Curtis Woodhouse to retire after British Title fight....

[jessi]

Yep I would buy his autobiography ! Call it "living the dream"

[stujones]

Good post Deserter. Interested in reading Curtis' post about him being bashed around in sparring. I have to say, and I might be in the minority, but from his pro debut I thought he would get to area / national champion level. Not necessarily British champion level (and sorry to say this but he isn't there YET - fingers crossed) but always looked a decent fighter.

My main comments after watching his debut was not "oh a white collar celebrity boxer" but "shame he didn't take up boxing years ago". He was never a Freddie Flintoff. Always looked like someone who could comfortably make the top 10 in his weight division.... so I was fascinated by Curtis saying it wasn't always that easy so my respect for him goes higher. He didn't need to do this at all.

[lefty]

Curtis, would love to hear about the first time you sparred. Were you scared? Naturally quite fearless or?

[curtis wood]

lads your nice words are making me weak stop it!! ive spoke to a couple of people who want to write my autobiography but im still unsure if I want to put it all out there, ive had a lot of bad things happen to me and done a lot of bad things in my early years, if im doing a book it would be a warts and all or I wouldn't bother, still fighting with the idea, tell you a quick story about the 1st time I sparred at dave coldwells gym, I got in and did 4x2 minutes, I knew dave was training ryan Rhodes and kell brook at the time but didn't know what either looked like in person, so I got in did my rounds and got hit from pillow to post, cut mouth bleeding nose and wobbled a few times, dave sat me down and said to keep going, it was gunna be hard to start with because I wasn't very good but if I stuck with it I would get better, I appreciated daves kind words, I then said to dave, that kid was brilliant who I sparred who was it, he said, yea hes a good little fighter is danny but hes not won a fight in over 2 years, it was Daniel Thorpe, when dave told me he hadn't won in 2 years and after what hed just done to me I though oh sshit ive got to really knuckle down in this game, I wasn't a natural at all I just had a big desire to learn and to improve, when everybody had gone home I stayed to work on the boring things that some of the naturals neglected, that's what made me improve quicker than most people thought, im not very good at all but id like to think ive got the best work ethic in british boxing that's why I can hang with some kids that are miles better than me, because I work harder, hope feb 22nd I will be rewarded, no more soft talk lads, keep me mean and moody and ready to take whats mine

[stujones]

Curtis - don't be so down on yourself..... you've always been a decent fighter - at least when you've stepped in competitively Not a Floyd Mayweather, but better than average pro and much much better than people who have never laced them up (didn't see these spars - it does sound like you were proper shit then ).

As we are kind of doing a this is your life.... one question, how long from your first spar to your pro debut? And how many spars (roughly) did you think you had before your pro debut. As I said it was always apparent that you could handle yourself and you knew what you were doing at a decent level.

[lefty]

Curtis - don't be so down on yourself..... you've always been a decent fighter - at least when you've stepped in competitively Not a Floyd Mayweather, but better than average pro and much much better than people who have never laced them up (didn't see these spars - it does sound like you were proper poo then ).

As we are kind of doing a this is your life.... one question, how long from your first spar to your pro debut? And how many spars (roughly) did you think you had before your pro debut. As I said it was always apparent that you could handle yourself and you knew what you were doing at a decent level.

Not just that but Curtis was always playing catch up. Most top pro's have been boxing since they were little kids! It's a massive advantage.

[curtis wood]

I did hundreds of rounds body sparring but maybe only 20 rounds of open sparring before my debut, gary de ruex trained me for my 1st fight and he had some good amateurs that I did plenty of rounds with

[lefty]

I did hundreds of rounds body sparring but maybe only 20 rounds of open sparring before my debut, gary de ruex trained me for my 1st fight and he had some good amateurs that I did plenty of rounds with

Who's the best guy you've ever sparred mate? Someone that made you feel silly if you will.

[curtis wood]

ryan Rhodes, his feet made him very special, could just move around you and confuse you, and then would nail you when you missed him, ryan hit really hard, kell brook was also very good, great jab and really heavy handed, ricky burns really surprised me when I sparred him for a week before the katsidis fight, really fast and accurate, good power also, some of the best sparrers arnt the best fighters, ive watched ryan Rhodes have kittens sparring dee Mitchell, funny thing sparring, some fighters spar a lot different to how the fight on fight night, no pressure bigger gloves and less chance of being hurt so they can relax and just do there thing, loads of kids have given me a going over in sparring that id flatten if it was a real fight, and vice verser ive had the top side of kids in sparring that would do a job on me in a real fight, like I said its a funny thing sparring, never try and read too much into it

[lefty]

ryan Rhodes, his feet made him very special, could just move around you and confuse you, and then would nail you when you missed him, ryan hit really hard, kell brook was also very good, great jab and really heavy handed, ricky burns really surprised me when I sparred him for a week before the katsidis fight, really fast and accurate, good power also, some of the best sparrers arnt the best fighters, ive watched ryan Rhodes have kittens sparring dee Mitchell, funny thing sparring, some fighters spar a lot different to how the fight on fight night, no pressure bigger gloves and less chance of being hurt so they can relax and just do there thing, loads of kids have given me a going over in sparring that id flatten if it was a real fight, and vice verser ive had the top side of kids in sparring that would do a job on me in a real fight, like I said its a funny thing sparring, never try and read too much into it

Cheers mate. I can believe that regarding Rhodes in particular. Always a very clever fighter with great movement.

