FOR Bradley Goldsmith, the future glistens like precious metal after his landslide victory over former British middleweight champ Bradley Pauls.
It wasn’t simply the win, it was the nature of the win. Let’s say it as it is, Goldsmith schooled the big puncher – as reflected by the scores. It was a textbook, bull and matador lesson.
After the dust had settled following an absorbing 10 rounder on Queensberry’s show at St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton, Goldsmith had sealed a comprehensive victory, 99-90, 99-90 and 97-92.
Yet my straw poll of insiders before the clash failed to find an individual who felt the Coventry 27-year-old could spring an upset.
The odds appeared stacked against him: Pauls, a KO merchant, was coming off a career best victory over Shakiel Thompson, he had displayed the strength to KO opponents in the last minutes of championship contests, he was fighting in his south coast stomping ground.
Goldsmith, a product of the famed Triumph amateur club, had never been 10 rounds. Critics pointed to his Midlands area title stoppage loss to Troy Coleman last year and concluded what the Burntwood Hawk could do, Pauls could do better.
On paper, the prediction made sense. On canvas, Goldsmith, trained at Dominic Ingle’s Sheffield gym, made a mockery of the odds against him.
Quite simply, Bradley uncorked the perfect fight, he staged a masterclass.
Goldsmith told me with a smile: “I think the bookies had a bit of a stinker on Saturday night. I wasn’t being denied and I arrived as the unknown, left as the known. They call it an upset, but the only people upset were the ones who wrote me off beforehand.”
Paul, known as the Newquay Bomb, was never allowed to unload heavy ammo, his work stifled by Goldsmith’s incessant jab. He had no answer to the southpaw style.
Goldsmith connected upstairs and downstairs, drilling to the body, then moving out of range. I felt Pauls looked disheartened and frustrated as early as the fourth: a man bereft of ideas. It got worse for the favourite in the sixth when a right hand dropped him.
Tangled feet played a part in the knockdown, but the count was correct: Pauls was definitely caught by a shot.
With the contest slipping away, Pauls injected more urgency into his work in the seventh, but everything appeared forced. He bundled forward, yet didn’t let his hands go.
Goldsmith remained poised, continued to pile-up points and outsmarted his opponent down the stretch.
He entered the ring a man with a solid plan and never swerved from it. Pauls boxed like a man without a blueprint.
“A stoppage was never the plan,” Bradley said. “The plan was to box him. Before the fight, Dom said this fight is easily won as long as I listen and that’s what I did, that’s what got me over the line. Be disciplined, listen to instructions.”
There were no lingering doubts from the Coleman loss, he stressed. “I’ve had three fights since that loss – the demons got cleared last year. There were no worries.
“I look on Saturday as a coming out party to show people what I can do.” He certainly did that.
Bradley praised Pauls for his sportsmanship: “I said to him and his team, ‘it’s always s*** when there are two nice people (in the ring). He was gracious and nice.”
That win earned Goldsmith the IBF international middleweight title, but the prize at stake was much richer than the belt.
Had Pauls won, then there was a talk of a potential world title fight for the 33-year-old. Defeat was, therefore, calamitous, with Goldsmith taking his place in the queue.
No wonder Pauls said on social media: “I’m absolutely gutted. I tried my best as always, sometimes it pays off and it’s good enough and sometimes it’s not.
“Big respect to Bradley Goldsmith, he stood up and took his chance, and that’s boxing.”
What price can now be put on a Coventry mega fight between Pauls and the city’s other middleweight hope, Aaron Bowen? Two fighters with huge following would sell-out any West Midlands venue.
To add spice to it, Bowen stopped Troy Coleman in his last contest.
Goldsmith, at present, is simply content to bask in the bright light of his finest hour. He added: “It’s probably not the answer you want, but I have the keys to my first house and the sofa got delivered on fight week. I just want to curl up on that.
“I’m always one to stay fit. I just want to spend time in my own home and reap the rewards, if you like. When something is presented to my team, we’ll get ready, get prepared. I believe I’m in a position where people need to call me out, not the other way around.
“To be fair, I can see why a lot of people are talking about me and Aaron (Bowen) – we’re both from Coventry, we’ve both got good support. I can see why a lot of people assume that will happen.
“In all honesty, that fight, right now, doesn’t interests me and I don’t think it interests Aaron. There’s no need for it, except for bragging rights.
“I’m on my path, he’s on his path.” He has a point: that barnstormer deserves to have a very big belt on the line.
Goldsmith has now lost only one of 17 outings, Pauls has lost three of 25.
