WHEN Steed Woodall beat Lerrone Richards, he changed the course of his career. Now he hopes to change his and his daughter’s life on Saturday night.
After injury prevented him from fighting Lerrone Richards in April 2024, their fight was rearranged for June 14. Their bout was part of an undercard to Abass Baraou’s European super-welterweight title defence in Bolton against Macauley McGowan on Channel 5.
Richards, a former European champion, held wins over Tommy Langford and Lennox Clarke and announced himself on the world scene by beating Carlos Gongora in 2021 to win the fringe IBO title. The accomplished southpaw was expected to waltz past Woodall as part of a rebuilding mission after 18 months in the wilderness.
Woodall, 19-2-1 (12 KOs), did not make it easy. The Birmingham boxer bobbed and weaved throughout before capitalising on a Richards mistake in the sixth round to drop and stop his opponent. Seven months later, Woodall will challenge Callum Simpson, 15-0 (10 KOs), for the British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles at the Park Community Arena in Sheffield live on Sky Sports.
The challenger tells Boxing News he has visualised himself winning the titles, having worked with a hypnotist.
“The visualisation is a huge part of my campaign. It always has been since I was an amateur.
“Every national title I won, I used visualisation from the start of the season. Although it would take me seven, eight, nine fights to win the national championships, I was using that visualisation from the start of the championships to the start of the year. So yeah, of course, I’ve already got my target locked on.”
Steed hasn’t used the same trick on Callum Simpson that Steve Collins did in 1995 when his hypnotist told Chris Eubank he had hypnotised the Irish super-middleweight into not feeling any pain, not getting tired and into not punching hard ahead of their world title fight. Nonetheless Woodall is using his own to maximise any advantage he can gain going into the biggest night of his career.
“I’ve always been mentally strong from the offset,” Woodall says. “I’ve used a lot of the techniques without officially knowing them, like visualisation. And focusing on certain aspects instead of others.
“It’s just what I believe to be the next elite level of sportsmanship. In any regards to life, whether you’re in business or an entrepreneur, anything that you do in life, it’s all about your mindset, I believe, to get to that top level. That’s why I’m trying to tick all the boxes on the way there.”
Woodall used his mental strength to the fullest when, prior to facing Lerrone Richards, he saw a number of fights fall through. Bills still had to be paid, however, and there also was his daughter to support and look. The everyday life of fitting hard flooring and fitted bedrooms rolled on but his boxing career did not. He began to hate boxing and retirement crossed his mind.
After beating Richards, he was back on the tools the following Monday.
“Life obviously didn’t change much,” he says. “It took a while for the phone to go again. As soon as the opportunity came, we jumped at it.
“I’ve had plenty of notice for this fight. The public, the media, no one’s given me a chance again in this fight. I prefer it that way. I prefer being in the dark.”
Callum Simpson had the spotlight on him when he challenged Zak Chelli last August for the British and Commonwealth titles at Oakwell, the home of Barnsley Football Club. The local lad deservedly won a unanimous decision to send the several thousand fans home happy. It was a step in more ways than one for the Yorkshireman.
“I didn’t really take much from the fight to be honest,” Woodall says
“Chelli just didn’t turn up at all. He looked like he was just there to survive really, make up the numbers and get through the rounds. He didn’t press the fight at all. Didn’t ask any questions of Simpson. Didn’t really land any clean shots on him either to be honest. And I think that’s obviously where he’s going to get his confidence from. He’s never had to answer any real questions in the ring. He’s never had his toughness tested.
“Callum fights one way, and doesn’t box like Richards. He comes forward and he’s eager to impress. He does lunge over his front foot quite a lot. So that’s something we’re going to capitalise on.”
Woodall’s career began in America nearly 11 years ago. A dozen fights plus five in the Dominican Republic isn’t the usual path taken by a British boxer. When he came back home, it brought him closer to his family, but a four-year hiatus meant his return to a boxing ring didn’t take place until 2021.
Since then, it’s been a story so often heard in British boxing – inactivity and fights at short notice. In his last three fights, however, he’s beaten Boris Crighton and Lerrone Richards with a points loss to Padraig McCrory in between. And now, with a full camp behind him and plenty of notice, the moment Woodall has been waiting for has finally arrived, and there is one specific person he wants to win for.
“It’s been a long journey to get here. I really am proud of myself for sticking at it, because some people would have quit, but I’m here for my daughter. Obviously, a win on Saturday night could change her life, and that’s at the forefront of my mind.”