[Parson Cross]

I know just the person to sort the book out mate ........................... call me !
Get the hard work done mate - looking forward to 22 Feb.

[Deserter]

ive spoke to a couple of people who want to write my autobiography but im still unsure if I want to put it all out there, ive had a lot of bad things happen to me and done a lot of bad things in my early years, if im doing a book it would be a warts and all or I wouldn't bother, still fighting with the idea,

Just my take Curtis, but that's exactly why you should do it. With no disrespect to the likes of Calzaghe, it's always going to be difficult for people to relate to their story, whereas what makes your journey so unique is that anyone would be able to tap into the same themes. On a related note, I think it's got the opportunity to inspire people, as it would carry a number of important messages, ranging from the importance of a work ethic and how that rather than talent can make the impossible possible, through to how your life can change for the better if you're prepared to take self-responsibility, rather than act as if everything is pre-determined.
The only advice I'd give is to be really selective about who you choose to tell your story - it's got great potential, so it really needs to be a first-class ghost writer. At the risk of speaking out of turn, there are plenty of boxing hacks around who would love to do it and you would feel comfortable with, but the reality it requires a different kind of talent to write this type of book and do justice to your story. Donald McCrae and Geoffrey Beattie would be the type that spring to mind for me

[curtis wood]

thanks deserter, im getting the 22nd of feb out the way then the book has a ending then ill sit down and speak to a few people who will do a good job of it

[Deserter]

thanks deserter, im getting the 22nd of feb out the way then the book has a ending then ill sit down and speak to a few people who will do a good job of it

The active boxing part of your life may be drawing to a close, but I suspect there are many more chapters to be written in the life of Curtis Woodhouse yet, so this will only be the 'ending' of one aspect. I can imagine you going on to be a great coach, whether in the context of football, boxing or life in general, because of the lessons you yourself have learned and because of the passion you show in living life to the full

[TheCobra]

Nice one for your posts in this thread Curtis, I am someone who has never had the bollocks to walk into a boxing gym and give it a go, even though I've thought about it many times, so it's always interesting to hear from someone who did and what your first experiences were like.

Great story about Daniel Thorpe bashing you up, but I guess anyone who's new to the game is gona have problems with a tough old experienced journeyman who has been around the gyms and rings of the country many times over and knows all the tricks.

[palooka]

Nice one for your posts in this thread Curtis, I am someone who has never had the bollocks to walk into a boxing gym and give it a go, even though I've thought about it many times, so it's always interesting to hear from someone who did and what your first experiences were like.

Great story about Daniel Thorpe bashing you up, but I guess anyone who's new to the game is gona have problems with a tough old experienced journeyman who has been around the gyms and rings of the country many times over and knows all the tricks.

[sweetscience]

win or lose you have more than overachieved

i thought you would have no chance with no am experience other than beating journeyman but you proved me wrong

hope you win !

[TheCobra]

Nice one for your posts in this thread Curtis, I am someone who has never had the bollocks to walk into a boxing gym and give it a go, even though I've thought about it many times, so it's always interesting to hear from someone who did and what your first experiences were like.

Great story about Daniel Thorpe bashing you up, but I guess anyone who's new to the game is gona have problems with a tough old experienced journeyman who has been around the gyms and rings of the country many times over and knows all the tricks.

Filth.

[palooka]

Nice one for your posts in this thread Curtis, I am someone who has never had the bollocks to walk into a boxing gym and give it a go, even though I've thought about it many times, so it's always interesting to hear from someone who did and what your first experiences were like.

Great story about Daniel Thorpe bashing you up, but I guess anyone who's new to the game is gona have problems with a tough old experienced journeyman who has been around the gyms and rings of the country many times over and knows all the tricks.

Filth.

:( I'm sorry

[JimStone]

@Deserter and anybody else who has a clue.

What level do you think a boxing (auto)biography of a guy like Curtis should be pitched at to shift as many copies as possible?

[Parson Cross]

There are many ways to approach it. I've been lucky to be involved with the team around Herols autobiog and know for a fact it's done more copies than Ashley Coles for instance.

[lefty]

There are many ways to approach it. I've been lucky to be involved with the team around Herols autobiog and know for a fact it's done more copies than Ashley Coles for instance.

That's got to be embarassing for Ashley Cole.

[JimStone]

Ashley probably doesn't even know he's written an autobiography, let alone that Herol has.

[expe]

Ashley probably doesn't even know he's written an autobiography, let alone that Herol has.

He hasn't written one. He'll have been interviewed by a writer, then that will have been put on paper for him. The best books are the one's that are self written, a good proof reader to weed out spelling and grammar mistakes then maybe a journalist or author of some kind to make a few changes so the book flows and is easy to read.

[JimStone]

Ashley probably doesn't even know he's written an autobiography, let alone that Herol has.

He hasn't written one.

I know, that was my point.