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He's
got four brothers and two sisters - and as young siblings tend to
do they were all constantly fighting!
At
the age of seven Clinton's father took his son along to the local
boxing gym.
He loved it from the beginning and by the tender age of 11 Woods
was boxing at amateur level and by the age of 16 he'd had over 80
amateur fights!
At this age Woods temporarily finished his stint in the ring and
worked with his brothers leading a 'normal' life until he turned
professional five years down the line.
When
he eventually returned to the gym Clinton was sporting a pot belly
and man breasts! He even had black eyes - this after an altercation
in the local pub.
He
began training again - just to keep fit - and that's how he revived
his career between the ropes.
Woods believes the period he spent away from the ring is likely
to have done him some good - it was a five year period of not taking
blows to the head… well, not in the ring anyway!
Since
then he has contested 39 professional bouts - from all those Clinton
can only recall being hurt two or three times!
One
of those occasions came courtesy of Roy Jones Junior - respected
by many of his contemporaries and was said to be the best pound
for pound fighter on the planet!
People
may think that he wouldn't relish getting back in the ring with
Jones, but he would - Clinton felt he did himself no justice and
many believed Jones fought his best ever fight and was in the best
shape ever.
Woods
sought treatment from a specialist after the second Glenncoffe Johnson
fight who diagnosed a problem which effected his energy levels -
he's now received treatment and feels in really good shape.
He
has been in the IBF top 10 for the last five years and fought some
of the toughest opponents the world boxing stage can offer.
This
means that he hasn't fought any 'straightforward' bouts for two
to three years and he's preparing to face American Richard Hall,
seeded ninth by the IBF.
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| Junior
Witter after defeating Salvatore Battaglia for the EBU Light
Welterweight title |
He
was hoping to take-on Joe Calzaghe, the WBO super middleweight champion.
Woods believed he should move up to the light-heavy division to
challenge himself - but as woods put it, "he chickened out."
On
fellow Sheffield boxer Junior Witter, Clinton believes that his
proposed battle against Ricky Hatton should take place. "It's
a fight that should happen… I'm not saying this because he's
from Sheffield, but I believe Witter has the tools to beat Hatton."
Clinton
believes both the Hatton and Calzaghe fights haven't happened because
they are the 'golden boys' of boxing promoter Frank Warren and it's
likely both would be very tough fights for Warren's boxers.
He
also revealed why Team GB have only one competitor boxing in the
Olympics:
"There's
a guy at our gym called Femi Fehintola," said Woods. "He
has just turned professional and was British Champion as an amateur
- I were talking to him and said - how come we've got no one in
Olympics?"
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| 17-year-old
British Olympian Amir Khan |
Femi
explained that Britain has one of the toughest Olympic qualifying
groups in the world.
Our
fighters have to beat the toughest boxers from a far afield as Russia
- but Woods does believe that the amateur boxing authorities need
a shake- up.
"It's
the same people running it now, who were running it when I were
doing it 20 year ago," said Woods.
Toby
asked Clinton what he thought about all the debate and discussion
from various people and organisations wanting to see the sport banned.
"I
feel great and I've had over 100 fights, but people in sports are
always going to get hurt," said Woods.
"It's
a fact that more people die in football than they do in boxing -
boxing is way down the list," he added.
Clinton's
next fight is scheduled for October 2004 - but before the fight
against Hall he's set to marry his Spanish fiancé.
He
didn't plan a honeymoon due to the fight but hopes to take some
time out after the bout.
Click here to
listen to the full interview>>
Take
a look at the Clinton Woods action gallery!
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