RICHIE WOODHALL lost to all-time great Roy Jones as he won a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympic Games. The two were reunited at a recent event.
โWe had a good chat. Itโs a bit strange because he doesnโt seem to have changed much. But it was nice to speak to him. He remembers the bout I had with him, which was nice and he said I gave him his hardest fight at the Olympics, which was great to hear because obviously he lost [the decision] in the final. He said, โI won the final quite easily. But against you I really found it difficult. You were very, very awkward and I couldnโt get to you,โโ Richie told Boxing News.
โI havenโt watched the bout for about 25 years. I canโt remember it a lot now,โ he recalled. โHe was an unknown American at the time, he had a really good tournament. I remember my coach Kevin Hickey saying this kidโs very, very fast. Typical American style, relaxed and loose, very fast hands. Youโre going to have to use your feet in and out with him. You canโt afford to fall short because heโs a very good counter-puncher. So we knew what we were up against. But you just donโt realise until you actually get in there just how fast he is. So he was very, very quick indeed.โ
โMy coach was quite right, I couldnโt afford to fall short. I did occasionally and he came back with some very fast counters. I think I upped my game in the second round,โ Woodhall continued. โHe had a good first round, I had a good second round, then he probably just went up another gear in the third and I just couldnโt cope. He used to set trapsโฆ The more frustrated you get, the more you come over your front foot and you start making mistakes.
โI tried to box like he did, the in and out game, but I just wasnโt good enough and he beat me to it.โ
As a professional Woodhall won the WBC super-middleweight world title and in Joe Calzaghe fought another all-time great. โI didnโt hit hard enough to trouble him. That was my problem. There were times when I did catch him with some good shots when he made a mistake, because I was a good counter-puncher myself but I didnโt have the power to trouble him and if you havenโt got that power, at that level, then youโre not going to beat a guy like Calzaghe because you canโt keep him off. He eventually got to me,โ Richie said.
He revealed, โWhat special fighters have in common, more than anything I think, especially Calzaghe and Roy Jones, Roy Jones more than anyone I think, they have a natural ability not to get hit. The way they box. If you look at Roy Jones, up to a certain stage in his career (I think he went on too long), up until flipping light-heavyweight he hardly got hit. He didnโt. Fights against James Toney and Bernard Hopkins at the time, the guy didnโt get hit โ it was very rare for him to catch a clean shot. Now I think thatโs a natural instinct, a natural ability. Calzaghe was similar. Calzaghe was a hard geezer to nail with a good shot I thought.โ
That what the greatest have in common โ โtheyโve got the natural ability to avoid a punchโ.