After perhaps one of the most baffling decisions in the
recent history of British boxing, Curtis Woodhouse looks unlikely to ever step
through the ropes again. Making the first defence of his English
light-welterweight title against Shayne Singleton, Woodhouse help a firm grip
on proceedings from the fourth round onwards but somehow, someway, two judges
gave Singleton the nod by one and two rounds respectively.
Indeed, upon the announcement of a split decision,
Woodhouse and his promoter Dave Coldwell exchanged looks of horror. And given
his recent Twitter posts, it seems the Driffield fighter is now adamant on
hanging up the gloves.
The defending champion patrolled the ring with menace and left his rival bloodied and bruised thanks to a fearsome jab and
straight right. Tellingly, Singleton’s face was a mess towards the end of the
fight, with a cut below each eye and blood flowing from his butchered nose.
Still, Singleton counter-punched well and grew accustomed
to boxing and moving towards the end of the fight. He struck gold with a few
crosses and rangy jabs in the opening three rounds but despite Woodhouse losing
a point for punching after the break in round ten, it seems staggering that
Singleton was adjudged to have won on two cards.
This was meant to be an easy fight for Woodhouse, a night
where he would dispatch a mere gatekeeper before challenging the likes of Adil
Anwar and Darren Hamilton. However, both men looked in competitive mood during
their ring entrances.
Boxing in front of a home crowd at Manchester’s Bowlers
Arena, Singleton scored with the greater frequency in the opening two rounds as
Woodhouse opted to feint on the inside and anticipate his opponent’s attacks.
Indeed, by the third round, Woodhouse was only just warming up and had perhaps
thrown more feints than significant punches.
Soon, however, he found his stride and was walking his
man down with merciless intent. The former Premier League footballer dug into
his reserves and moved up a gear in the fourth, jabbing with malice and
sticking to Singleton’s chest.
It seemed the longer the fight went on, the more
Woodhouse’s pristine conditioning was becoming a significant asset. As he
weaved forward at a terrific pace, keeping his hands up and firing that hurtful
jab, the challenger became bloody and weary. Time after time, Curtis snapped
his adversary’s head back with alarming regularity.
By the eighth round, the titlist’s straight right was
finely tuned and finding its mark each time, particularly when thrown as part
of a combination. Woodhouse’s clusters of punches and speed were frightening and
towards the end of the fight, it seemed Karl Ince in Singleton’s corner thought
once or twice about throwing the towel in to rescue his outfought charge.
However, in a fight where both men frequently went
eyeball to eyeball at the end of each round, Woodhouse connected with a vicious
sucker punch in the tenth and final round soon after referee Howard Foster
had called for a break. Woodhouse appeared to fire an insult at Singleton but
came up short when Foster deducted a point from him.
How crucial that would prove to be. Singleton took it
upon himself to somehow motor over the finishing line and threw five jabs at a
time, perhaps spurred on by a second wind. His work ethic and Woodhouse’s point
deduction won him the final stanza but despite his celebrations at the bell, surely
the judges would score the fight to Woodhouse.
Regardless, Singleton got the green light from two of the three judges, prompting a mass bundle in the middle of the ring as Ince leapt to his fighter’s acclaim. Even though Woodhouse had a point torn away from him in the commencing moments, it is difficult to see where he would have lost the majority of the rounds. Granted, from the middle to latter rounds he pierced his rival’s leaky defence and rocked him with jabs to the body and head numerous times.
It was a dreadful verdict and leaves one of Britain’s
most industrious fighters on the scrapheap. Coming off a successful career in
professional football, few thought Woodhouse could switch professions with such
ease, but after winning the English title and going toe-to-toe with the likes
of Frankie Gavin and Dale Miles, he drew revenge against those who said he
would never make it. In Singleton’s case, though, he should be in no position
to call himself a champion.
By Alistair Hendrie
