Now Ryan can dare to dream of big titles

Woolridge…2025 is going to be big. Pic: MSN Images/BCB Promotions

TRAINER Peter Hickenbottom was still on something of a high when I spoke to him three days after Ryan Woolridge’s successful baptism into eight round class.

“He ticked all the boxes,” the former Great Wyrley pro told me triumphantly. That’s a fair assessment.

The tall Bloxwich light-middle bossed the action against gritty Connor Meanwell and pressed his foot down on the pedal in the last two rounds. Referee Peter McCormick had Woolridge a wide, 80-73 winner.

On BCB’s bill-topper at Walsall’s Bescot Stadium, the 24-year-old southpaw put on an assured performance for his 11th straight victory. Meanwell may sport a modest record of two wins in 17, but he comes to have a go, not spoil and survive.

Now Ryan, a young man who entered the professional ranks without fanfare and little expectation of glory, can dare to dream. So can Hickenbottom.

He’s polished, carrying extra pep in his punches and popular – 160 fans paid to watch the weekend’s scrap.

Next year should bring title fights at light-middle, despite an earlier announcement he was moving up to the 11-and-a-half stone division. He was 11st 8lbs more than two weeks before the Meanwell contest and weighed-in bang on the 11st light-middle limit. That’s not someone struggling with the scales.

“I thought he boxed really well,” Hickenbottom said. “He’s a lot more heavy handed now he’s older. He mixed it with fast shots and heavy shots.

“When Ryan turned pro, I didn’t expect a lot from him, but he lives the life and fits it all round his job as an electrician – and he’s all over the country with that.

“He’s really dedicated himself to it. He was running eight or nine miles every morning for this one and it showed. He came on like a steam train in the seventh and eighth.

“His fitness was the big thing that impressed me, he could’ve done another four rounds. At the end of the sixth, I said, ‘he (Meanwell) is ready to go’ and the referee said afterwards he was three or four punches away from stopping Connor in the seventh and eighth round. But every time he was ready to jump in, Connor, to his credit, swung something back.”

With Coventry’s big punching Amir Abubaker set to fight for the Midlands light-middle title within weeks, Woolridge may have to look at other available belts.

“If he went up to fight for the English title, he wouldn’t be favourite and it would go on a big show,” Hickenbottom said.

“It could go two ways – Ryan becomes a bit overwhelmed, or he pulls off a big upset and with each performance I lean more towards a big upset.

“I’m hard to impress, but he impresses me every time. He impresses me in sparring. He’s always been able to hit, it was just about getting his feet right.

“If he can get an English title, he’s more than achieved, in my eyes.

“It’s going to be interesting, the next 12 months. An English or inter-continental title fights is better money than the Midlands.”

He added: “It would be a nice story. Ryan is my last pro – I won’t have any more pros after him, I’m winding down.”

If Woolridge takes the English title, it wouldn’t just be a nice story, it’d be a Cinderella story.