Margate’s not particulary that well known for it’s fistic prowess in the fight game, Sven Hamer a Swede and Takaloo an Iranian formed the gloved threat from the seaside resort from the South coast in good old England some years ago…..British fighter’s from the postcard setting of the famous seaside resort have been few and far between until now that is……..enter Jack ’13’ Morris and the very subject of this interview fellow Margate native Daniel Woodgate, as you possibly know I’d done an interview with Daniel before that touched on his early day’s in the fight game and his even earlier days as a kid in a tough part of Kent called Sidcup. {please check under my name for our first interview if you missed it}
However since our last interview Daniel has fought quite a few times though he seemed unlucky to lose on points to fellow prospect Sammy Couzens over four rounds, Daniel has bounced back with two win’s in as many week’s and since the Couzen’s defeat there’s been a few changes made in team Woodgate and also on a happy note in his personal life Daniel became a father for the first time when on Christmas eve his baby daughter Evilyn was born.
Daniel has got back on track since the Couzens defeat, 2011 has I just mentioned as got off to a flying start with win’s over tough uncompromising type’s in Jodie Meikle and the big punching Elvis Dube, however prior to his daughter’s birth just after the loss to Couzens Daniel relocated away from his family and friends to Manchester to try and get some much sought after guidance from the Manchester fight scene, and notably Daniel’s come on in abundance!
Manchester a place best known for Coronation street and the great red-blue divide due to that of the city’s great footballing rivalry {though don’t tell Daniel that, like me his a staunch West Ham supporter} however it’s no surprise why Daniel relocated to the Northern city as it’s considered British boxing’s home, James J Braddock, yes the Cinderella man was born there and moreso Ricky Hatton amongst other’s put Manchester on the boxing map, World heavyweight champ David Haye’s last two defences of his W.B.A heavyweight crown have also been there so it tell’s you the type of place boxing wise were talking here.
M S: Firstly I’d like to offer my congratulations to you on the birth of your daughter Evelyn on Christmas eve, surely that’s a Christmas you won’t forget, obviously now a proud father, so beside’s boxing how doe’s it feel to be a dad? Are you enjoying the joy’s of fatherhood?
D W: I’m loving it mate it’s an amazing feeling and has really given me a boost in my attitude to succeed.
She’s beautiful like her mum, they’ve both given me that little extra incentive and would like to be able to give something back to them in the form of a belt.
M S: What do you think of the super six series that’s going on in your weight category, and who do you think will be crowned the champion supreme?
D W: I think it’s a great thing, before it started I’d have definately said Carl Froch would have won it, but looking at it now I’d say it’ll be Ward or Kessler.
M S: What do you think of your division domestically?
D W: I think it’s amazing, I could quite easily walk around at 14 stone plus at cruiser and a lot of people say to me why don’t you go to cruiserweight, there’s no one about and I would say the best fighters are at super middle and the second best competition around my area {weight} is light heavy and I want to fight the best so what’s the point in fighting bums to be a champion, if you want to be a champion you got to fight the best fighters and I think it’s amazing like Degale, Groves, Paul Smith, Magee and I think it’s really exciting at the moment and I’d like to be involved in it.
M S: Who do you consider the best out of the likes of British champ Paul Smith, Groves, Degale and Jeffries?
D W: At the moment I’d say Groves, he had a bit of a dodgy one in his last fight but it was a massive night in Las Vegas, obviously the travelling and it could’ve got to him but he weren’t no mug the guy he fought, when he first started out I was a big fan of Jeffries but it seems to me he’s heart’s gone out of it, he just doesn’t seem that he’s bothered but to be honest I cannot stand James Degale, his attitude towards other fighters and the sport itself is digusting, I can not stand him I would quite happily give me two or three fights I’d put myself in with him and I reckon I’d knock him out and I reckon I could, I don’t really rate him at all, he slaps when he punches, he moves are very strange I don’t know what his movement’s about but he’s a typically good amatuer which whose fast tracked into being a pro.
M S: Who’d win out of Degale and Groves?
D W: Both are really open and it’d be a great fight between them two and I certainly see Degale getting knocked out in the first couple of rounds, as soon as Groves hit’s him Degale will go!
M S: So are you a full time pro, or do you hold a day job?
D W: I’m a builder and roofer and I work with my dad Dave and he basically supports my boxing, I got no sponsorship or anything but I’m going to be in a training camp basis so I’m going to be more like a full time pro now and I’ll be able to train everyday and if I need to get away from work my dad helps me out with travelling costs and stuff like that, if it weren’t for my dad I wouldn’t be able to box, he’s seen me through my boxing and he believes in me as well
M S: And what do you like to do in your spare time to unwind?
D W: To be honest I love training I absolutely love training, if I’m not training I go to the cinema, I like going out eating, just basically relaxing and chilling out, I train so hard I don’t really want to do anything on the weekends.
25, Have you a set time for a shot at a title?
