Saville to play ball with Woodhouse

Steve Saville has more in common with opponent Curtis Woodhouse than you think as the Wolverhampton boxer prepares to tackle the former Birmingham City footballer.

'The Wednesfield Bomber' will look to rip the International Masters light welterweight title from the ex-Blues and England under-21 midfielder at Rotherham's Magna Centre on Sunday, after coming in as a late replacement at literally days notice.

Both come into the contest as established professional fighters, although Woodhouse's exploits outside of the ring and on the field of play afford him the fame his opponent can only dream of.

But Saville had once looked to tread the same path, as a promising young footballer playing for Wolves as a schoolboy before going on to become a trainee at Walsall under then-youth team coach Eric McManus in the late 1980's.

A horrific double leg break of his tibula and fibula at age 16 put paid to his hopes of making the grade, so the ardent Wolves fan went back to boxing at amateur level before turning pro in 1998.

Sharing a ring with Woodhouse will likely count as one of the more surreal experiences of his career, but Saville warns that reputations mean nothing to him.

He said: "A scrap is a scrap to me, whether it's Curtis Woodhouse or anybody else.

"I do remember him playing football for Birmingham though, must not have good enough to play for the Wolves!"

The rugged 33-year-old has had under a week to knock himself in shape for the fight, although it's only just over a month since his last fight against Karl Place.

Woodhouse has had ample time to train and is still playing football to boot, turning out for non-league Sheffield FC.

The 30-year-old will expect to have his hand raised on Sunday, but Saville likes his chances of causing an upset.

He said: "Curtis has got to be the firm favourite, with how much notice they have given me. But I don't think he's fought anybody really.

"I have watched him fight and he likes to have it up close with a tight little guard, that is his game.

"But he is going to be the smallest opponent I have fought in a long time, at the right sort of height for me to go in there and have a tear up toe-to-toe with him."