Boxing
Steed Woodall chasing large fights with Kévin Lele Sadjo, Diego Pacheco and Edgar Berlanga
Published
3 months agoon
The change of fate was overdue Woodall’s Steed.
Last year, his mother had a heart attack and then COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Believing she was on the verge of losing her life, depression affected her son, who was also going through a breakup with his daughter’s mother.
Having taken fights with some of the UK’s top 10 super-middleweights and airy heavyweights, only to see them fall tiny, Woodall struggled and defied the odds. With bills to pay and a two-year-old daughter to look after – splitting the responsibility 50-50 with her mother – the Birmingham boxer began to hate boxing, and retirement often crossed his mind.
Then, on June 14, the breakthrough finally came. After withdrawing in April due to injury, Woodall was given another chance to face former British, Commonwealth and European super middleweight champion Lerrone Richards.
Another loss and who knew when Woodhall would get another chance. But on this night, everything fell into place for the 31-year-old, who stopped and stunned the recently world-class contender in the sixth round with an overwhelming determination, willing to do whatever it took to win.
“Some people say they are willing to give it their all,” Woodall said. Boxing News. “[But] I was glad they took me out on a stretcher. I know it sounds stupid, but after everything I’ve been through, and just being there that night, taking that belt [WBO Inter-Continental] to my daughter’s house, it meant so much to me. I was going to put it all on one card.”
The joyful ending continued as Woodall’s mother was present at the Bolton Whites Hotel to watch her son triumph. After falling to his knees in victory, brimming with emotion, Woodall had one more thing to do.
“When I got out of the ring, the first thing I did was put the belt on my mum,” the Birmingham man said.
“I was joyful to win the fight, but it wasn’t a surprise or a shock or anything like that. I knew in my head that it was going to happen. I had no doubts about the outcome or whether I could do it. I had known for a long time that I could beat a fighter of that caliber.”
Friday passed, and Woodall had the weekend off to enjoy his victory with his family. Monday came, and Woodall picked up his tools and went back to work at the flooring company he started a few years ago.
“I install demanding floors and I install bedrooms,” he said. “Everybody has bills to pay and I had a demanding time with boxing, getting the right opportunities and without the backing of a top promoter, you have no power in terms of how much you get paid. There are inconsistencies, you have fights on tiny notice and things like that.”
Woodall will now have to wait and see what happens next though. Almost six weeks on from Steed’s victory, ‘The Stallion’ is still demanding at work with training team Paul Counihan and his son Louie, while manager Jon Pegg is keeping his ear to the ground as he awaits his next fight.
On July 11, Woodall used his Instagram platform to criticize rising super middleweight stars Diego Pacheco, Edgar Berlanga and current European 168-pound champion Kévin Lele Sadjo.
“Sadjo received an offer [before the Richards fight] but it didn’t work out because I wasn’t ranked high enough,” Woodall revealed.
If Woodall were to be offered a fight in America, however, it would not be strange territory for the Briton, who made his professional debut in the United States in 2014 and has fought there 11 times since, with five fights in the Dominican Republic. The story begins at the end of his amateur career, at the age of 18, after a fight at the World Championships in Armenia.
“I was ranked No. 5 in the world. I beat No. 2 in the world. And my ultimate goal was to get into the British team and train for the Olympics. From the age of 16 until the end I was assessed quite regularly but the British team didn’t give me a place.
“Even after the World Championships I was considered an unlucky loser. Even the coaches who were in my corner at GB said I should have won the fight against the eventual world champion. So I thought I’d definitely be in the squad now. And then they said ‘maybe next year’ again.
“I knew a friend of mine was in America. He put me in touch with a manager who was into boxing. He had Peter ‘Kid Chocolate’ Quillin when he was world champion. He weighed the same, so he was someone I was following.
“I flew down there for a few weeks. I had some great friendlies. He was impressed with what he saw and offered me a contract. After the first week of the two weeks there, it was a really large, tough decision to make. I’m a real family man and I’m closest to all my family and being on the other side of the world, it’s not like you’re in Spain. It’s a nine-hour flight, so to get up and leave your family and only see them once a year… I remember thinking to myself, I’m a man now. But when I look back and think about what I was like when I was 19, I think, no, I wasn’t a man.
“I had to experience a lot. Of course, I’m glad I was brave enough to make the decision. It gave me a lot of qualities that I bring with me to the ring. In terms of mental strength, mental toughness and things like that.”
“I was in Miami for a year and a half at first,” he continued. “And then I spent a year and a half in Houston, Texas, under Ronnie Shields. And then I went back to Miami for another six months. And then the fighting really started to tardy down for me. I decided to go back to England. I was really unlucky. I slipped in the snow and broke my leg. A freak accident. It took me a year. It took me a long time to get back into training. For a long time I thought my career was over.”
Woodall put on the gloves in Recent York (at the tempting BB King Blues Club & Grill), lost to Gennady Golovkin’s former opponent Steve Rolls in Houston, raised his hand in victory at the World Gym Arena in Texas City and picked up his first win just before the end at Club Maquiteria in the Dominican capital of Santa Domingo.