No I haven’t set a time with myself but I always said by the time I’m twenty nine, thirty {Daniel’s 27} I’d like to know that I’m going to be going for a title whether it be five years down the line or six months I’d like to know by then that I’m moving up the ranks and I will be getting a chance soon, if I get to that age and I’m still a nobody and I’ve lost fights and I’m not going nowhere then I’d give up, I’m not in it for money I’m only in it to win things, I want to win titles and I want to make all the people that come and watch me and pay all there money to watch me and all my family, I want to make everyone proud of me, and thats basically it for me, so if I’m not going to be anywhere or be winning titles then there’s no point in me doing, I wouldn’t have turned over {gone professional} if I didn’t think I was good enough, that’s the reason I’m in it {to win titles}
M S: Looking at you via your face book photo’s you seem a well conditioned fighter, is super middle where you’ll stay or do you think you’ll eventually move up to light heavy?
D W: I’d like to be super middle, I’d like to stay there purely because that’s where the best competition is at the moment but I don’t know if I can make it {super middle} if not it’ll be light heavyweight I’d fit in quote comfortably there.
M S: What do you thinkk of the current state of boxing?
D W: I think it’s getting better if you’d asked me this two or three years back before Hatton was big and everyone started hearing about Hatton and also David Haye came along, I think boxing’s getting better and I think U.F.C’s took over a few years back for a little bit and people were interested in that, hopefully people can see it for what it is!
M S: Back to Jack, how far do you think your fellow native of Margate can go in the pro ranks and also do you think he could beat the likes of Degale and Groves?
D W: Yeah definately his got the ability he just needs the chance like everyone and the oppurtunity to do it and I think he could probably beat wearing my heart on my sleeve both as it is now but there getting fast tracked so there going to get a lot better a lot quicker but I think Jack can hold his own against them and I know he won’t get stopped by them I know that {if he did lose}.
M S: Oh yeah, his a very durable guy I don’t think {Jack} has ever been floored, have you ever been floored yourself?
D W: No, no I got a chin of granite mate, I’ve been punched with bare fists by massive guys and I’ve always stood up and went back at them, I know it sounds a silly thing to say but I think I was born to fight and it’s the only thing I’ve ever been any good at whether it be street fighting or boxing, I think I was born to fight and I can take a punch, I can give a punch and I’m willing to dig deep and fight to the end so I was definately a warrior in my past life.
M S: I’m gutted I got beat to doing the interview with yourself by a certain Adam Wake, he obvously was a wake before I was! enough of the puns and more of the punches, so what do you want to achieve in boxing and life itself?
D W: I’d love to be an holder of a Lonsdale belt outright, that’s my goal and I’d love to go beyond that but that’s my goal that’s what I’m aiming for it’s an amazing belt, to have it around my waist and have it in a little box tucked away in my loft somewhere and bring it out when the grandkids come around.
That’s what I want and basically in life I just like a nice life and a good family, I’d like to be a boxing fan after my boxing’s over with, I’d like to give something back afterwards, just to have a nice quiet family life.
M S: Also are there any guys in your division you’d like to one day box?
D W: I’d love to fight Degale, absolutely love to fight the guy, as far as light heavyweight’s go no one really, I’d only like to fight Degale because I don’t like him and I’d love to knock him out {laughs}, but anyone whose holding a title I want to beat them, Degale’s the only one, I’d jump at the chance!
M S: So Daniel, what’s the fun part of being a boxer?
D W: The fun part? the training I love training, love training hard, I like the fact you get a bit of recognition when your out in the town and people come up and go ‘Hello Dan’ everyone know’s you and I always wanted to be the centre of attention as a kid I remember getting in the ring and thinking ‘This iss what I’ve wanted all my life!’ I love that side of it, I just enjoy like the training and the little bit of recognition.
M S: and the not so fun part?
D W: Yeah the training {laughs} no there’s nothing about boxing I don’t like, if I didn’t enjoy it I wouldn’t do it, the only part of boxing I don’t like is the skipping.
M S: Margate boxing wise has featured very little success wise, sure you’ve had Sven Hamer and Takaloo, but now we have Jack Morris who won but had to pull out of Prizefighter due to injury, in some respect’s he put Margate on the map, but now with yourself, do you think you guys can put Margate on the map boxing wise, say moreso yourself?
D W: I’d like to think so, I think we definately got the talent to do it, both of us, it’d be nice to go out and get ourselves together and be on the same bill, and two Margate fighters fighting together and like you say try and put Margate on the map but with boxing you need the right oportunity’s and that’s just what we need really, just need the oportunitys, we both got the talent and we both got the want to do it but we’ll see.
M S: So in boxing, what would you like to achieve?
D W: Well I think when I started because it was at the same time as Degale and Groves, my main aim was to be in the mix with them.
