Woodman Boxing History

Fred Woodman  (Paul's Dad) learnt to box in the Army whilst doing his National Service, he soon picked up the art of boxing and

became a Army Champion along with his army mate Henry Cooper.

When he was discharged from the army in the early 1950s he joined Earlsfield Boxing Club in Earlsfield, London to carry on the sport he

enjoyed so much in the Army.

He boxed as a Featherweight and boxed numerous times for England traveling all over Europe from Yugoslavia to Berlin, he won the South West

ABA Divisional Title a record 8 times (I believe this record is still held by him today) and once runner up, he also won the London ABA Title once and was runner up 3 times.

He reached the ABA Semi-Finals twice only to be defeated by Dave Charnley  (who later fought for 2 world titles) once in a very closely fought 4 round batlle and the other he was disqualified with a accidental clash of heads which knocked Charnley out of the ring and onto the tables below!

Charnley went on to win the Final.

 

Freddie was the only boxer to beat Bobby Neil as an amateur who went on to turn Professional after he beat him!

In his long eventful amateur career he fought Bobby Neil, Dave Charnley, Roy Hill, Dai Merchant, Roy Lake and Frenchman Jean Bichot,

all outstanding boxers who all later turned Professional and some fought for World Titles.

 

Fred had many offers from promoters to turn proffesional but he had respected his fathers wishes who asked him not to, so due to this fact he had a long and succesful career having over 200 amateur fights with only 46 loses in a career that lasted over 12 years.

The newspapers nicknamed  him "the Destroyer of Champions" because he would often win against a champion fighter whenever he came up against one, fighters such as ABA champion Peter Brander and Scottish Champion Bobby Neil for example!

 

My father was often on the television boxing at such Venues as the Royal Albert Hall and Wembley.

If you know where we might be able to obtain Video footage of these fights please contact me, we would be very grateful If we could

obtain them.

 

Freddie went on to run the Bishop Bonner Pub in Bethnal Green, he turned it into a Boxing theme pub with the walls covered in boxing

memorabilia, we used to have film nights, and a lots of boxers past & present used to turn up such as,  Henry Cooper, Maurice Hope,

Jack Kid Berg and John H Stracey.

We also had another successful Pub in Horley surrey called the Station Tavern which he ran with wife Rita.

 

Fred is now retired still living in Horley, Surrey with his wife Rita.

If you wish to contact him drop us a email and we will make sure he gets your message.

 

 For more details and photos See.......  www.fredwoodman.co.uk 

 

 

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Paul Woodman  (Freddie's Son) began his boxing career in 1975 at Poplar ABC in  Bethnal Green, East London. He won his

very first fight in a fine points win over Colin Hill from St Aidens ABC at his fathers old boxing club in Earlsfield, he said “ I remember that

fight very well as it was my first of many, I remember a Mr Bill Palmenter the Chairman at Earlsfield ABC presenting me with a small trophy

and saying that my father would have been lucky to have won a Jam Jar as a prize in his day!”

Paul was also chosen to Box for London against the Midlands in Coventry against D Louden, although Paul, his Trainer and the audience

thought he had done enough to win on points after nearly knocking his opponent out in the 2^nd round when he was trapped on the ropes,

the decision surprisingly went against him!

 

After 4 years of boxing for Poplar ABC in Bethnal Green the Family moved out of London as his Parents purchased another Pub called

the Station Tavern in Horley Surrey, Paul Joined the nearest boxing club which was Crawley ABC and had quite a few memorable bouts

including one he had in Hastings at a packed Queens Hotel where the referee gave Paul a standing count in the 1^st round only for Paul to

return the favor and give his opponent S Martin a standing count in the 3^rd, the audience voted it “Fight of the Night”.

Another memorable fight was against M Cook in Brighton, he was a local reputable boxer from Brighton. Paul came out on the bell

throwing a combination of punches which meant Cook had to defend himself,  by the end of the 1^st round Cook was unable to connect

with a single punch. The bell went for the 2^nd round but Cook was still sitting on his stool in his corner unable to continue with blood

pouring from his ears, thankfully he made a full recovery.

Paul retired from the Ring in 1984 having had a short but memorable career, he is proud of the fact that he was never stopped or

knocked down.

 

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Hadley Woodman  (Paul's Son) had a short spell of boxing training at Selsey Boxing Club at the age of just 9 years old.

He has got quite a good style and some very good footwork as you can see in the video footage below.

The boys he was sparing with were all older than him and although he held his own he was getting hurt quite a bit and decided

to give it a break until he is a bit older so watch this space!