Former Footy Ace Woodhouse Wins First Title

By Andrew Wake at ringside: Footballer-turned-boxer Curtis Woodhouse won his first title at the Magna Centre in Rotherham on Sunday afternoon (February 28) when he scored a third round stoppage of Isle of Wight’s Jay Morris to take the vacant International Masters crown at light-welterweight.

The 29-year-old former Sheffield United and England under-21 midfielder had lost to Morris by a single point over six rounds in Belfast last April but this time he made sure he wreaked revenge with accurate and powerful punching.

The first two frames of this scheduled ten-rounder were close encounters.

Woodhouse, now 12 – 1 (7 KOs), looked to make his mark on the fight early on by opening up with a barrage of shots to the body, but Morris proved that, unlike many people who visit the Magna Centre, he hadn’t travelled north for a day trip and came back with his own sustained assault to the torso.

A similar pattern occurred in the second as again Driffield’s Woodhouse started the brighter and rocked Morris with a clean right hook but the man nicknamed the “Isle of Wight Assassin” pushed Woodhouse towards the ring strands and landed solid blows on the inside.

But Woodhouse’s tactic of making a brisk start paid off for him early in the third and ultimately final round as he unleashed an almighty right hand to the temple that scrambled Morris’ senses and sent him crashing to the canvas.

Bravely, Morris got back to his feet but he quickly found himself on the back foot as Woodhouse poured forward looking to seal the deal. Many of the Driffield puncher’s shots landed on Morris’ arms but a few meaty shots slipped through and, with only 39 seconds of the session gone, referee Howard Foster felt he had no choice but to intervene.

Although the International Masters title isn’t a major bauble in the grand scheme of boxing, it is something that Woodhouse will surely cherish and puts him on the road to greater things in the future.

When he announced he was swapping football boots for boxing gloves a few years ago, most people viewed it as a temporary gimmick much like Michael Jordan’s foray into baseball, but with performances like Sunday’s he is proving the naysayers wrong and establishing himself as one of the best up-and-coming 140lbs fighters in Britain.

And he could find himself back in action in just five weeks time with a bout on the big Haye – Ruiz bill at Manchester’s MEN Arena.

Sheffield’s Jerome Wilson got his professional career off to a winning start as he posted a 59-55 win over East Ham journeyman Johnny Greaves.

Like in many of his 47 pro fights Greaves gave his opponent problems with his trickiness and insistence on showboating without actually throwing many punches but Wilson kept cool and put shots together in clusters.

Arguably Greaves’ best punch was a foul. Late in the final session the Londoner got Wilson in a headlock and punched him with a flick around his back in the same manner that saw Joe Calzaghe lose a point against Jeff Lacy a few years back. Trialist referee John Latham spotted the infringement but didn’t seem keen to read the riot act.

Home town light-middleweight Navid Mansouri made short work of Scunthorpe’s Steve Spence, stopping him just 55 seconds into the opening frame of a clash scheduled for six-twos.

Mansouri, now 2 – 0 (2 KOs), hurt his foe with a quick one-two to the head that left him covering up in a neutral corner. Mansouri need little invitation to storm forward with more quick fire blows and, after a couple had landed cleanly, referee Michael Alexander came to Spence’s rescue.

If excitement is what you are looking for then Barnsley’s Neil Beevers might be a man to follow.

Like so many fighters from Mick Wale’s Brampton stable, Beevers believes that if you are not moving forward then you are running away and he showed that he was never intent on taking a backwards step in his 59 – 56 win over Lincoln’s Ryan Clark.

Beevers, 26, got his head against Clark’s chest early and pounded away at his ribs while occasionally stepping back and getting off uppercuts to the chin. Clark, who has never been stopped, proved his toughness by soaking up the shots but, except for a brief period in the fourth, never looked like he could win.

Another novice pro who impressed was Grimsby light-welter Kevin “Super” Hooper, as he became the 96th man to defeat Sheffield’s always entertaining Daniel Thorpe.

Hooped, a supermarket security guard by day, showed his intentions from the off by stinging Thorpe with a straight right followed by a left hook.

He continued to connect well in the second but in the third and fourth Thorpe tried to turn the fight into a dancing competition by constantly moving around the ring without any plan of actually fighting.

To Hooper’s credit he stayed focused and his quality punching downstairs in rounds five and six ensured that Mr Alexander gave him the spoils each round of this six-twos encounter.

19-year-old Chad Gaynor enjoyed his first fight in his hometown with a third round stoppage of Middlesbrough’s Phil Boyle.

After a slow initial period, Gaynor mixed his shots up well in the second before a left followed by a right hurt Boyle at 1.31 of the third and Michael Alexander stepped in.

Barnsley’s Jon Musgrave evened his record at seven wins and seven losses with a 59 – 56 win over Halesowen’s Kevin McCauley.

As was the case when McCauley fought Liam Cameron is Sheffield last weekend, the Midlander threw the odd burst of punches in close but was ultimately outworked.