 Woodhall (right) lost his final fight, stopped in round 10 by Joe Calzaghe |
Richie Woodhall has been tempted several times to make a return to the ring but has so far resisted.
Instead, he's putting all his energies into unearthing Britain's next world champion.
Woodhall retired more than six years ago, his final fight of an illustrious career coming against Joe Calzaghe at the Sheffield Arena on 16 December 2000.
Being stopped in round 10 by the big-hitting Welshman was no disgrace, as events have subsequently shown.
In any case, Woodhall had already secured his place in the history books by becoming WBC super middleweight champion two years earlier.
In front of thousands of his own fans at the Telford Ice Rink, he demonstrated his extensive repertoire of skills to out-point the extremely dangerous and durable Thulane 'Sugarboy' Malinga, a South African fighter who had beaten both Nigel Benn and Robin Reid.
Now Woodhall is attempting to transfer those silky skills to his boxers at the Team Ringside gym in Birmingham.
"My dream as a trainer has got to be to produce a world champion - and a genuine world champion, one of the big titles," he says.
"It will happen. I will find the kid and he will be trained at my gym."
Woodhall's route into professional coaching has been a circuitous one.
After quitting the ring, he soon found himself in demand from television and radio, both keen to make use of his extensive boxing knowledge and easy, friendly style.
Then, in 2005, he joined the Amateur Boxing Association as their performance director, relishing the chance to help mould England's future stars.
 | It was like ramming my head against the wall, so I walked away Richie Woodhall on his all-to-brief spell with the ABA |
Five months later, he had quit, thoroughly dejected and demoralised.
The man he blames is Terry Edwards, the ABA's head coach.
"We didn't see eye to eye and we never got on," says Woodhall. "They wanted a 'yes' man and I wasn't going to be a 'yes' man to Terry Edwards.
"The sad part was I was never really allowed to express my ideas. It was like ramming my head against the wall, so I walked away."
Woodhall's time at the ABA's headquarters in Crystal Palace wasn't a total waste.
There he mixed with some of the country's brightest young stars, among them Jamie Cox, who would go on to win light welterweight gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
 Commonwealth Games champion Jamie Cox is one of Woodhall's pupils |
Woodhall obviously made an impression on the Wiltshire fighter, because it was Woodhall he turned to when he was thinking of turning professional. "He called me for advice and I told he was mad to be turning pro with the Olympics next year," says Woodhall.
"I told him to stay amateur and go to Beijing, but he told me he didn't get on with the England squad anymore and said he wasn't learning anything.
"Those were his words, not mine. So I said that if his mind was made up I could set up a meeting with promoter Frank Warren, which I did.
"A few weeks later I got another call from Jamie, thanking me for what I'd done but also asking me if I would train him.
"I told him to hold his horses because he didn't really know what I was like as a trainer, but he insisted.
"I'd done a bit of coaching with him with the England squad and he said he'd liked my ideas and my style of coaching, so I told him to come up for a couple of weeks to the gym in Birmingham and then make a decision.
"After a week, he told me his mind was made up. He moved up from Swindon and he now has digs in Birmingham."
| What I used to find easy and could do in my sleep, some fighters find difficult and take a long time to do |
Cox's recruitment is a big coup for Woodhall, who is in his first year as a professional trainer, but the 39-year-old is not about to give his star pupil any special favours.
"When I boxed I set very high standards in the gym," says Woodhall. "Nothing's changed now I'm a trainer.
"The lads know what I'm like and if they don't do things the way I want them, then they are out of the gym.
"I know we are all individuals and we've got our own styles but the name of the game is still to hit your opponent and not get hit. If my boxers don't like my philosophy they leave."
Woodhall admits it's hard when his fighters don't measure up to his own high expectations.
"If there's anything I've learnt, it's that coaching is a slow process," he says.
"You've got to be patient. What I used to find easy and could do in my sleep, some fighters find difficult and take a long time to do.
 Woodhall is now a regular at ringside, offering his expert opinions on television and radio |
"I can get a little frustrated, but we are all individuals and I'm still learning."
All that Woodhall asks for is honesty from his fighters.
"I set them little tests and if they stop what they are doing and start talking or have gone off somewhere, I'll have a go at them," he says.
"If my dad told me to do something, he could disappear for a couple of hours and I'd still be there when he came back.
"Some of the lads leave the gym on Friday night and we don't see them again until Monday morning.
"If they return to the gym three or four kilos heavier than they went out, I ask them what they've been doing.
"Some of them say they haven't done anything, but I know different. I know every single way to cheat and I know if they've been on a bender at the weekend.
"They are beginning to realise that I've experienced the game in every possible way.
| A lot of my boxers ask me to get in the ring with them, but I say no. Those days are over |
"They also know I've been successful. That gives them confidence that they are being trained by someone who's been down the same path."
Woodhall also has his father, Len, working with him.
It was Len who guided Richie's career, from a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics to the WBC super middleweight title.
"It's a new venture for me, this coaching game, but I'm still learning a lot off my dad," says Woodhall.
"He puts me right here and there, but I'm my own man and I do my own thing."
That includes resisting any thoughts of a ring return.
"I do get tempted, and I have been tempted in the past to come back, but I've said 'no' every time," he says.
"If I did put the gloves back on and sparred with any of my boxers I know I would be tempted, that's why I refuse every time. I know what it would lead to, so I don't even go there.
"A lot of my boxers ask me to get in the ring with them, but I say 'no'. Those days are over."
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