The Richie Woodhall collection: My dad taught me to fight

The 47-year-old is in big demand these days as a pundit, and 13 years after his retirement as a professional boxer, there is still something about his stature which commands respect.

Yet when he talks about the influence of his father Len on his boxing career, the guard comes down, and he struggles to hide his emotion.

This toughest of tough guys, the man who took on Thulani 'Sugar Boy' Malinga, Glenn Catley and Vincenzo Nardiello – and won – shows a side to his personality that few people would recognise as he talks about how the illness took its toll on the strong, fit man who was known and respected throughout the sport.

That is why he has decided to sell off some of the boxing memorabilia he has collected over the years, creating a fund that will help cancer charities in Shropshire.

In July this year, Richie's father Len, a retired boxing coach, lost his eight-year battle with cancer, dying peacefully at his home in Telford at the age of 75.

Len Woodhall will always be remembered for the role he played in developing his son Richie, who he guided to the WBC super-middleweight crown in 1998.

But Len, from the Woodside area of Telford, was a mentor for many other boxers too.

He trained more than 65 championship-holding fighters across a career which spanned more than 40 years, and played a major role during the early days of Wellington Boxing Academy, becoming one of its main trainers.

Head coach Mo Fiaz said Len would be sadly missed by everybody at the gym.

"He was there all the time training people and there must be thousands of kids that he has turned into decent boxers over the years," he said.

"He was always very calm and had an affinity for training young people, but we also do keep fit classes and he'd take people of 40 and 50 years old on the pads as well.

"People used to light up when he walked into the gym and, if it wasn't for him, I don't think there would be a Wellington Boxing Academy now."

Mo added: "We have 33 registered boxers and up to 60 people who are training there five days a week now."

Mo said it was Len's paternal guidance which led him to being able carve a fighting career.

"He has been like a father figure to me," he said after Len's death in July.

"I have been with him since I was 15 years old when I started boxing at Madeley.

"He was the coach there and he is responsible for me getting into the sport."

The pinnacle of Richie's career came at Telford Ice Rink 17 years ago when he took the WBC super-middleweight title in a fight against Thulani 'Sugar Boy' Malinga, with Len in the corner.

But Richie says his bronze medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics was always his father's proudest moment.

Richie went on to take gold at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland two years later, and turned professional after that, losing just three times in 29 fights.

He lost on his first shot at the world title against American Keith Holmes in Washington DC in October 1996, when he tried to fight with a broken hand.

The second disappointment was when he lost his WBC crown in his third defence to German Markus Beyer in Telford in October 1999.

And his third loss was his last fight – against his friend Joe Calzaghe for the world WBO title in Sheffield in December 2000.

And Len was by his side for all of it.

Len last worked the corner in November 2013, supporting now-British welterweight champion Sam Eggington's sole defence of the Midlands crown against Dave Ryan.