MANCHESTER – Brad Pauls stunned Manchester’s Co-op Live with a ninth round finish of Shakiel Thompson after being down on the scorecards.

The 32-year-old, from Newquay, had been struggling to get back on televised cards after losing the British middleweight title to Denzel Bentley in 2024. Pauls mustered only one outing in 2025, an eight-round runout on the small-hall scene in Torquay. Pauls finally was given an opportunity when he was matched with Frank Warren’s new signing Thompson.

Pauls, 21-2-1 (12 KOs), was up against it against the 6’4” towering middleweight. Saturday’s bout was supposed to be a routine win for Thompson before facing Etinosa Oliha for the vacant IBF 160lbs belt, but Pauls didn’t read the script. The underdog was well down on the cards of this 10-rounder but in the penultimate session he had Thompson hurt badly and duly finished the job. The referee Howard Foster waved proceedings off at one minute and 30 seconds of Round 9, after Thompson hit the canvas for the second time.

Thompson, 28, had looked comfortable early, poking his southpaw jab into the face of Pauls before shuffling away. Although Pauls would find a home for the occasional right hand, it was relatively straightforward for Thompson, who was growing in confidence. The favorite had Pauls hurt for the first time in the third, a left hand to the body winding his foe who backed into the corner.

Thompson continued his dominance in the fourth and it looked as though Pauls was running out of ideas. Thompson was dominating and Pauls was struggling to land a glove on the towering southpaw from Sheffield. Midway through the seventh it looked as though Thompson was pushing for the stoppage. He was sitting down on his shots and driving his right hand across Pauls' chin. Pauls was taking the shots, but it looked like troubling times for the former British champion.

It seemed as though Pauls could succumb to Thompson’s dominance, but in the ninth he stunned Thompson with a right hand. Thompson wobbled around trying to hold on, but Pauls had his man down with some scrappy shots on the inside. Thompson was up before the count reached 10, but he was clearly in a bad way. With a world title shot on the line he was allowed to continue, but another hard right hand from Pauls sent him down again, and Foster waved it off. Pauls claimed the IBF international title with the win, and perhaps a crack at the real championship, while Thompson fell to 15-1 (11 KOs) with the first defeat of his career.