WOODSTOCK: THIS WILL BE MY YEAR
Suffering a first professional defeat to Archie Sharp and being parted from his WBO European super featherweight title was not the cause of personal anguish to Lyon Woodstock that you might imagine, as he explains in his latest Fighter Diary ahead of his return to the ring at the Morningside Arena in his home city of Leicester on March 23…
FIGHTER DIARY BY LYON WOODSTOCK
YOU KNOW WHAT, we’ve had a good 12 fights and I am still coming up, fighting good fighters and a lot of fighters at my stage are not facing people of that calibre and putting their titles on the line in competitive fights.
I never said that I would go through my career undefeated, I always said that I was very capable of being put down, but I will always get back up and fight on.
To be honest, I have just further proved everything that I have said. It was a fight where I got a lot of credit in the end for the heart I showed and I didn’t really expect that to happen. It was a great fight that got nominated for ‘fight of the year’ and that is two years running a fight of mine has been in contention.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened again this year!
I did think it was a close fight and he didn’t blow me out at all. I honestly believe that, with a different set of judges on a different day, it could have gone my way. It is one of those things, when good fighters fight each other that is the way it is going to be.
He was on the move a lot and he showed great, great footwork. It still made for a good fight and it is my favourite one to date, I would say, along with being my best experience.
What you take away from fights like this is so valuable and money can’t buy it.
Of course I would love a rematch, but Archie seemed very against it and to me it is quite obvious why he wouldn’t want the fight again. Boxing fans will want to see that fight again and I want it again because I only want to fight good lads and he is one.
I think people imagined that taking a defeat would have a devastating effect on me, but it really didn’t. I try and take away as much ego away from myself as possible because one of the big problems in the world today is people having too much of an ego.
This is boxing and you win and you lose. I’m not going to let one loss define me in the same way as I wouldn’t let one win define me. I’ve got one goal and that is all I am working towards.
The loss didn’t hit me as much as some thought it would because I know where I am going and I know what I’ve got to do. It is just boxing, you learn from it, take what you need to take from it and use it to move forward.
I get the chance to fight again and show what I am about back in Leicester on March 23, along with the likes of Sam Bowen and CJ Challenger. I love the fact that people are getting the chance to see us Leicester fighters and Frank is bringing these shows back to our city.
It is a fighting city and always has been. We are bringing it back and have got live televised shows at home now. It is all good for the city.
It is an early start in the year for me, which is good, and I will be able to get in the fights I want across 2019 and can build some momentum. It will be a good year for me.
Anything is possible and we’ve already had calls about some really big opportunities. Things can flip over really quickly and it is all looking very promising.
Lyon Woodstock features at the Morningside Arena in Leicester along with British Super Featherweight Champion Sam Bowen’s return to action. Also on the bill, super lightweight Sam Maxwell bids for his first title against the Spaniard Kelvin Dotel with the WBO European belt at stake, while local fighters CJ Challenger and Kyle Haywood are set to battle for the vacant Midlands Area super welterweight title. Nathan Gorman, Ryan Garner, Willie Hutchinson, Tommy Fury, Ryan Hatton and Mark Chamberlain also feature on the card. Tickets are available from £40 are on sale NOW via Eventbrite
