the IBF rankings and has a 21-2-1 professional record, but the next step depends on beating Goldsmith first. He said: "I never look past an opponent, but I understand that defending this belt will set me up for bigger fights, potentially a world title," and then added: "But there's nothing if I don't beat Goldsmith on Saturday, I get none of that. There's loads to gain and I like fights where there's loads to gain."
St Mary's Stadium on Saturday
The bout sits on the undercard for the Ryan Garner vs Michael Magnesi world title fight, which gives the night a bigger stage without changing Pauls's task. He has to handle Goldsmith, who is six years younger and comes in with one loss in 16 fights.
Pauls did not treat the matchup as a routine defence. "I think it's a difficult one," he said. "He's a well-rounded fighter, he's a dangerous fighter and when I signed up with Queensbury they said 'no easy fights' and they've got me a hard fight straight away."
Brad Pauls and Bradley Goldsmith
That makes the early rounds important. Goldsmith has enough experience to make the fight awkward, and Pauls is carrying the pressure of protecting a belt he won by knocking out unbeaten Shakiel Thompson in March.
That March win matters because it is the clearest recent sign that Pauls can finish a fight when he has momentum. He also framed Saturday as a chance to move on, saying: "It's a massive chance to defend my belt and progress me on," and then making his position plain with: "Full respect to him but I'm here to defend my belt on Saturday night."
Cornwall and Newquay
Pauls said the venue brought the fight close to home in a way he does not often get. "As soon as I knew about a Southampton card it made sense to get me on it," he said. "You don't get many shows close to the south west and this is probably as close as I'm getting."
That is why the crowd should matter to him as much as the belt. Pauls said, "They've got me a real tough fight on Saturday night and we've got a few Cornish coming up, it's going to be noisy and it's going to be a good night," and he expects that support to travel to St Mary's rather than wait for him back in Cornwall.
The bigger target is still the same one: a world title shot, with Pauls aiming to become the first Cornish fighter to win one since Bob Fitzsimmons in 1903. Saturday does not hand him that opportunity on its own, but it is the only place to start.
