Clinton Woods (born 1 May 1972) is a British former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who competed from 1994 to 2009, and held the IBF

light-heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

title from 2005 to 2008. At regional level he held the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

super-middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ...

title from 1997 to 1998, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

light-heavyweight title from 1999 to 2000, and the European and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles from 1999 to 2001.

Early life

Woods was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

, England.

Career

Woods started his professional career with a points win over Dave Proctor in his home town of

. After compiling a record of 13–0 he stepped in with Craig Joseph and beat him over 10 rounds to win the Central Area super middleweight title. After a series of victories, Woods, with a record of 18–0, fought for the vacant Commonwealth belt against Mark Baker, who had a record of 20–1. Woods won the fight and claimed the belt with a 12-round points decision. In his next fight the unbeaten Woods found himself opposite former British champion

David Starie David Starie (born 11 June 1974) is a British former professional boxing, professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 2003. He challenged twice for world championships; the World Boxing Organization, WBO super middleweight title in 2000 and t ...

. The fight ended in a first defeat for Woods. Woods bounced back from the Starie defeat by moving up a weight division to light heavyweight and winning his next two fights before landing a shot at fellow

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

man and current holder of the British, Commonwealth and European light-heavyweight titles

Crawford Ashley Crawford "Chilling" Ashley (born Gary Crawford, 20 May 1964 in Leeds is an English professional super middle/ light heavy/cruiser/heavyweight boxer of the 1980s, '90s and 2000s, who won the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) Central Ar ...

. Woods knocked out Ashley in the eighth round to capture the three belts. He ended up defending his Commonwealth and European titles twice each and adding the WBC International light-heavyweight title to his résumé. The latter victory being for a WBC strap, when Woods set himself up for an eliminator for the full WBC light heavyweight title. The fight took place in Sheffield, in September 2001. Woods beat the experienced

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

–

Ugandan }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The souther ...

Yawe Davis in a unanimous decision that would allow him to attempt a world title.

World title fights

Clinton travelled to the United States for his big chance in September 2002. He stepped into the ring at the

Rose Garden A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Most often it is a section of a larger garden. Designs vary tremendously and roses m ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

to oppose

Roy Jones Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American former professional boxer who holds dual American and Russian citizenship. He competed in boxing from 1989 to 2018, and held multiple world championships in four weight classes, incl ...

, with the WBC, WBA, and IBF titles on the line. Woods lost after being stopped in the sixth round and later said that he wasn't really ready for a fight of that magnitude. Woods rebuilt from the defeat by Jones with three straight wins and then found himself in the ring with

Glen Johnson Glen McLeod Cooper Johnson (''né'' Stephens; born 23 August 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played predominantly as a right back. Johnson began his career at West Ham United, spending time on loan at Millwall, and was ...

. His second world title attempt was for the IBF belt and took place in November 2003 at Sheffield's Hillsborough Leisure Centre and the fight ended in a draw. Three months later in February 2004 the two met once again in

this time at the Ponds Forge Centre, the result this time going Johnson's way after 12 rounds.

IBF champion

In his next fight Woods found himself in an IBF title eliminator. Eight months after his defeat to Johnson, Woods took on the Australian Jason DeLisle at the Octagon Centre in Sheffield. He won the fight despite being put down in the first round and set himself up for world title fight number 4. The title was vacant again and this time Woods found himself in the ring with undefeated American Rico Hoye. The fight took place in

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

and ended with Woods winning on a technical knockout (T.K.O.) when the referee stopped the fight in the fifth round. In September 2005 at the Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, Woods defeated

mandatory challenger In professional boxing and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight or be forced to vacate their title as champion. A mandatory defence is the opposite of a voluntary defence, where the champ ...

and former

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

and Lineal champion Julio César González via a clear unanimous decision. A successful voluntary defence against DeLisle followed, before Woods fought Jamaican

for a third time. In the ninth round Woods sustained heavy punishment to the head at the hands of Johnson, but fought back to win the subsequent rounds. The American judge, Richard Bays scored the fight 115–112 in favour of Woods,

Mickey Vann Michael Van Norman better known as Mickey Vann (born 29 December 1943 in London, England) is a former professional boxing, boxer and United Kingdom, British Referee (boxing), boxing referee. Vann was a 'Class A Star' referee and boxing judge.

scored the contest 115–113 in favour of Johnson and Roberto Ramírez 116–112 scored in favour of Woods. It was a split decision but Woods had defeated the man who beat him in 2004. In September 2007, Woods again successfully defended his IBF title against Julio César González with a unanimous decision.

Defeat and comeback

In April 2008 at St. Pete Times Forum,

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough ...

in the United States, Woods gave a lacklustre display against American

Antonio Tarver Antonio Deon Tarver (born November 21, 1968) is an American former professional boxer and boxing commentator. In boxing he competed from 1997 to 2015, and held multiple light heavyweight world championships, including the WBA (Unified), WBC, IB ...

and lost his IBF title. Tarver out-boxed the Sheffield man on the way to a comfortable points victory. Following the defeat, a dejected Woods hinted that he may quit the sport. A change of trainer followed, with Woods replacing Richard Poxon for Glyn Rhodes. The change seemed to have paid off when on 14 February 2009 Woods travelled to the

Channel Island The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the ...

to defeat Kosovar-Albanian fighter Elvir Muriqi in an eliminator match for his old IBF title.

Retirement

In August 2009, Woods once more fought on the world stage when he again travelled to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, to challenge

Tavoris Cloud Tavoris Karod Cloud (born January 10, 1982) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF light heavyweight title from 2009 to 2013. Early life When interviewed by ESPN, Tavoris Cloud explained that he had a tough childhood. His neighbourh ...

for the then-vacant IBF title. Woods went on to lose a 12-round decision. When asked about retirement after the defeat, Woods said "To be honest, the thought of that upsets me more than losing the world title, retiring from the sport I love". However, Woods announced his retirement from boxing on 8 September 2009.Sheffield Star , It's all over as Clinton quits boxing
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Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Clinton 1972 births English male boxers International Boxing Federation champions Living people Sportspeople from Sheffield Commonwealth Boxing Council champions European Boxing Union champions World light-heavyweight boxing champions British Boxing Board of Control champions