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Boxer Curtis Woodhouse hunts down Twitter troll to confront him at his home

March 11, 2013
by Larry Brown

Curtis WoodhouseBritish boxer Curtis Woodhouse was the subject of some online abuse from a Twitter troll after losing a fight last Friday, and he wasn’t about to let it pass. He decided to take matters into his own hands by hunting down his main Twitter antagonist nearby the person’s home, which left the Twitter user apologetic and presumably frightened.

Woodhouse, 32, is a former professional soccer player who decided to pursue boxing professionally in 2006. He is 17-5 after losing a light welterweight fight to Shayne Singleton by split decision last Friday. Though many people sent him support on Twitter by saying he got robbed in the decision, at least one person criticized him for the loss.

A Twitter user who guys by the handle of @jimmyob88 and the nickname “the master” began attacking Woodhouse and calling him names:

Woodhouse retweeted some of the nasty messages that user sent him so that his entire following would see it. He even wrote back “lol” to “the master” in response, but his friendly tone quickly changed after the nastiness continued.

“The Master” also wrote to Woodhouse “just retire lets face it your not good the facts and statistics prove my point a handful of losses already” while calling him a s— boxer.

It was after those messages that Woodhouse decided he’d had enough. He offered £1000 to anyone who would provide him a picture and address for the man behind trash-talking Twitter account.

The Twitter troll was unfazed and continued to taunt Woodhouse.

Woodhouse wasn’t joking around. He found out the person’s real name and street and said he was coming over for a “brew.”

After having his identity and street uncovered, the Twitter troll suddenly changed his tune and began backing down.

Since he had gone that far, Woodhouse wasn’t about to turn around even after the Twitter troll began apologizing.

Woodhouse then kept his Twitter followers updated on his mission, saying he was 47 minutes, then 17 miles, and finally 10 minutes away from the troll’s house. When he finally reached the troll’s house, he made sure everyone knew he wasn’t messing around.

Imagine that? The same guy who was acting tough and talking trash on Twitter quickly backed down and went into hiding after Woodhouse got to his home. But Woodhouse found the whole thing amusing. He began cracking jokes.

And with that, Woodhouse signed off for the night.

The anonymity of the Internet has empowered many people to write things to others they ordinarily would never say to someone’s face. Whether it’s a comment made on a blog post or newspaper article, or a posting on a social media service, people are known to act much tougher online than they would in person.

I’m glad Woodhouse did what he did and I hope many Internet trolls read the story so they learn to act differently. We get nasty emails from people all the time who don’t think there are real people operating the website and receiving the emails. As soon as we respond, their tune quickly changes and they become apologetic.

I really wish guys like DeAngelo Williams would have taken the Woodhouse approach, because that’s one way to teach them a lesson.

Glove touch to Deadspin
Image via YouTube/Ringtone Boxing

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