‘IT’S JUST LIKE PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE’
But Curtis Woodhouse tells Terry Dooley that the positives of boxing far outweigh the negatives
CURTIS WOODHOUSE and John Wayne Hibbert were gloved up for an eliminator for the Commonwealth welterweight title when news came through that Scott Westgarth had collapsed and been rushed to hospital by paramedics following his 10-round decision win over Dec Spelman earlier on their show at the Doncaster Dome on February 24.
As their emotions swirled and the cancellation of their fight was confirmed, the two boxers sought out the only person who could really understand what they were going through: each other. “When we got the news, John was the first person to come in my dressing room,” Woodhouse told Boxing News.
“It was actually quite a surreal moment. We were thinking about each other and the fact that our fight would have been brutal. It was a sombre feeling. I just wanted to get out of the venue, as I felt part of something that just wasn’t right. I felt dirty to be in this game. But by the Wednesday [four days later], I woke up feeling positive about things, so had a talk with [the show’s promoter] Stefy [Bull]. I will fight again.”
“I was speaking to Scott half an hour before he went out,” he added. “We also spoke at the weigh-in, and 24 hours later he had passed away, so it is quite harrowing. I had Jerome Wilson in the dressing room supporting me, I know it sounds selfish but you think: ‘Will it be me next time?’ I felt like it was following me around, as I was ringside when Kieran [Farrell] got injured, and I commentated on Jerome’s fight [when he was KO’D by Serge Ambomo in 2014 and sustained bleeding on the brain].
“It is scary, especially when it hits close to you. Then you have to think, ‘The show must go on’, and you feel cruel for thinking that. All fighters know the risks. As terrible as it sounds, you hope that it stays as far away from you as possible. But at the same time it is a thought that you cannot dwell on – because if you did, you would not step into the ring ever again. We know the dangers. Even though the Board is the best in the world and make it as safe as possible for us to compete, you cannot escape the fact that it is like playing Russian roulette.
“When you weigh it all up, 99 per cent of us are operating at a level that doesn’t have any money in it. When I box I lose money and sacrifice time in the house with my family for training. Other income avenues subsidise boxing, so you question why you do it, as the negatives far outweigh the positives.
“The one thing we all must have in common is that we love it. People outside boxing cannot understand how we can love it, so they don’t understand why we do it. They forget that love makes you do crazy things, both in relationships and life. I love boxing, so what can you do?”
Some ‘concerned’ citizens used the fallen fighter as a pulpit to espouse a tired abolitionist argument that always collapses in on itself. A ban is not feasible, nor enforceable, so you have to wonder if they really want to protect fighters or simply don’t want to see and confront the true nature of boxing.
“The whole banning thing is a nonstarter,” argued Woodhouse. “Other sports are more dangerous statistically. The bottom line is that in boxing the ultimate aim is to knock your opponent unconscious, which causes brain injury. Yet the positives of the game far outweigh the negatives.”
According to Heraclitus, the poet Homer was left frustrated by his failure to answer a riddle set by some children: “What we see and catch we leave behind; what we neither see nor catch we carry away.” They were referring to lice. It also applies to fighting. You can see a cut, muscle tears and broken bones can be diagnosed and treated, but even fighters who emerge from a fight seemingly unscathed will take unseen damage away with them by virtue of the fact that being hit in the head is an unnatural act.
“Every time you step in there [the ring] you wonder what it will take away from you, and every time you step out you are not the same as you were when you stepped into it,” said Woodhouse. “It is all about minimising the damage.”
In the midst of all this, Tyan Booth made some ill-advised tweets about Westgarth’s death and has had his licence suspended by the Board. Woodhouse remains resolute in his condemnation of Booth.
“They were in bad taste. A lot of people are hurting, so it was disgusting to say what he said. He disrespected Scott and other fighters, he is a prat who is crying out for attention and picked a tragedy to do it – that shows the measure of the man. He has embarrassed himself for a few column inches. He owes the family a private and public apology.”
For Woodhouse, it is now a case of waiting for word of his next move. Ideally, the 37-year-old would like to take on Hibbert, stating that, like most fighters, he will not be done with the sport until the sport is done with him.
“I’ll stop when I’m either over the hill or have come up short for a title, otherwise I’m not being true to myself. I won’t stop because I’m scared, either, as that would make me a hypocrite when I open my own gym later this year. Because I’d be asking boys and girls, young kids, to do what I’d be too scared to do myself.”
‘ALL FIGHTERS KNOW THE RISKS BUT, AS TERRIBLE AS IT SOUNDS, YOU HOPE IT STAYS FAR AWAY FROM YOU’