BoxRec

Well done Clinton he's done it the right way winning British , Commonwealth and Euro honours first then going in with real world class men before getting his title. Hoye did box awful but Woods was the best I have ever seen him box he his jab was excellent. His defense was good too, keeping his hands up at all times against a noted banger. The aftershow antics left a bitter taste for me. But I'm pleased for the man one of the nice guys of boxing coming first at last.

Chris the fighter wrote:Well done Clinton he's done it the right way winning British , Commonwealth and Euro honours first then going in with real world class men before getting his title. Hoye did box awful but Woods was the best I have ever seen him box he his jab was excellent. His defense was good too, keeping his hands up at all times against a noted banger. The aftershow antics left a bitter taste for me. But I'm pleased for the man one of the nice guys of boxing coming first at last.

Think that's how Haye plans it as well...funny as anything in his interview with inverdale, "Yep, this should put me into the WBC top ten...I'm going to be world champ...linear within 2 weeks...world domination by Late June..." Inverdale: Any plans for perhaps going 12 rounds first, or challenging for Gurov's EBU crown?" Haye: "Oh shit, yeah, forgot about those things." Doh!

Good work Clinton, the consumate professional. If he were ever to fight Calzaghe, I would love it, absolutely love it if Woods sparked him.

i thought that was an excellent fight by woods!!! he fought very tactifully!! well done Clinton!!

I really think that was an imposter wearing a Clinton Woods mask. Anyway, congratulations Clinton, no-one deserves it more than you, hope you can do the same to Mr Calzaghe.

that was a bit lame when they tried to pass the headset to clinton. bunce's facial expressions during the calzaghe interview were priceless.

Excellent performance by Woods, when Woods beat Klemesten I championed him on a US forum as the third best Light Heavyweight in the world - behind Jones and Michaelswecki.

That WAS as good, no better but as good, as I have ever seen Woods. I believe him that he wasn't right for the Glengoffe fights. Forget Calzaghe for now, lets see Clinton vs the winner of the Tarver vs Johnson II.

Maybe the winner of that one, which I geniunally think will be Clinton to face Calzaghe. It would do Calzaghe's legacy good should he win (and I'm not saying he will). Without meaning to disrepect Woods, I am sure he would feel he would like to establish himself as a world champion before a fight with Calzaghe. It is crazy boxing politics that has given Woods this chance, let him have the chance to prove he is the number 1.

As for the fight, it was a brilliant performance by Woods. He looked so strong in there, in his last 3 fights he had been stunned and I don't think Johnson or DeLisle can hit as Hoye. That is why I (like many) went for the American. However, Hoye didn't budge Woods and he threw lots of punches - he set a pace that was similar to that of Johnson, and if it was the "same" Woods that fought Johnson, I think he would have crumbled.

However, clearly the nutritional tips have done him the world of good and he turned back the clock to 1999/2000 when he was (IMO) the third best Light Heavyweight on the planet.

Lets see him establish himself before thinking of a domestic showdown with Calzaghe.

Excellent win but in hindsight it looks as if hoye was a victim of the american hype bullshit in a Michael grant sort of way

Take nothing away from Clinton mind you, he was class, so accurate with his power shots

Forgot to add, in my opinion it was a bad performance by Ian John Lewis. My favourite referee, but I thought it was a bad night.

The timing of the second point deduction suited Woods, if that would have been Vann on a Hatton fight there would be hell to play on here. Did Hoye deserve two point deductions? Woods' shorts were high and I think there was only one shot that strayed very low.

I thought the stoppage was premature also, Hoye had a balance issue (like Kelson Pinto does) big punchers do often have a balance issue. However, I don't think he was badly stunned and was punching back. When you think a referee is breaking them up to warn a fighter as opposed to stopping the fight (which is what I thought) then it is a good indication that it was premature.

The reason I believe Hoye didn't complain because I think after the second point deduction he realised he might have been fighting two men in there.

Cannibal wrote:Found it funny when BBC tried to encourage a Calzaghe gate crash and Woods just punched the head set away and completely dismissed Calzaghe. Bit tasteless on BBCs part, the man is only champ 5 minutes after years of trying and they try and push Calzaghe into his spotlight.

Well said mate!!

I thought they had a family member or maybe Tim Witherspoon on the line for him I couldn't believe it when they said it was Joe Calzaghe! Very tacky and poor timing by the BBC I thought.

Well done to Clinton Woods, a fighter who has never been the most fashionable of fighters but has shown a lot of determination and mental strength to come back from a number of set backs to finaly get a genuine World Title.

Clinton looked as strong, sharp and as focused as I have ever seen him, his opponent may not have been one of the elite Light-Heavyweights in the World today but was tough, strong and had come to win. I have seen many lesser fighters in world title fights.

Yes, well done to Woods' trainer. I'm not sure how much Calzaghe knew about speaking to Woods but he should have known better also.

What made it worse was that Richardson wasn't going to say who it was and just pass the headseat to Woods.

