Trench Warfare: Mathews No Illusions About Woodhouse Fight

“This is his Cup Final and it’s going to end in tears.” The grand showpiece that Liverpool warrior Derry Mathews refers to is his much-anticipated Commonwealth conflict with Driffield’s Curtis Woodhouse on September 21.

With battle just over two weeks away, Mathews maintains his amazing sequence of brutal encounters as he tackles the former 147lb campaigner for lightweight honours. The Scouse star is adamant that Woodhouse’s new weight adventure will end in disaster.

“Curtis isn’t a lightweight and even if he does do the weight fine, then there’s nothing down for him,” warned the one time “Golden Boy.” “I’m a million miles away from what he’s used to and he’ll find that out for himself on the night.

“I’m a massive fan of what Curtis Woodhouse has done and kids everywhere should look up to him because he has chased his dream but for however long the fight lasts in a few weeks, he’s going to wish he was back playing football and I genuinely mean that.”

Mathews’ form has been mixed throughout 2013 as the fighter they call “Dirty” began the year with a draw against old nemesis Anthony Crolla in a superb contest where both fighters had huge success.

Mathews’ next outing was where he found Commonwealth glory as Hull’s Tommy Coyle, after dominating for large periods, was caught by a superb left hook that eliminated all his senses and forced a sensible intervention from third man, Phil Edwards. Despite not being his dominant self in recent outings, Mathews promises that he’s prepared to be at his best against Woodhouse.

“Things can’t be perfect every time and that’s something that you have to accept when you’re in this sport. A cut over the eye, an early knockdown or a clash of heads can change everything that you’ve practiced in the gym for six, eight, ten weeks but I’m lucky I’ve got bags of experience which allows me to deal with that.

“My coach Danny [Vaughan] is an experienced trainer and one of the most underrated coaches about and even someone like him who’s been around the game his whole life is still learning new things every day. We’ve given Curtis Woodhouse our utmost respect and that’s why I’ll be able to deal with him on September 21st.”

Mathews added, “There’s really no way that I can see myself losing to him because there’s nothing that he can do that I haven’t overcome before. I’m a former ABA champion who has mixed in title class for the majority of my career and I’ve knocked out guys who would deal with Curtis seven days of the week.

“He’s going to come for me because he’s a game fighter but being game will only get you so far. I’ve been in this sport a long, long time and I’m in no mood to walk away from it just yet. There are still a lot of big fights out there for me but at the moment I just have to keep my mind fixed on Curtis Woodhouse.”