BoxRec

Ex footy player Curtis Woodhouse has come from one sport and done well by taking up another and winning a title. Can anyone think of any other sportsmen that have come from one sport and taken up boxng and either won a title or fought for one and got beat.

The only other I can think of is ex British bantamweight title challenger S D Williams who was a good jockey from Mansfield who took up boxing and fought for the British title and got beat.

What Curtis just achieved is amazing, although there have been one or two precedents, such as Paul Berlenbach, who won Olympic wrestling gold, and Anthony Mundine, who played professional rugby league.

Stuart Lithgow English National Jump Jockey and Commonweath Cruiserweight Champion of the 1980s

For me curtis was no longer a former footballer turned boxer, but simply "a boxer" after he fought frankie gavin.

Chris John - think he was a karate black belt and went on to win world titles record of close to 50 wins before getting beat

I think Anthony Mundine played rugby and there is another New Zealand or Australian heavyweight who played international rugby at the minute.

And let snot forget freddy flintoff , our next british champion!

deighan wrote:Chris John - think he was a karate black belt and went on to win world titles record of close to 50 wins before getting beat

I think Anthony Mundine played rugby and there is another New Zealand or Australian heavyweight who played international rugby at the minute.

And let snot forget freddy flintoff , our next british champion!

There a few rugby players, Quade Cooper is one off the top of my head

deighan wrote:Chris John - think he was a karate black belt and went on to win world titles record of close to 50 wins before getting beat

I think Anthony Mundine played rugby and there is another New Zealand or Australian heavyweight who played international rugby at the minute.

And let snot forget freddy flintoff , our next british champion!

Sonny Bill Williams, beat Frans Botha (controversially) and was NZ heavyweight champ.

Leif Larson who knocked Danny Williams out a few years ago represented Norway in the world junior championships at shot put, he then went on to play for the Chicago Bears in the NFL.

Did Curtis do a bit of boxing when younger? Surely wasn't a case of him turning up at a gym

Naoka Yamaguchi did shotputt for Japan.
Marcela Acuna did Karate.
A huge number did Muay Thai or Kick boxing.
Not quote what your asking but Eddie Eagan needs a mention.

Jockeys
Terry Spinks MBE
Colin Dunne
Colin Lake

Bleak wrote:Did Curtis do a bit of boxing when younger? Surely wasn't a case of him turning up at a gym

He used to spar in gyms when he was at Sheffield United (and possibly other clubs) without his managers knowing.

Sergio Martinez claimed to be a professional cyclist before taking up boxing. Not sure to what standard he cycled though?

Alfie is quite right. Stewart rode a number of races over the sticks before suffering a broken leg and beginning to fill out, hence the switch to boxing. He was a gutsy fighter who gave Frank Bruno a decent argument in 1983 before he was pulled out by Dennie Mancini with a cut at the end of the fourth round. The crowd booed the decision. Lithgo had never been off his feet.

He didn't win a world title but Dante Jardon (who challenged Takashi Miura last year) was apparently a football player on the books of Club Universidad Nacional in Mexico.

...according to his wikipedia entry:

He is also a know drug dealer in his neighborhood, being protected by her father who is now working in the Policía Judicial.

Boxing Prospect wrote:Naoka Yamaguchi did shotputt for Japan.
Marcela Acuna did Karate.
A huge number did Muay Thai or Kick boxing.
Not quote what your asking but Eddie Eagan needs a mention.

I've got a signed biography of Eddie Eagan, he won gold in boxing at the Olympics, and then gold for Bobsleigh at the winter games

Adam Fogerty was a rugby league player and went 20-1 or something as a pro heavyweight. He later became an actor in Snatch.

Sonny Bill Williams played rugby and recently beat Frans Botha.

Old bones Ian wrote:

Boxing Prospect wrote:Naoka Yamaguchi did shotputt for Japan.
Marcela Acuna did Karate.
A huge number did Muay Thai or Kick boxing.
Not quote what your asking but Eddie Eagan needs a mention.

I've got a signed biography of Eddie Eagan, he won gold in boxing at the Olympics, and then gold for Bobsleigh at the winter games

As far as I'm aware he's the only man to have won medals in the winter and summer games in different events. I imagine that's a hell of a read.