Boxing: Magistrates Put Woodhouse's New Career in Ring on Hold

Curtis Woodhouse, the former England Under-21 international and ex-Sheffield United captain, has been told he cannot resume his professional boxing career until he has completed the 120 hours of community service imposed by magistrates after a drunken skirmish in Bridlington when he assaulted a police officer.

A British Boxing Board of Control Southern Area Council meeting reviewed details of the incident, when a police officer was injured by Woodhouse, 26, after being called to a pub in the Yorkshire town. Probation reports revealed Woodhouse has subsequently served only 20 hours of his sentence.

Woodhouse signed professional forms as a boxer last summer, saying it was his lifetime's ambition to be a fighter and that he had never been fulfilled by his footballing career. He made his debut in September, amid huge media interest, when he fought as a welterweight and scored a four-round points victory over Dean Marcantonio at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Injury prevented a planned speedy return to the ring so Woodhouse, once subject of a £1m transfer when he moved from Sheffield United to Birmingham City, has chosen to resume his football career, being paid on a match-by-match basis by Nationwide Conference strugglers Rushden & Diamonds.

Speaking after the Southern Area meeting last night, the Board chairman Robert Smith said: "Our rules are very clear in instances such as this. When one of our licensed boxers is given a sentence by a court, and a community service charge counts just as any other sentence would, his boxing career cannot be resumed until that sentence has been served. Once Curtis has completed all 120 hours of the Community Service Order, he may apply to us once again to have his licence returned."

Frank Warren denied that terms have been agreed for the WBO cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli to defend his world title against the European champion David Haye in an all-British clash on April 7 at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on the undercard of Joe Calzaghe's WBO world super-middleweight title defence against the American Peter Manfredo.

"It is a fight I would be very interested in making, and talks are continuing," said the promoter last night, even though speculation was rife yesterday on various internet websites that the fight was definitely on.