Woodhouse is in love with boxing

Woodhouse has played seven times for the Stags since joining in January

Curtis Woodhouse is out to make it 10 wins out of 10 this Sunday when he fights Nottingham veteran Matt Scriven.

The 28-year-old boxer/footballer will be fighting at Bramall Lane, his home from his days with Sheffield United.

But Woodhouse admits he now gets more of a thrill from being in the ring. "I'm in love with boxing," he told BBC Radio Nottingham. "So what can I do?

"It's got me. When I'm old I want to look back with a sense of achievement and I never got that out of football."

Former England under-21 international Woodhouse commanded a £1m fee when Trevor Francis, the English game's first £1m footballer, took him from Bramall Lane to Birmingham City in 2001. And the Driffield-born midfielder went on to play over 300 games in English league football.

But, having even planned to pack in football altogether late last year, boxing is now clearly his first love.

"It was great to play at the top level of football," said Woodhouse. "But I always felt that my destiny lied somewhere else and that somewhere else happened to be a boxing ring.

"When I win a fight I feel more of a sense of achievement than I ever did when I played football."

He was only persuaded to stay in the game when he signed for Mansfield on a part-time basis in January by his old team-mate David Holdsworth, once his team-mate both for the Blades and the Blues, and now his manager at Field Mill.

And the Stags boss is happy for Woodhouse to continue fighting.

"Curtis is a warrior," said Holdsworth, "and I wish him well as a boxer because he is a cracking fighter.
"He's a good person to have in the dressing room. He's someone I trust and his attributes have been seen on the pitch.

"The first week he came in with a black eye, so he's not doing anything for his looks, but he's never been blessed with that anyway."

Woodhouse will have the support of his Mansfield team-mates on Sunday back at his first footballing home, when he fights the vastly experienced, 35-year-old Scriven.

Club captain Jon D'Laryea told BBC Radio Nottingham: "The majority of the squad are going so it will be good for Curtis. The lads will be there showing him support."

D'Laryea is impressed with how Woodhouse combines his two careers.

"It shows that he has got another level of fitness," he said.

"Curtis shows what a good professional he is and that, at his relatively older age in football terms, he still has the appetite and the desire to do something else."