SATURDAY night belonged to Stoke’s sporting hero Nathan Heaney, the packed crowd singing “why, why, why Delilah?” so loudly, the poor woman almost answered them.
But the raw excitement on BCB’s sell-out show was served by two out-of-towners.
In an epic 10-rounder for the vacant English welterweight title – a smouldering small hall classic, Bobby Dalton and Ben Vaughan punched themselves to the brink of exhaustion.
Heaney’s eight rounder with Chatham’s Grant Dennis lacked the fireworks of that sensational scrap, but his fans did not care.
To an extent, the former British middleweight champ did not care – after two stoppage defeats on the spin, it was all about the win. He secured that comfortably, referee Chris Dean scoring 79-73.
On Saturday, his public draped banners over the top tier of the King’s Hall, Stoke, and indulged in an ear-splitting Potteries party.
And when Heaney – a fighter with a following that could fill a rock festival – had his hands raised, they celebrated as if the world title had been won
“I’m not retiring, I’m not retiring,” Heaney announced from mid ring after the bout. “I’m not ready to go yet.”
The 36-year-old’s dream of headlining at Stoke City’s Bet365 Stadium is still alive.
Heaney (11st 7lbs) didn’t come out of the contest unscathed, with his nose bloodied from the second, but he controlled matters behind long leads and drilled home rights to the body.
Dennis (11st 8lbs) bobbed and weaved for openings, looked to detonate left hooks and had sporadic success. Two landed in the second, Heaney took the shots well.
Nathan started tentatively behind the jab before finding his rhythm in the third, the shots notably sharper and right hooks finding the target.
He began working Dennis’ body in the fourth, soaked up a right uppercut and left hook in the sixth then blazed back.
It was not until the last round that the contest really ignited. Heaney, to the noisy delight of his fans, blazed away with both fists, waved Dennis forward and copped a left hook – the visitor’s best shot of the night – for his audacity.
He took it, fired back immediately and the pair slugged it out down the stretch.
It was not vintage Heaney, it didn’t have to be. As he put it: “I just had to win.”
In the oven heat of the King’s Hall, Northampton’s Ben Vaughan and Bobby Dalton produced the kind of thriller that could grace any Rocky movie.
After 10 draining, punishing round, it was Dalton, gashed over the right eye, who took the English title. Judge Phil Edwards scored 96-95, Terry O’Connor 97-93, while Chris Dean had it all square at 95-95.
The fact the contest went the full course is testament to the fighting hearts of both men.
By the seventh, Vaughan (10st 6lbs) looked near totally spent, yet every time he appeared on the brink of being overwhelmed, Ben found the stamina to swing back.
Redcar’s Dalton, now unbeaten in 11, said afterwards: “That has to be fight of the year, that should’ve been pay-per-view. I had to fight like that because this was the only chance I’d got to put my name out there.”
Vaughan sat next to him in silence, too fatigued to join the conversation.
Yet it started brightly for the former Midlands champ who jabbed sharply and planted rights to the body.
Dalton (10st 6lbs) simply refused to be subdued. As Ben’s work became more ragged and reckless, he cashed-in.
After going toe-to-toe in the fourth, Vaughan lurched in the fifth after taking two rights. He immediately responded with slashing hooks.
It was that kind of see-saw contest. It could’ve been fought in an old-fashioned phone box.
For the first time, Ben was being forced back in the sixth and in the following session looked “spent”, almost too tired to hold his hands up.
It seemed only a matter of time, but, amazingly, Vaughan dragged himself back into the battle. He spent the final seconds of the eighth under pressure as Dalton drove home body shots.
He even took the ninth on my card, although by the end Dalton was back in the driver’s seat and one spiteful right uppercut made Vaughan sag slightly.
Dalton, bruised under the right eye, connected with clean head shots in the last to seal a memorable victory.
Both men had left everything in the ring. At stake was a domestic belt, the fight’s intensity was worthy of a world title.
