Woodhouse given tough Lauri test in Second City

Curtis Woodhouse's boxing credentials will be further tested in a city where he plied his trade as a professional footballer.

The improving Driffield welterweight [pictured] will meet four-time European title challenger Giuseppe Lauri on a Dave Coldwell-promoted bill at Birmingham's New Bingley Hall on March 2 with the knowledge a British title fight could be on the horizon.

Although he'd never fought with gloves until his paid debut in 2006, the ex-Coldwell and now Glyn Rhodes-trained East Yorkshireman has been molded from a wide-eyed, raw-looking, light-hitting novice into a game, solid, well-schooled puncher to be respected.

And the former International Masters monarch recent in-ring performances mean that talk of his footballing career, which saw Birmingham City part with £1 million in 2001, should be permanently put to bed; it should now be Curtis Woodhouse the boxer and not Curtis Woodhouse the ex-footballer.

But he's had to survive a sizeable share of criticism to earn this well-deserved respect. Seen as little more than a novelty act who'd get humiliated by the first decent fighter he faced, resounding stoppage wins over respected trio Dean Hickman, Stefy Bull and, most recently [November 26], Gary McArthur perfectly illustrate the natural-born talent and tenacity that has taken him to 16 wins in 19 [11 early] contests.

Yet Lauri, 52-9 (31), could be the true acid test. He was still capable enough to contest the European 10st belt in September, losing via eighth-round retirement to Denis Shafikov in Finland, and there have been a few whispers that the well-traveled Italian might still know a little too much - even if he's coming off a two-round hammering by Levan Ghvamichava in October.

The 35-year-old former EU boss gave Irishman Paul McCloskey a solid argument for the same title last year - eventually knocked out in the eleventh - and some of his other notable defeats have arrived at the fists of a brace of ex-world champions from Britain, Ricky Hatton and Junior Witter.

But the way in which Curtis pushed undefeated 2007 World Amateur Champion Frankie Gavin to a 12-round split decision in July - in an outing he, by right, had no right to have been competitive in - shows this could be a perfect piece of matchmaking to increase his standing on both domestic and continental shores.

Incidentally, the 30-year-old has swapped leather in Birmingham before, on the undercard of Amir Khan's Commonwealth lightweight title defence against Michael Gomez at the National Indoor Arena in 2008 - and dismissed West Bromwich southpaw Wayne Downing in under 60 seconds with a brutal display of body-punching.

Woodhouse will be looking for a similar result next year.

Ahmed could secure title fight on Sunday

Usman Ahmed could set up a Midland Area title crack with victory on Sunday [December 4].

The willing Derby super-flyweight [pictured on the attack against Don Broadhurst in October's 8st 5lbs Prizefighter] goes to work over four at Whitwick's Hermitage Leisure Centre with renewed zest since linking up with Dominic Ingle.

Ahmed crosses swords with durable South Yorkshire-based Kuwaiti Anwar Alfadli on Clifton Mitchell's bill in Leicestershire this weekend and win seven [five defeats and one draw in good company] could potentially earn the 30-year-old a 2012 super-flyweight title showdown with Northampton's Nathan Reeve.

Though the former British and Commonwealth title challenger is without a win in his last three starts, albeit to former Commonwealth boss Broadhurst, improving Irishman Luke Wilton [who Uzzy had previously outpointed] and big-hitting English monarch Ashley Sexton, he's a neat little boxer who ended the unbeaten run of touted former ABA champion Kyle King.

But he believes that shifting his training allegiances from the hometown distractions of Derby to the Steel City [46 miles away] could kick-start his boxing resurrection. "The move to do my training with the Ingles has really paid off," admitted an East Midlander whose fearlessness was demonstrated when he took on Chris Edwards, two fights before he won the British title, on his paid bow.

"Training has been going well and i feel better than ever. 

"But whoever i fight, be it on Sunday or in the future, is irrelevent to me, really. I'll box whoever is put in front of me and my ability will help me to do the job," he added.

Image courtesy of Matchroom Sport.

Bendall aims to dish out Season's Beatings to Dane

Steve Bendall is looking to de-rail the world title aspirations of a Scandinavian power-puncher later this month.

The cultured Coventry southpaw [pictured landing his right-leading jab against Darren Barker in 2008] travels to Denmark on December 17 to meet big-hitting Rudy Markussen and is targeting an upset over the come-backing former European champion.

Markussen has won all three of his contests since a four-year break in 2006 by stoppage - and his last two have arrived in the opening round. The ex-IBF world title challenger is also penciled in to box for the WBA Interim world 12st belt next year, against Belfast's Brian Magee, and sees the 38-year-old former two-time English middleweight champion as an ideal warm-up for the contest.

But Bendall, a former British, Commonwealth and European title challenger who was the first man to hand defeat to future British champion Paul Smith and who extended touted and 24-fight unbeaten German Dominik Britsch over eight in Germany in the summer, won't be the type who'll lie down when caught with the first big shot.

Though he's been stopped in four of his six paid defeats [29 wins, 14 early], the Poole-based stylist was on his feet at the time of the interventions and bravely firing back, protesting the referees decisions against Scott Dann, Wayne Elcock and former world champion Sebastian Sylvester.

But the 34-year-old local hero, looking to emulate countryman Mikkel Kessler as a world super-middleweight king, claims he's the hardest-hitting 12st fighter on the planet and that Bendall will be the 24th man [36 wins, two defeats] to go home with a stoppage loss on his record.

"Bendall is the last obstacle between me and a title fight," said the fired-up Dane, who has a reputation, as demonstrated in a seventh-round surrender against Sergey Tatevosyan five years ago, for mental fragility when under fire," so i will try and get him out of the way as soon as possible.

"I will not under-estimate him but i don't think he can keep up with my power. I will knock him out," he coldly added.

Concepcion forced out of English title tilt

Martin Concepcion has been forced to pull out of his challenge for the English middleweight title.

The Leicester puncher [pictured landing a left against Steve O'Meara in Prizefighter last year] was set to face champion Nick Blackwell on a First Team-promoted bill at Trowbridge Civic Hall, Wiltshire, on December 17.

But a knee injury has ended the immediate English title ambitions of always-entertaining Concepcion, 30, who punched his way back into contention with a nine-round drubbing of streaking fellow East Midlander Matt Hainy in Leicester three months ago.

In his maiden fight at middleweight, the chin-or-be-chinned former British and Commonwealth 11st title challenger, 18-9 (11), sent Hainy crashing to the four times, sliced him above both eyes and relieved him of his Midland Area title after a brutal affair that referee Rob Chalmers ranks up there with the best fight he's ever seen.

That was Concepcion's first win in 15 months, following stoppage reversals to Sam Webb [in 11] and, in February, what many thought was a career-ending defeat to impressive Eastern European Sergey Rabchenko [in two], after a career spent operating exclusively at light-middleweight. 

He'd captured the Area title at the weight and also ended the undefeated run of future Commonwealth boss Matthew Hall, as well as engaging Kevin Hammond in a brace of ten-round wars. But the move to 11st 6lbs, on the evidence of his last performance, seemed to bring a new vitality to the big-hitting Leicester boxer, who'll have to now wait and see if he'll get penciled in for another crack at the English crown next year.

Image courtesy of Matchroom Sports.