Back of the cue, Joe.

I forgot to add I too thought the stoppage was a shade premature.

well done clinton but Hoye was truly awful, no defense at all, no plan B, nothing. just the right sort of opponent.

I picked and had money on Hoye but I expected a lot more from him, obviously.

i think the point deductions favoured clinton a lot, and Hoye was probably disheartened by that, but he was genuinely in trouble at the point of the stoppage

I thought the stoppage was a bit premature myself too, but I think hoye was likely to get stopped soon after anyhow, he looked pretty out of it to me and didn't look like he had a lot left to offer.

had hoye been the reiging champ that would have been a pretty poor stoppage.

looking at it again on tape, Hoye really didn't look that bad, he was fighting well, but clinton fought a very very cute fight, never stayed in front of him to let him let his long shots go, and on the inside clinton threw innumerable little cuffing hooks.

woods' footwork was excellent, he did what hopkins did against Eastman, constant lateral movement. Cannot believe how good woods' defence was, it's like he was reading Hoye's mind at times, i reckon hoye barely landed 20% of his shots.

fair stoppage too, he was wobbling all over the ring, and looked out on his feet. It's not easy for the ref to attribute that to 'poor balance.'

Man I loved that 5th round!

I thought he was about to knock Hoye over until the ref stepped in. Nice Hooks too from noth of them.

I didn`t see it as a premature ending at all.
Hoye would have got stopped in the next round for sure, why let him ship too much punishment just to please some blood thirsty fans, he will come again, Hoye looked very confident and very strong just lacked that bit of experience.

Sky showed the Cotto fight earlier in the night, this I felt was a premature ending because you had the feeling Corley could once more put a shot on the button as before.
But the super feather fight after it showed good corner work to save their fighter taking too much shots when the result was already clear.

Well done again to Clinton A+ performance, on that performance a third Johnson fight just begs to be made:TU:

I thought the point deductions were a bit harsh, but the stoppage was legit. You can talk about Hoye 'punching back' all you like, but they were wild, desperation shots with nothing behind them, and his head was being rocked all over the place. He's a young fighter with a big punch who can always come again if he adds a few more wrinkles to his game. He doesn't need to get badly hurt so people that watched the fight are happy it was a proper stoppage.

The ref stopped it before he was badly hurt, but just as he looked he was about to be: the perfect time.

Now if we can see Clinton chin that twat Calzaghe before the end of the year, it'll be a good 2005.

Great night for Clinton Woods, i will hold up my hands and admit i thought he was going to get stopped so i was made up that he did the job. His tactics were spot on, Hoye for his part looked a little inexperienced especially when he was in trouble but he went to body as expected and never got chance to land those big right hands we heard so much about...the stoppage was perhaps a bit early but i was watching the fight again just and Hoye was taking a lot of flush headshots. Also looking back i have to defend Ian John Lewis, i was annoyed at his over fussy borderline hometown refereeing but rewinding back at the low blows they were all genuine low blows so what was he supposed to do?

The BBC's attempt to bring in Calzaghe was a totally cheap disgraceful attempt at Americanising the whole thing, it was tasteless and i am glad Woods told them where to stick the mic. As for Calzaghe well can't he be content with Woods winning the fight without trying to muscle in on a genuine world title winning night and offering to fight Woods. Stick to your tacky WBO waste of time Calzaghe...a cheap publicity stunt straight after Woods greatest career win

Onto David Haye i thought Glenn Kelly would present a stiff enough test but he is clearly a totally shot fighter, the way the towel came in so early in the fight signals to me his corner know it as well. I had not realised he had been dropped 3 times in his previous fight, the guy is a clear health risk and should not fight on, he has never been the same since he lost to Roy Jones and i expect that huge right hand Paul Briggs hit him with didn't do him too many favours either. Haye for his part did the job but he definately needs a guy who can offer him rounds and i thought talk of moving onto World titles soon was a bit premature, talk of challenging the all action Gurov for the Euro crown also seems a bit sudden...surely a fight with Hobson would be more productive? If Haye V Macarinelli doesn't happen as well at some time i would be gutted, it is a natural.

All in all a good nights Boxing

Great boxing from Clinton, he showed all of his experience. Fair play to him, he was prepared to stay in range with a big puncher and outbox him.

Although it was funny when he said that Klemetsen hits harder :)

Calzaghe can fornicate off, he's been unifying titles for the last 7 years and moving up to light heavyweight for the last 4

If he is serious he should vacate the WBO on monday and fight an IBF eliminator.

Their was NOTHING wrong with the refereeing. Hoye was hitting low, in the 1st round he even seemed to hit Clinton on the leg which ref didn't pick up. He couldn't miss his bollocks up close.

Well the ref was on Hoye's case i thought, why didnt the ref say nething to woods after woods hit hoye with the head, i think very few people saw that, not even the commentators picked it up, it caused a bruising to hoyes right eye, it was just before the huge left hook from woods, think it was in the 2nd round.