“The main fight I had in Houston was the one I lost to Steve Rolls. And that was the biggest lesson of my career,” said Woodall (19-2-1, 12 KOs).
“It’s not an excuse, but in the lead-up to the fight, I hadn’t seen my family in over a year. It was the first time my family had seen me as a professional, because they flew me in. I was training for a left-handed opponent. That was changed at the last minute. It was my first time making the middleweight limit, and I had a really bad weight cut. Everything that could go wrong in that fight did.
“I was at the top of the scorecards. I had the Rolls at the bottom in the third round. I had a punctured eardrum in the fourth round. I just couldn’t shake it off and get through the round. I guess if I had to paraphrase it, I would call it a learning curve.”
The Dominican Republic chose less favorable conditions, and an extraordinary crowd gathered in the ring.
“I would say the ghetto. I remember getting there and during some of the fighting, there were chickens running around. There were a lot of homeless kids looking for something. I gave them what I had. It was honestly a surreal experience.
“Two fights, no weigh-ins. I think that was my last fight in the Dominican Republic. I had no idea who I was fighting. I got in the ring and saw a guy walking towards him. He must have weighed like 200 pounds. I’m not kidding. He’s on my Instagram. I actually stopped him in the fourth round, and it was supposed to be an eight-round fight.”
Yet, having been a professional boxer for over 10 years and boxing in five different countries, Steed Woodall’s career is only just getting started.
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Boxing
Mike Tyson had absolutely no chance of knocking out Jake Paul
Published
1 day agoon
November 21, 2024One of the hottest topics surrounding Mike Tyson’s return at the age of 58 was the possibility of the boxing legend scoring a knockout of Jake Paul.
WBN has weighed in on this topic several times, questioning the validity of five-second training clips that revealed nothing about Tyson’s abilities at this overdue age. One of the most intriguing observations during the preparations was the opinion of UFC commentator Daniel Cormier.
Speaking on his show “Funky and the Champ,” Cormier reflected on Tyson’s social media videos and offered an informed opinion on the meaning of the clips.
“I understand that [he is in amazing shape at 58]and I understand what he is saying [he feels as though he can compete]– Cormier said. “And I agree that when he hits the pads with Rafael Cordeiro, it looks like there’s still something left in him.
“But then I watch Jake Paul fight Mike Perry. I saw Jake Paul get overwhelmed to the point where he started to feel uncomfortable. It looked like Mike Perry had a chance. But Jake has a reserve tank he can go to and benefit from because he’s 28 years ancient. Then he comes back and finally finishes Mike Perry.
“At the beginning of the fight, Mike Perry gets beaten up and dropped. He looks trained and unmatched. This worries me because what if it looks like a 58-year-old man fighting a 28-year-old man while Mike can’t employ the backup tank to stay and compete with this newborn kid? I think it’s a failure for Jake Paul because if you beat Mike Tyson, everyone will love him.
He added: “What if Mike knocks him out? It’s over. Everything is ready. This would be the backfire of all time. If he gets knocked out, nothing like that has ever happened in the history of the sport.”
Unfortunately for Tyson, this revenge backfired spectacularly, as the former heavyweight champion’s return was the only event that bombed. Tyson had nothing left twenty years after he had nothing left in his tank and no desire to box in his mind.
Paul parlayed this into a money-making scheme that would forever be a success for him and his company, but would be poorly received by the die-hard boxing fraternity.
Cormier’s words resonate, especially after what happened in the ring when Mike Tyson struggled to shift into first gear, warning former fighters thinking about returning after 50.
Boxing
Lauren Price looks to win Jonas vs Habazin with an undercard victory
Published
2 days agoon
November 21, 2024Lauren Price MBE will defend her world title for the first time on Saturday, December 14 at the Exhibition Center in Liverpool, while the Welsh champion plans to stage an all-British unification clash with welterweight rival Natasha Jonas, which will headline the Collision Course that night.
Price defends her WBA welterweight title against undefeated Colombian challenger Bexcy Mateus on the same night as Jonas attempts to unify the IBF and WBC titles with Ivana Habazin as part of BOXXER’s ‘Collision Course’ fight night, which can be seen live and exclusively on Sky Sports in the UK UK and Ireland and Peacock in the US.
Price MBE (7-0, 1 KO) made history with an excellent performance, defeating former undisputed welterweight world ruler Jessica McCaskill in front of her fans in Cardiff in May.
Price, the first Welsh boxer to win Olympic gold, once again entered the record books by becoming the country’s first world champion in just her seventh professional fight. The 30-year-old from Ystrad Mynach, who has yet to lose a round as a professional, will now defend her world titles for the first time as she focuses on dominating the welterweight division.
Mateus (7-0, 6 KO), ranked No. 5 in the WBA rankings, is undefeated in the professional ranks and has won all but one of her seven fights by knockout. The 29-year-old from Bogota, fighting outside her native Colombia for the first time, will now have her first chance at global fame, with her goal to dethrone Price and take the top spot in the welterweight division.
