"I can't end on that" - Nathan Heaney makes brutally honest Gerome Warburton admission as he calls for Frank Warren talks

Nathan Heaney has told bet365 that he wants to right the wrongs of his shock defeat at the hands of Gerome Warburton 10 days ago and has called for crunch talks with Frank Warren to help shape up his immediate boxing plans.

The Stoke-on-Trent star exclusively told bet365 that he has opted against retiring from the sport in the aftermath of his latest defeat, vowing to don the gloves at least one more time.

The 37-year-old, who stunned Denzel Bentley to capture the famous Lonsdale belt two-and-a-half years ago, had hoped to work himself in contention for a second showdown with the Londoner later this year.

Bentley produced the most impressive win of his career in London at the weekend, beating Endry Saavedra to capture the WBO's 'Interim' 160lbs world title, and Heaney had desperately been keeping his fingers crossed that the pair could run back their 2023 classic at Stoke City football club's bet365 Stadium.

However, with Heaney succumbing to a unanimous points loss at the hands of Welshman Warburton in Manchester, it's left his hopes of securing a stadium date with Bentley in tatters.

Now, Heaney admits he needs to sit down with promoter Frank Warren and Queensberry to dissect last month's defeat and to try and formulate a plan to help fulfil his dream of fighting at the home of his beloved football club.

“I am still feeling so frustrated to be absolutely honest, in terms of the performance itself," Heaney told us this week.

“I didn’t box great, but neither did my opponent, so it’s a strange one – a strange fight to look back on. One thing I do know though, is that I can't end on that!

- Nathan Heaney

"I absolutely cannot have that as the last fight of my career, that as the last defeat on my record, so my plan now is to sit down and talk to Frank [Warren] and see what the options are.

"Listen, Gerome Warburton is a decent fighter, but he isn’t the best I have ever fought – nowhere near the best – so to lose to him is tough to take.

"I lost widely on the cards too, which is difficult to accept, but I said I would take a week or so to reflect on it and make a decision on things, and I just know that I can’t bow out of the sport on the back of that."

He added: “I’ve been away with the girls for a week, down to Devon, and have decided that I am carrying on, because I, and my supporters, deserve a better curtain-call than that.”

"We all know what my final dream in this sport is - to fight at the bet365 Stadium - it's a pipe-dream, but one I still truly believe could come true!"

Heaney admits that his hopes of landing a showpiece fight in the great outdoors of his home city hinges on upcoming discussions with his promoter, Warren.

The former British middleweight champion was on the periphery of a world title fight at the venue in the summer of 2024, but has since slipped down the middleweight rankings having been beaten by Brad Pauls and, more recently, Warburton.

The hugely popular Staffordshire man isn't giving up his fight easily however, saying he will leave no stone unturned in his bid to 'give the supporters what they want', even if his dream of fighting at the stadium feels further away than ever before.

"If Frank Warren could say to me, ‘right, we have got a plan mapped out – we are going to do this, that and the other’, then I would be ok, I could focus and work towards something again.

"The problem is, right now, I don’t have that – I haven’t got a route to what I am so desperate to achieve, and that’s hard for me.

"I know what I want, everyone does, but I just can’t seem to get that path to getting there. Believe me, Frank wants it just as much as I do and my supporters do too.

"We have been so, so close before, but that door then closed, and now it probably feels as far away as it has ever been, which is painful to be honest."

"But, that said, I am not giving up on it!"