Ive since realised not because I’m not good enough but because the way boxing is it’s gonna take me a long time to get to their level so at the moment I’m just concentrating on training hard and making the progress I know I can. I was always in a rush boxing wise because of my age but after watching the like’s of Bernard Hopkins and Mosley I think it’s relaxed me a little. I know that those guys are exceptions to the rule but if they can last in the sport why can’t I? I think that’s something I’d like to achieve….longevity.
M S: also do you have a fan base?
D W: Yeah I got a Facebook page, a couple of thousand people on that and the last fight I had two hundred people coming to watch me, Vinny {Woolford a local fighter} fought on the same show and he sold a couple of hundred tickets as well, I got a lot of people interested in my boxing and everyone I meet likes to know I’m doing well and stuff like that, I think for a one fight pro I got a really good fanbase.
M S: so you mentioned your no longer with Michael Aldiss, so whose managing you nowadays?
D W: I’m now managed by Mickey Helliet, he seem’s a good guy and certainly know’s his way around the boxing scene. I think with Mickey making the right moves on my behalf I can realise my potential.
M S: Who is your favourite active boxer?
D W: Ooh that’s a tough one if you would have asked me six month’s ago I would have said Mayweather hands down but since watching and studying Bernard Hopkins of late I can’t help but see how amazing what he is doing is, he’s a real role model that everyone could learn a lesson from.
M S: Also what fight would you like to see made?
D W: Got to be Pacquaio v Mayweather, that’s the fight we all want to see I think also I’d like to see Woodgate v Degale or Groves {Laughs} nah those guys have come on fast, don’t get me wrong I’d love to have a POP at both of them but when the time is right. They’re way too advanced for me yet gimme a few years and if everything goes the way I plan them boys will be worried when I’m knocking on the door.
D W:
M S: So Daniel you’ve boxed since our last interview against Sammy Couzens, you lost on points please could you tell me more about this?
D W: Yeah no problem, it’s not something I’m ashamed of quite the opposite really. I mean if I hadn’t lost to Couzens I may not have made the changes I think quite clearly needed to be made. I was struggling with fitness in the lead up to the fight, something wasn’t right, it was part mental part physical I think but for some reason I couldn’t seem to get myself fit. I was doing a lot of travelling for work and training in the lead up to the fight, maybe that was it! anyway taking nothing from Couzens he won the fight, after watching the DVD of my fight with Couzens I think it should have been a draw but like I said if I didn’t lose I wouldn’t be training in Manchester now, I think it’ll end up a blessing in disguise.
M S: So you’ve moved to Manchester under the guidance of Ensley Bingham, how’s everything there and are you finding it okay up there in Manchester?
D W: I love Manchester the place, the people I just love it and Ensley Bingham in my eye’s is one of the best trainer’s in the country, he’s amazing at his job and under him I know I’ll be a champ. I went up for three weeks to train for a fight that ended up cancelled and I came home like an animal, I was lighter than I’ve ever been, faster, more powerful and in a mood to do some damage. As they say it’s different gravy up there. Don’t get me wrong like, Alldis was an excellent trainer and I learned a hell of a lot from him, I just think the travelling did me in the end.
M S: You’ve had to give up work, family and friends to chase your dream, I tip my hat to you are you adjusting okay or do you miss home?
D W: Yeah missing my family is the hardest part of being away, I’m very close with my family and just having a little baby of my own has made it even harder to contemplate but I keep telling myself I’m doing it so she can be proud of her daddy.
M S: Aparently I hear someone’s been trying to cause a rift between yourself and Jack, that you’ve been going around saying that you’ve bashed him up in sparring and want to get a fight with him so you can do a number on him, you’ve both told me one time or the other that your good friends, it to me doesn’t make any sense, obviously in our first interview you clarified that it was you and not Jack who was getting the worst of your respective sparring sessions, have you a message for that certain individual, also why do you think they’re trying to cause trouble between you guy’s?
D W: Yeah it’s a strange one this, the first I heard was a text from Jack himself asking why I’ve been saying stuff. I explained that wasn’t the case and that was that really. It’s either someone stirring stuff or someone has got the wrong end of the stick, anyway Jack’s a mate and want him to go all the way so it’s not an issue in my eye’s.
M S: Maybe it’s a promoter?
D W: Wouldn’t have thought so, don’t think either of us are that important {Laughs}
M S: So Daniel now your a proud father, is Manchester still an option or are you due to your latest arrival coming back home and basing yourself back in Margate where training’s concerned?
D W: I’m staying put in Manchester like I said before I’m doing this for my family, I know it’s going to be hard and I’m not looking forward to being away from little Evelyn but it’s the best oppurtunity I’ve had so far in boxing and I’d be a fool not to go for it.
M S: Jack was in Prizefighter the light heavy’s, is this also something you’d like to be featured in someday?
D W: I’d jump at the chance, it’d set my career up nicely.
Look out for part three of me and Daniel’s interview, where I’ll be asking about Daniel’s latest two victories amongst other topics concerning his career.
Michael Angelo Serra reporting from home
