From Soccer Star to British Boxing Champion, Curtis Woodhouse

People often write you off when you attempt to do one thing deemed near impossible, and nearly everybody writes you off if you trade in your dream (which is going more than steady) to pursue yet another dream, but as British Curtis Woodhouse has proven, it can be done.

The star started his career as a promising soccer player who blossomed through the English ranks, but he had always had the fire, hunger and passion to box, so he decided to retire from football to take on the career of boxing, with little but desire and a hard work ethic to see it through. Even though Curtis has been a revelation in both sports he admitted the losses he's had have hurt. He explained "The best thing I did when I turned pro was have it in my mind, with no amateur experience, I knew I'd lose. I'd already mentally prepared for that. I thought when you lose you've got to come back from it. It was a real testing time mentally more than physically. I've been fine physically, but emotionally it leaves you scarred."

On Saturday 22nd February he takes on Darren Hamilton, the champion, and he has said he will retire win or lose. He set out the goal of becoming the champion of his weight class and he's now one fight away from achieving just that, but what motivates someone who's achieved nearly everything he wants? When asked he stated "Success. I'm all about winning in anything I do. I want to set an example and lead from the front. I can't say to people you can do it if I haven't got the courage to do it myself. By doing my boxing career I hope I'm showing my kids you can do anything you want. It's not a myth, it's not just a dream.

It can be tough enough to tackle one sport, but Woodhouse may well become one of the rare few to succeed and retire from two sports after achieving his dreams and avoiding a career of life threatening injury in either. Although his success has surprised some, win or lose, he is not surprised about how far he's come. He explained "Without sounding overly arrogant. Nothing to do with me being a great fighter, but I'm of the full belief that if you dedicate your life to something you'll be successful. That's what I've done, I've dedicated my whole life to it. I've taken no short-cuts and I've done nothing detrimental to being a sportsman."

It seems sometimes hard work can pay off, and if you work twice as hard, you can achieve both dreams you've set for yourself.