Callum Simpson considers Saturday’s fight with Steed Woodall the “toughest” of his career.
Simpson, inevitably, has grown in confidence since winning the British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles against Zak Chelli in his dream fight in August 2024 – at Oakwell Football Ground, the home of his beloved Barnsley FC.
The combination of the self-belief that comes with being a champion and resisting the pressure involved in an occasion built for him to win suggests that he is also a fighter nearing his peak, and yet against Woodall he believes he is confronting his biggest test.
Woodall, 30, has previously lost only to Steve Rolls – when Rolls was undefeated, before losing for the first time to the great Gennady Golovkin – and more recently to then-undefeated Padraig McCrory, whose only defeat came against Edgar Berlanga in February 2024.
Simpson’s promoters Boxxer and broadcaster Sky Sports also hope to stage another fight for him at Oakwell in the summer of 2025, ensuring that against Woodall even more is at stake.
“He’s very good,” he told BoxingScene. “Probably the best fight for me, domestically. Toughest; best. One, for my career progression and to learn against and stepping up in levels. Best as in the best fighter as well, who’s available. He’s a solid fighter. Experienced; strong; coming off a great win against Lerrone Richards, who’s the former European, Commonwealth, British champion.
“It’s one of them fighters that hasn’t really had the opportunities he maybe deserves. I’m looking forward to it. ‘We can give you an easy eight-rounder, or a 10-round international fight.’ ‘No, I want to fight for the British title against a proper opponent’, which is what I’ve got. I’m confident in my ability; confident in my preparation, that I’m going to win and prove that I’m at this level.
“He’s good at a lot of things. He’s a good counter-puncher. He’s strong; athletic; fit; experienced. He’s very patient, and obviously he’s got power as well.”
In addition to returning to Oakwell, Simpson wants to win the British title outright by defending it three times. Victory over Woodall would represent the first.
“That’s what I’m gonna do,” he said. “I said that from day one. To win it outright – there’s not many at all [who do that in the modern era]. I said I want to win it outright, and hopefully I do that.
“If that doesn’t happen and a good opportunity comes for a European Callum Simpson full of praise for Steed Woodhall ahead of their showdown – the longer I’m in boxing, the more I realise the politics of it; the matchmaking; how hard it is to get certain fights over the line… I don’t want to waste too long waiting for fights to get made when I can push on to bigger things. If it isn’t meant to be, my ego’s not too big to not have that happen.”
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