‘Boxing found me, I didn’t find boxing,’ says Ryan Woolridge
Ryan Woolridge…at the Hangar on Friday. Picture: Manjit Narotra/BCB
FOR Ryan Woolridge, living the dream takes serious graft, but he’s living it.
The Bloxwich middleweight was bleeding the clutch on his works van when I caught up with him. The vehicle had faltered, perhaps out of protest, during a hectic working week that had seen Ryan travel to London, Manchester, Cambridge and Milton Keynes with his job as an electrician.
As well as working long hours for the electrical company he and his brother set-up, Woolridge has been sweating bullets in the gym before his appearance on this Friday’s major “Independence Day” show at the Hangar Events Venue, Wolverhampton. The stacked card is topped by Midland featherweight champ Sian O’Toole’s defence against Doina Costin.
Woolridge, who entered the pro game without fanfare, is zeroing in on his 13th straight victory. A title shot is within touching distance.
“If you’d said three years ago I’d be 12-0 as a pro, I would’ve taken that all day long,” the 24-year-old said. “Boxing found me, I didn’t find boxing. I didn’t expect anything, I just enjoy boxing and if you enjoy doing something the way I do, things happen because of the passion.”
Ryan’s rise up the ratings has been charted and driven by trainer Pete Hickenbottom. Pete’s guided the 6ft 1in tall boxer from amateur at his Great Wyrley club to pro prospect. The pair are close and Woolridge admitted: “If Pete packed in, I’d probably pack in.”
Bigger things await Ryan after Friday’s six rounder, but he’s not looking past the Hangar. “Peter and Errol (BCB head Errol Johnson) have a plan, we have some ideas and we could look at the international title route.
“I think I’ll be more suited to the championship distance because I seem to warm into fights. That’s because of the engine Pete put into me.”
But Woolridge vowed: “I’ve put more into Friday’s fight than most of the others. I always train as if the next fight is a world title fight.”
*“Independence Day” on July 4 also features top Black Country prospects Ben Collins and Lewis Morris. Callum Seedhouse looks to build on his explosive debut at the same venue in May and Hamza Azeem has his first fight on home turf after boxing in Riyadh’s Grand Prix tournament. Mia Holland and Ashley Vaughan will be aiming to extend their unbeaten runs, Willenhall middleweight Regan Williams makes his debut and Stafford’s big punching Ashley Pettigrew can be relied on to provide fireworks.
Final tickets are available now, priced at £45 for general admission and £80 for VIP, from the boxers directly or by emailing info@bcb-promotions.com.