Curtis Woodhouse loves to prove the doubters wrong and in
Rotherham tomorrow night he plans on making the critics eat some
more humble pie by winning the English light-welterweight
title.
The former Sheffield United and Birmingham midfielder has
received his fair share of stick since he turned his back on
professional football and took up boxing.
But all that will likely change if he can defeat Derby's Dave
Ryan at the Magna Centre.
"People writing you off goes with the territory and it's water
off a duck's back if I'm being honest," the 32-year-old told the
Sheffield Telegraph.
"They told me that I wasn't going to make it as a footballer
when I was 12. Then I wouldn't make it as a successful boxer or a
footballer manager.
"Well I played at the highest level and we're in the top three
in the league and now I've got the chance to become the boxing
champion of the country. I'm not doing bad for a no-hoper."
Unusually for a title fight, both boxers go into the contest on
the back of defeats.
Woodhouse was halted in five by another Derby boxer in Dale
Miles this summer, while Ryan dropped a unanimous decision to Adil
Anwar in May.
27/09/2012 21:20:11