Lauren Price said: “I’m excited to defend my belts and complete what has been an crucial year for me. I have full respect for Mateusz. I will prove that I am the best in the division and I will not let anything or anyone stand in my way of being undisputed.”
BOXXER Founder and CEO Ben Shalom said: “It’s a massive night for the women’s welterweight division with three world champions competing. Natasha Jonas returns to her hometown for a mandatory unification fight against Ivana Habazin, and Lauren Price defends her world titles against undefeated challenger Bexcy Mateus. The fight for the undisputed continues. If Natasha and Lauren win on December 14, it will set the stage for a massive “Battle Of Britain” world title unification fight next year.
There’s reason to celebrate as BOXXER delivers a Christmas cracker to end the year. In addition to the world championship fights between Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price, fight fans can expect a gala full of drama and entertainment.
Undefeated Irishman Stephen McKenna (15-0, 14 KO) will face English champion Lee Cutler (14-1, 7 KO) in an invigorating super welterweight fight for the silver WBC International title.
McKenna impressed fans in his three-round fight against Joe Laws last August at Oakwell Stadium in Barnsley. The two struck out in the first round, then McKenna began to apply the pressure, losing Laws three more times and maintaining his undefeated record after a third-round stoppage.
English cruiserweight champion Viddal Riley (11-0, 6 KO) returns to action from a rib injury that has kept him out of the ring since a career-best victory over Mikael Lawal in March. Riley will be looking to shake off the ring rust as he takes on high-profile opponents in the recent year.
Undefeated Chorley super middleweight Mark Jeffers (18-0, 5 KO) scored an explosive fifth-round knockout victory over Darren Johnston in May and will be looking to bring more drama to Liverpool’s Exhibition Center as he goes in search of his 19th professional win.
Mason Cartwright (20-4-1, 8 KO) from Cheshire, a former two-time British title challenger from Ellesmere Port, will be counting on local support as he returns to the title track.
After signing a promotional contract with BOXXER, local star Frankie Stringer (8-0, 1 KO) can achieve his third victory in 2024, when he returns in front of his fans in Liverpool. The 23-year-old lightweight fighter is a player of the notable city team Rotunda ABC, and his manager is former world champion Liam Smith.
Boxing
Heavyweight who knocked out Lewis to break Tyson’s record days after the feat
Published
3 days agoon
November 19, 2024Mike Tyson will miss his final record-breaking days after becoming the oldest former heavyweight champion to walk through the ring.
“The Baddest Man on the Planet” reached an all-time high in Texas on Friday night, returning from a two-decade absence. However, Tyson gave the achievement five days later to former Lennox Lewis conqueror Oliver McCall.
On Tuesday night at The Troubadour in Nashville, Tennessee, the former WBC heavyweight champion returns to action and will face veteran Stacy Frazier in a fight scheduled for four rounds. At age 59, McCall will set the record for a sanctioned fight, beating Tyson by fourteen months.
McCall was born in April 1965, and Tyson’s mother gave birth to him in June 1966. “The Atomic Bull” hopes to score his 60th career victory tonight. He enters the fight with a record of 59-14, including 38 knockouts.
The Chicago native believes his continued activity over the last 19 years will be what separates his performance on Tuesday night from what Tyson looked like on Friday.
“I’m ready. I’ve been training here in Nashville for a few weeks now, but I’m always in shape,” McCall said. “It will be a completely different match than what the fans saw on Friday.
“I think being lively has a lot to do with it. I haven’t fought in five years because of the pandemic and a few things that didn’t work out.
“If you look at my record, since 2005 I have fought 25 times, of which I have won 19-6 times against quality fighters and won various regional titles.
McCall fights without financial motivation. He sees his fighting days approaching and is already planning his post-retirement plans.
“I want to do this for another year. This means I will be 40 years into my career as a professional boxer. Then I want to train and become a manager. I want to return the favor and assist the next generation of players try to become world champions.
“I came here to Nashville and contacted the manager who took me to the title [Country Box] promoter Jimmy Adams. I’m learning a lot about this aspect of the sport. I love the players here and everything that happens with Country Box.”
The Country Box 25 gala will also feature eight-round fights between super bantamweight Elon DeJesus (8-1-2, 7 KO) and Dominique Griffin (5-7-2, 2 KO), as well as super middleweight fighters. Sean Hemphill (16-2, 10 KO) fights Bryant McClain (6-5-2, 1 KO).
Airy heavyweight Isaac Carbonell (8-0, 5 KO) will face Antonio Louis Hernandez (7-19-4, 4 KO) in six-round fights; Joel Mutombo (6-0, 4 KO) vs. Kevin Torian (3-2, 3 KO) in a cruiserweight fight.
In a four-round fight, Ryan Zempoaltecatl (2-0, 1 KO) will face Raymond Chacon (10-64-1, 2 KO).
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