Goldsmith admitted in the buildup that very few people tuning into DAZN to watch him face Pauls would have heard of him. But the Coventry man changed all that with this virtuoso performance against the former British champion, earning him a wide victory on all three cards.

Judge Ammar Sakraoui scored it 97-92, while Michael Alexander and Mikael Hook both had it 99-90.

Goldsmith (16-1, 10 KOs) had started as a significant underdog against Pauls (21-3-1, 12 KOs), who headed into this fight, the chief support to Ryan Garner against Michael Magnesi at St Mary’s Stadium, within three months of his stunning upset victory over Shakiel Thompson in Manchester.

But it was the 27-year-old outsider who found his rhythm first from his southpaw stance. In contrast, Pauls was barely throwing throughout the opening two rounds and seemed to struggle to get to grips with his left-handed opponent.

It was more of the same through three and four, with Goldsmith in complete control against Pauls, who studied at Southampton University and boxed for the local Golden Ring ABC as an amateur. But at the halfway point of the fight, it was not looking anything like a happy return to the south coast for “The Newquay Bomb.”

However, he had been behind on the cards when he stopped Thompson in March and knocked out Nathan Heaney to win the British middleweight title in 2024, too. He slipped further behind on the cards with a minute left in the sixth when he suffered a flash knockdown when a right hand clipped him as he attempted to backpedal.

There would be no come-from-behind win this time as Goldsmith simply extended his lead as the rounds ticked by. As such, if anyone looked capable of securing a late stoppage it was Goldsmith, who had never gone the full 10 rounds before Saturday night. But that's exactly what he did here, and he did not put a foot wrong once.

In the bout before Goldsmith’s victory, Southampton’s own Lewis Edmondson edged an uneventful 10-rounder against Lyndon Arthur.

Both men arrived at St Mary’s hoping to fire themselves into bigger fights in what is a deep light heavyweight scene in Britain. And it was Edmondson (12-1, 3 KOs) who claimed victory via unanimous decision, by scores of 97-93, 96-95 and 96-94.

Unusually, both of their ring walks included the same song, “Can’t Stop” by Red Hot Chilli Peppers, made famous by former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. However, it was clear that the local man, Edmondson, had the crowd on his side.

That did not seem to bother Manchester’s Arthur whatsoever, as he laughed off the jeers from the fans as he made his way to the ring in the late evening sun at St Mary’s.

Within seconds of the opening bell, Southampton’s famous chant, ‘Oh when the Saints go marching in,’ rang around the stadium in support of “Saint” Edmondson. But that was about as exciting as it got in a very cagey opening round between southpaw Edmonson and orthodox Arthur (25-4, 16 KOs).

A fortnight ago, Edmondson told The Ring he expected a “thinking fight” with Arthur and that was one way of describing the uneventful nature of the opening two rounds. But the fight sparked into life in the third when Edmondson landed a good right hand, only for Arthur to respond with a perfectly placed uppercut.

It was a rare flash point in an otherwise quiet first half, with Edmondson happy to pick and poke on the back foot while Arthur followed him round the ring. By the sixth, Arthur started to apply more pressure with his feet and was beginning to close the gap with a bit more success.

But Edmondson has made a living off people attempting to walk him down and was handling the marauding Arthur well, landing with lead hooks before the Manchester man could get anything meaningful off.

Arthur, 35, continued to slide behind on the cards and even his trainer, Pat Barrett, read him the riot act before the start of the 10th and final round. “You’re not boxing like someone who is trying to win,” he said.

The judges agreed with Barrett, with all three scoring in favor of Edmondson.

Earlier Saturday, Irish heavyweight Adam Olaniyan added to his burgeoning reputation as one to watch by stopping tough Belarussian Viktar Chvarkou in the second round.

A little over two months after British prospect Leo Atang went the six-round distance with Chvarkou, the 20-year-old Olaniyan saw him off after 2:11 of the second to move 2-0 (2 KOs). Chvarkou (6-34, 3 KOs) has lost 10 straight bouts, but the first nine defeats during that streak were decision defeats.

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