Earlier this month, the Sky Sports cameras were in Liverpool for the world championship doubleheader featuring Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price.

On the undercard, former English super middleweight champion, Mark Jeffers, breezed past late notice opponent, Joshua Quartey, and then called for a fight with British and Commonwealth champion, Callum Simpson.

Simpson watched the fight from ringside and Sky Sports then spent a considerable amount of time laying the groundwork for a future fight between the two.

Rather than take offence, Simpson’s next opponent, Steed Woodall, was content to let the whole exchange play out.

Still, it didn’t take long for his phone to start pinging.

“Funnily enough, about five different people recorded it and actually sent it to me and said, 'They're overlooking you already.’

“I just smiled. That’s exactly what we expected and exactly what we want as well,” Woodall, 19-2-1 (12 KOs), told The Ring.

“We've had that the past three or four fights. People sort of looking through, seeing a bit of inactivity and things like that and thinking it's going to be an easy night’s work.

“I prefer it that way. You know, I'm going to be the underdog again and that suits me. It takes all the pressure off me. So, yeah, I’m happy it's that way.”

Simpson, 15-0 (10 KOs), doesn’t seem the type to overlook anybody but whether he does or doesn’t, Woodall will be a sizeable outsider when the two fight in Sheffield on January 11th.

As Woodall says, that is of no concern to him. The 30 year old revelled in the role when he took on Lerrone Richards in June.

Richards was unbeaten and if his awkward southpaw style and safety first reputation made him hard to find in the ring, it also made him invisible outside of it and he spent the best part of three years looking for a meaningful fight.

Woodall couldn’t afford to be picky. Desperate for a route back into contention after losing a decision to Padraig McCrory in 2023, he jumped at the opportunity to take on Richards. Rather than tying himself in knots trying to solve the puzzles Richards likes to set, he took it upon himself to pose some problems of his own.

Richards is used to forcing his opponents into mistakes but, this time, it was he who was forced into making the crucial error and Woodall capitalised in brutal fashion, knocking him out in the sixth and scoring one of the most eye catching results of the year.

Although Woodall’s rivals may have been privately delighted that he had removed Richards from the immediate picture, the win didn’t catapult him directly into another opportunity. Instead, the destructive manner of the win saw him join Richards in the Who Needs Him club.

“People forget Lerrone was sort of fringe world level. He'd won the domestic titles - the British, Commonwealth, European and IBO world titles - so he was fringe world level,” he said.

“It would have been ideal to sort of take the win and jump in his shoes but I've been in this boxing game a long time now and I know it wasn't going to be that easy,” Woodall said.

“You know, boxing is such a fickle sport. It's been really tough.

“I obviously wasn't expecting the phone to go with great urgency because of the manner it ended in. I was a total underdog in that fight. In that particular round, I was a 100-1 underdog with the bookies.

“I guess I did expect an opportunity. We were putting forward to be mandatory for the British and Commonwealth anyway with the board and we threw a few fishing lines out there to see who would bite.

“That [Simpson] is what came back. Fair play to Callum for taking it. There’s an interview with Ben Shalom [Simpson’s promoter] saying they would have given him an easier fight back and things like that.

“So, yeah, credit to him. It's on now for January 11th.”

Woodall is entering his eleventh year as a professional. He was a talented amateur who decided to seek his fortune in America after being consistently overlooked for a spot in the biggest international tournaments.

He spent three years traversing the States looking for opportunities but returned home to Birmingham in 2017 and set up a flooring company. The urge to fight never left him but without a recognised promoter to campaign on his behalf, Woodall had to grind away and bide his time. The loss to McCrory opened the door slightly but he put his shoulder to it and bust it open by beating Richards.

“It's genuinely been so tough just to hang in there. You know, I've got a strong faith in God and I do turn to God a lot for my drive and sort of wisdom to carry on the path that I'm on and, thankfully, it's all paid off,” he said.

“It's been a long journey to get here but I’ve finally got the opportunity to prove why I should be here.

“I've always said that I want to fight for a world title but without any shadow of a doubt, I never overlook anything, whether I'm fighting a journeyman or a contender. A champion or whoever it is. My mind's in that fight. I never look ahead.”