BIRMINGHAM banger Steed Woodall has again rolled the dice and signed up for a major “last man standing” knockout tournament.
He is one of eight super-middleweight taking part in the one night, slam-bang competition entitled “The Heist” by promoters GBM.
Explosive action is guaranteed at the venue, Hull’s Connexion Live, on Saturday, November 8.
It may be a few days after Bonfire Night, but there will be fireworks.
With fights over a three round distance, there has to be – those taking part need to fire on all cylinders from the get-go: no feeling out the opposition. The winner faces three bruising battles – quarters, semis and final.
For Woodall it is a high risk, high reward assignment: there’s a £25,000 jackpot for the victor and significant future fights.
And the 31-year-old, ranked number six in Britain, will be one of the favourites. He has the power and pedigree with only three losses in 24 outings. I agree with manager Jon Pegg when he says: “No one will want to draw Steed in the first round.”
Woodall, fresh from a points win over Marcelo Bzowski last month, also has a team at Eastside gym with a proven track record in these competitions: they know the pace needed.
The man to beat may well be former English champ Germaine Brown (14-3), who has mixed in good company.
The other competitors are: James “Ozzy” Osborne (10-1), the current Southern Area champ; Ellis Steward, unbeaten in 12; Former English champ Marc Dickinson (8-2); Taz Nadeem who is ranked as a light-heavy and unbeaten in seven; Haaris “The Hurricane” Khan (7-0), also a light-heavy who represented Wales in the Commonwealth Games; Former Southern Area champ Sam ‘SA’ Smith (5-1-1), a hard man from Bodmin
Moor who local fans will remember for his blistering draw with River Wilson-Bent.
Pegg said: “We’ve had a lot of success in these tournaments, we know when to put the foot on the pedal.
“Steed has always been explosive and, over three rounds, if you score a knockdown in the first round, the other guy has a lot of catching up to do. The others (in this tournament) will be watching Steed a lot more than he’ll be watching them.”
GBM boss Izzy Asif said: “There’s nothing more exciting than a one-night tournament – especially with a line-up this competitive. With four of Britain’s top-20 super-middleweights, three undefeated prospects and two former national champions all in the same bracket, it’s going to be a spectacular night of action on DAZN.”
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