Mitchell Woollard
Weighing in at 72 kilograms, Mitchell Woollard has his eyes set on championship gold. Not an original Saint, 24-year-old Woollard comes from Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire where he joined his first boxing club. He admitted to starting his boxing journey “pretty late” but he has no regrets. Referring to his first club as “a random boxing club where I used to live”, Woollard confesses that “at the start it was horrible I kept getting beat up” . At one point, he said that “halfway through a fight I’m telling myself I’m not doing this again”. Fortunately, this wasn’t a sign of things to come as he got the hang of the sport pretty quickly; losses becoming lessons and with his confidence growing he knew that he could make something of this.
Despite only joining Pound for Pound in January, Woollard spoke very highly of his experiences so far. “They’ve influenced me massively. I’ve grown and progressed a lot, especially with Steve’s (Barnes) help. This has been one of the factors in me turning pro”.
When he joined Pound for Pound, he had no previous experience fighting three-minute rounds and because of this Woollard faced his first hurdles. He had to entail a brutal five-kilogram weight cut which ultimately led to a defeat via a points decision. Since this loss, he has a further two cuts which he admitted to being a “bit easier” on him. He went on to win both of those fights.
Woollard’s last fight was on June 3rd and felt incredibly confident in the build-up and evenduring the fight, “I fought here. I didn’t know my opponent’s name. I didn’t look him up online and wandered around the ring and felt comfortable”.
Overall, it has been a very rewarding season for Woollard, picking up wins left, right and centre. A season of head cuts, smiles and a lot of progression. Describing himself as a “relaxed and counter fighter”, he said that this season he has improved his fitness tremendously. “I was comfortable doing two-minute rounds as I’m more relaxed sort of boxer, but three-minute rounds are an eye opener because of the pace”. He then relayed the importance of cardio and how you need it to be at the top level; “I see people having their first fights and thinking everything will be fine because they have one session a week. Cardio gets neglected, and they gas out instantly”.
The next step in Woollard’s career is having his first pro fight. He signed the contract yesterday (June20th) and spoke about the process and necessary procedures, “So my manager Gary White is sending everything off now, so I’ll need to have an interview, a gym assessment, brain scan and medicals done”. Hopefully this comes around soon for him so he can get started on a new adventure. In the meantime, he’s already thinking about that next step, “I just want mad wins and to enjoy myself, I’m not putting any pressure on myself and as long as I do those things I’ll be fine”.
A short and sharp interview from Woollard, much like one of his jabs. Perhaps he’ll even earn the nickname Mitchell “Mad Wins” Woollard in the future.