This June, Curtis Woodhouse and
Dale Miles stood toe to toe at Rotherham’s Magna Centre and traded
knockout blows for five rounds in one of the most staggering wars of
attrition in recent memory. Every time Miles threw, Woodhouse dug in and
replied with aplomb. As always, something had to give. Woodhouse used
his ring craft to back Miles up, although when he dropped his hands in
search of a finish, he walked on to a jarring short right that sent him
flailing to the canvas.
Remembering that galling fifth round knockout,
Woodhouse says, “I was devastated.” The Yorkshire fighter has since
regrouped and picked up the English light-welterweight title, defeating
Dave Ryan on points. That Miles loss was still a tough pill to swallow,
though. His pride dented, Woodhouse suffered a break from hard sparring
due to a slowly but steadily healing face. He only got back to training
two weeks after the fight and, even then, he could only engage in shadow
boxing.
There were no titles on the line during his
renowned battle with Miles but Woodhouse won respect from the fight, a
tag that is almost as valuable as a belt in a business such as boxing.
Woodhouse’s promoter Dave Coldwell says, “If you take a fighter like
Arturo Gatti who still lost three fights in a row at one stage, boxing
people and fans alike respected him for the fights he was in. I’m not
comparing him in terms of ability at all, but I think something similar
is happening with Curtis.”
Woodhouse, who entered boxing as a latecomer at
26 after a fleeting career as a professional footballer, admits he had
to overcome several obstacles by embarking on such a gamble. “I was 26
and had never laced up a pair of gloves,” he remembers. “Obviously I get
a lot of doubters given how I came into the sport but I feel I’ve
earned the respect of my peers, especially after winning the English
title.”
Indeed, Woodhouse learned tough lessons from the
Miles fight that he harked back to during the English title bout.
“There was one point,” says Woodhouse, “when I got hit on the back of
the head against Ryan and the room was spinning. Against Miles, I’d have
fired back, but I just had to hold on for a moment to compose myself.
It was a great moment for me and a great achievement to become champion
of England.”
His clash with Miles, it seems, defines
Woodhouse’s career and acts as a turning point towards his euphoric
English title win. Along with Coldwell, Woodhouse admits the fight
taught him a lot about the values of defence. The adulation that comes
after a gut check and a war such as that, however, is something that
Woodhouse takes with open arms.
“People were saying it was the greatest fight
they’d ever seen,” he laughs. “It’s nice to hear something like that and
I think the fact that I went through hell and back for 12 weeks in my
camp, training as hard as I possibly could, makes the loss slightly
easier to live with.”
“Even during the exchanges I was thinking, wow,
this is some fight! The crowd were going so crazy I couldn’t even heard
my corner between rounds! He hurt me in the first round; I hurt him in
the second round. Whenever he caught me with a good shot, I just planted
my feet, bit on my gumshield, and just thought, fuck you; let’s have a
fight!”
Those scattergun attacks may be pleasing for the
crowd, but that surge of adrenalin Woodhouse felt still had lasting
effects. Woodhouse revealed he fought on with a fractured cheekbone and a
broken nose. Coming into the sport as a wide-eyed novice, soaking up
any information and advice when he could, you might think Woodhouse
would shy away from the more punishing sides of boxing.
Credit must go to Woodhouse, though, as he has
taken the pitfalls and dangers of boxing in his stride. “If you don’t
want to get hurt don’t become a boxer” is his steely yet commendable
statement. The former Sheffield United defender continues to claim that
boxing isn’t always a nice sport. “It’s not tennis, you’re in there to
have a fight,” he professes.
That machismo and tough talking stance from
Woodhouse may put some observers off, perhaps understandably so. Before
his fight with Frankie Gavin, the two had to be forcibly separated at
the weigh-in. “During the build-up to fights, tensions sometimes boil
over,” claims Woodhouse. “It’s a tough sport for tough men, so you might
expect emotions to run high.”
Thankfully, Woodhouse has managed to channel
that competitive nature into hard work outside and inside the ring, and
his ambitious switch to boxing seems to have paid off. Coldwell oozes
with enthusiasm when discussing Woodhouse’s future. “We want Darren
Hamilton, who is the British champion, then the Miles rematch. That’s
the plan,” he confirms. Considering Hamilton’s upset over Ashley
Theophane for the British title in May, there are many who have sounded
off about Hamilton’s waning credentials as British champion.
“He doesn’t do anything great, but he does
everything correctly,” says Woodhouse. “He’s got really long arms, jabs
well, and proves that if you get the basics right, you can go far in
boxing. There are certain things he makes look very easy in the ring,
and he’s clearly worked very hard. I say good luck to him, but I want to
rip that belt from him.”
“I’ve got options to defend my English title, so
if I can’t get a British title shot, I’ll go down that route. My aim is
to stay busy. If anyone wants to fight me, I’m always willing to
listen. I could have quite easily got to 13-0 fighting a load of
journeymen, but I want to fight the very best in Britain. A poor record
is not something that interests me.”
By Alistair Hendrie
