10 months ago
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NATHAN HEANEY is the Pied Piper of the Potteries – and the ultimate contrast to the super-rich lifestyles enjoyed by Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Compared to those glitzy giant heavyweights Heaney – who caused 2023’s domestic upset by winning the British middleweight title three months ago – is a blue-collar warrior.
Instagram @hitman_heaney
GettyAs they earn their living in the most dangerous of sports, nobody should begrudge Fury and Joshua a penny of the mega-millions the Saudis pay them every time they climb into a Riyadh ring.
They have large teams of PR executives, medical support experts, trainers, security guards and various other hangers-on who pander to their every whim.
But it’s the unglamorous bread-and-butter battlers like Heaney, 34, with his entourage of one – trainer Steve Woodvine – who are boxing’s life blood.
The Heaney story will never be the subject of a Hollywood movie, yet it’s the heart-warming tale of a modest man who was never expected to become a champion yet has always been idolised in Stoke and the surrounding towns.
He graduated from Staffordshire University with a Sports Science degree and a Foundation Law degree and was happily settled for life as a teacher.
Heaney had an undistinguished 90-bout amateur career, gave up boxing after his eldest daughter was born but then decided to make a comeback as a pro six years ago.
Though he was unbeaten after 17 contests, Heaney was given a minimal chance of beating Denzel Bentley when he challenged him for his crown in Manchester in November.
But to the delight of more than 2,000 of his extremely noisy neighbours at ringside he won a shock points decision against a world title contender.
There isn’t another fighter in this country who has Heaney’s close relationship with his fans.
Wherever he fights he is spurred on by more than 2,000 men and women who faithfully follow him with a passionate fervour – and he’s on first-name terms with hundreds of them.
That’s because he delivers their tickets to their homes personally. He has already sold 1,500 for his first defence against Cornwall’s English champion Brad Pauls – and it doesn’t take place at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena, until March 16.
Heaney explained: “Most of my fans live in 13 different postcodes and I deliver their tickets to their front doors two postcodes at a time – that’s about 100 a day.
“So it takes me about a couple of weeks to get round to them all.
“They seem to enjoy having a chat on the doorstep and it gives me pleasure as well. I find their support is very inspiring – it gives me a warm feeling knowing they are spending their hard-earned cash to watch me fight.
I find their support is very inspiring – it gives me a warm feeling knowing they are spending their hard-earned cash to watch me fight.
Nathan Heaney on his fans“No doubt people will be surprised to learn I get requests for tickets from all over the country including Scotland and Ireland – but I mail those recorded delivery.”
Heaney, a Stoke City supporter from the age of seven, has no delusions of grandeur and lives quietly with his wife Louise and two daughters.
He may be a British champion but he still has to do the school run every day!
Life in the fast lane certainly isn’t for him – so far Heaney’s only extravagance has been to upgrade his car from a baby Peugeot to a Volvo.
He is so down-to-earth even if he could afford it I would be surprised if he would ever be seen driving a Rolls-Royce.
Now Heaney’s overwhelming ambition is to fight Kazakhstan’s Janibek Alimkhanuly for his WBO and IBF world titles at Stoke City’s Bet 365 stadium this summer.
If promoter Frank Warren can make it happen Heaney’s ticket delivery service is liable to be grossly overstretched.
Arnold Bennett, one of Britain’s greatest authors made the Potteries world famous with his novels and short stories about the experiences of ordinary people from the area.
Nathan Heaney would have made an ideal subject for him.
Reuters
PA
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