Callum Simpson grew up watching Kell Brook – now the roles have been reversed

Callum Simpson continues to draw inspiration from Kell Brook – even after fighting at Oakwell Football Ground, the home of his beloved Barnsley FC.

The 28-year-old on Saturday makes the first defence of his British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles, against Steed Woodall at the Park Community Arena in Sheffield, England – the city Brook continues to call home.

Perhaps Brook’s biggest fight came against Errol Spence at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane in 2017, over two years before Simpson’s professional debut. Simpson’s progress as a professional has regardless proven sufficiently swift that in August 2024 against Zak Chelli his promoters Boxxer delivered the fight at a football stadium he had long dreamed of – and after his victory, in the event of him overcoming Woodall on Saturday, they will prepare to stage one of his fights there again.

It was as a teenager and while the retired Brook was at his speak that Simpson first encountered one of his favourite fighters. Their relationship has since evolved to the extent that Brook follows his progress and attended the fight with Chelli; the time may even come when Simpson, like Brook, is considered one of the finest fighters Yorkshire has produced.

“I know Kell quite well,” Simpson told BoxingScene. “When I was at college I worked part-time at Scott’s menswear in Sheffield – [aged] 16; 17; 18 – and they used to sponsor Kell Brook. So he used to come into the shop, choose whatever shoes he wanted, I used to go and get them for him, come down, loosen his shoes up for him. I never mentioned I were a boxer. 

“We used to get free tickets to the Sheffield Arena shows through that, and that’s why I idolised him. He used to come out to All [Of] The Lights and I used to watch with my workmates and think… The atmosphere there. ‘One day, this could be.’ I’ve gone from watching him; looking up to him; serving him at work, and he actually DM-ed me on Instagram on my Sky Sports debut. ‘What time are you on? I’m gonna come and watch you.’ He got in the ring after; I got a good picture with him in the ring. He messages me every now and again; checks up on me every now and again. I know he’s an advocate for me and says good things about me. I’ve spoke to him a few times since that fight; he come into the changing room before and after and said, ‘Well done’. That’s amazing as well.

“I’m Barnsley born and bread. I’m a proud Yorkshire lad, and I think that resonates with a lot of people, both from Barnsley and Yorkshire. We’re very proud people. Naturally, your profile grows from that. We’ve got a football team – we’ve done alright in the past – but it’s surreal, even for me. Watching the likes of Kell Brook; Prince Naseem [Hamed]; Josh Warrington; Ricky Hatton – amazing fighters, not too far from me – on the TV… I used to watch Kell Brook at the Sheffield Arena and think, ‘I wish that were me – you know what? Why can’t that be me?’, and I’m becoming that.”

Woodall, 30, potentially stands in the way of Simpson returning to fight at Oakwell in the summer of 2025 – and in front of a bigger audience than the 7,000 that attended his contest with Chelli. 

“I’m so proud to be able to bring [stadium fights] to Barnsley – because it’s a small town, we’re a very tight-knit community,” he said. “A lot of people I knew personally – I’d look around during my ring walk and saw Jack from school; Amanda my mum’s mate; my dad’s pal. It’s a real personal connection. A lot of people who are amazing boxers have no fanbase; others, an average boxer, but a massive fanbase. I like to think I’m a good boxer and have a good fanbase as well. That’s one of the reasons we’re going to get to the top. As much as it’s me training and turning up on fight night and doing a good job, it’s as much the fans and the supporters as well. If people weren’t coming to the fights, Boxxer wouldn’t invest in me and Sky wouldn’t be bothered, but luckily fans have got behind me and luckily I deliver in the ring as well.

“I’ve always been confident in my own ability and my preparation. Me as a boxer, and my confidence, and how I react under the bright lights – I’m made for it, you could say. But you don’t know until you know, and as confident as I was going into that fight, I talked to [the trainer] Dave Coldwell before the fight – he come to the changing room – and he were telling us about when [against Ilunga Makabu, Tony] Bellew fought in his first stadium fight, he were great through training and the build-up and then come fight night, got into the changing room and heard the noise, he could see him changing. The ring walk – he ended up getting dropped the first round ‘cause his head weren’t there. 

“He said, ‘Listen – I know you think you’ll be alright but make sure you’re level-headed’. When I walked out, luckily, I thought, ‘Yeah – this is where I’m meant to be’. I didn’t feel no nerves; too excited. Just relaxed, and soaked it all up. I enjoyed it all, from start to finish. I loved it.”