Curtis Woodhouse delivered a telling knockout blow in the third round against Isle of Wight’s Jay Morris to set up a mouth-watering fight against French champion Christopher Sebire, to be staged at the M.E.N. Arena in April.
The former Sheffield United captain smashed a fearsome right hook after a barrage of shots which Morris couldn’t handle and which rapidly sent him to the deck.
Morris to his credit, got up before the count, but seconds later another bombardment of punches forced the referee to intervene and declare Woodhouse the victor.
Rotherham’s packed Magna centre was on its feet as Woodhouse embraced his coach and promoter Dave Coldwell to capture the British Masters International light-welterweight title.
Woodhouse said: “To beat the only guy to beat me – and to actually stop him – is absolutely fantastic.
“After all the ups and downs over the past three years I feel today has made it all worth it. Training for this fight has not been easy but now I’m proud as punch.”
The fight was an especially big occasion for Woodhouse because Morris had previously beaten the former footballer in with a disputed points victory in Ireland last April and the fight was built up by the promoters as ‘Repeat or Revenge’.
Woodhouse began the first round in fantastic style, laying into his opponent early on.
“In the first round you’re always going to be a bit nervous,” he said. It was packed out there so to get off to a good start took the nerves away.”
Morris shaded the second round after throwing a number of efforts at Woodhouse, but good defensive work from the Driffield man ensured none of them got through.
“Before the fight I had been concentrating primarily on defence. Defence wins people fights. The best defensive fighter in the world is Floyd Mayweather. And there is no coincidence he is also the best fighter in the world at the moment.”
Woodhouse then struck the killer blow around 15 seconds into the third round. A double jab set the Isle of Wight man up before a stunning right hook which his opponent could do little about knocked Morris straight onto the canvas.
Morris stood up after an eight second count, but moments later referee Howard Foster was forced to step in and decided to end the fight.
“Maximum respect to Jay, he’s a tough cookie. We had a bit of banter on Facebook before the fight but I like the guy and we will definitely have a pint afterwards.
“It’s 1-1- now, so I suppose why not have a third fight?” Woodhouse added.
Morris himself was disappointed that the referee stopped it early, but was very sportsmanlike in his attitude as he gave full credit to Woodhouse.
He said: “I did think the ref stopped it too early, but it’s true that the better fighter on the night won and best of luck to him.”
Woodhouse’s trainer and promoter Dave Coldwell could barely hide his delight after the fight of how the event went and how well the boxer fought.
He said: “As a promoter I’m well happy with the show. As a trainer I’m dead proud of him, just because of what he’s come from.”
“He came from being a bit of a joke when he first turned pro to where he’s at now- being a feared fighter in the boxing world.”
Coldwell has now secured a lucrative fight for Woodhouse against Christopher Sebire on the David Haye v John Ruiz undercard at the Manchester Evening News Arena on April 3.
Woodhouse has past history against his next challenge – the Frenchman Sebire – and is gunning for a knockout.
He said: “I sparred with him in Cyprus about a year ago. The first round of the first day, he broke my nose with an upper-cut, then as I fell into the clinch he had the cheek to bite a chunk out of my chest.
“I knew that our paths would cross again and I can’t wait because frankly he is going to get knocked out.”
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