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Woodhouse saga a real-life Rocky

The former footballer's successful battle to win light-welterweight glory shows boxing's unique ability to inspire, writes JOHN WIGHT

If anyone was in doubt over boxing's unique ability to inspire and ennoble the human condition, the story of newly crowned British light-welterweight champion Curtis Woodhouse makes it indisputable.

Woodhouse had already carved out a lucrative career as a professional footballer when he decided to take up professional boxing.

It was the kind of decision that inevitably left people wondering if he'd lost his mind.

One can hardly fathom the mental strength, determination and self-belief it must have required to leave behind a career in a team sport in which he was already established and embark on the toughest sport there is with no amateur career as a foundation and no teammates to carry him when the going got tough.

But this is exactly the path Woodhouse decided to walk in 2006, when he had his first fight at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London - a four-rounder which he won on points.

He probably received just a few hundred pounds for his efforts.

Thereafter he followed the well-worn path of young fighters struggling to establish themselves, fighting on undercards at unfashionable venues in towns and cities up and down the country.

He picked up a few losses along the way and, due to his name, a fair amount of derision from the boxing commentariat.

The key thing is that Woodhouse never quit, never gave up on his dream even when there were few who believed it was achievable.

And so on he went until, by dint of Herculean hard work and dedication, he improved to the point where he earned a shot at the British light-welterweight title against Darren Hamilton at the Hull Arena last month.

Woodhouse went in as the underdog and came out the winner, emerging on the right side of a split decision after a 12-round war.

The emotional scenes in the ring when the result was announced bore comparisons with Rocky, as did the interview he gave in his dressing room later, where surrounded by friends and family he revealed that winning the title was the fulfilment of a promise that he had made to his father on his deathbed.

But in a recent interview, Woodhouse called it right when considering the similarity between his story and the Sly Stallone movie character.

"It's nothing like Rocky," he said. "Rocky is f***ing made up. This shit is real."

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