Heaney win sparks a wild Potteries party
Heaney belts out his Delilah signature song. Pictures: Manjit Narotra/BCB
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 didn’t care. To an extent, the former British middleweight champ didn’t 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 night 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 fires a right through Dennis’ tight guard
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 wasn’t 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 wasn’t vintage Heaney, it didn’t have to be. As he put it: “I just had to win.”