- 'Embarrassed' James O'Brien apologised after abusing boxer Curtis Woodhouse
- Said he realised he had been 'childish' about abusive messages
- Boxer drove to troll's house to confront him
By Anna Edwards
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Boxer Curtis Woodhouse today finally confronted the Twitter troll who hurled insults at him for eight months as the pair met for the first time on live television.
Woodhouse, a former Premier League footballer with Birmingham City who became a boxer after retiring, had tracked down his online tormentor James O'Brien who abused him over a recent bout he lost.
Today the 'embarrassed' Twitter troll apologised on ITV's Daybreak for abusing the athlete who drove 60 miles to his street after the abusive tweets upset his wife.
United: Curtis Woodhouse (left) and James O'Brien met on Daybreak this morning
United: Curtis Woodhouse (left) and James O'Brien met on Daybreak this morning
The troll had Tweeted him a variety of insults, including: 'u put so much effort in sacrificed all that time to and failed to defend your mickey mouse title'
Woodhouse put a 'bounty' on his the troll's head after O'Brien Tweeted: 'just retire lets face it your (sic) not good,' and 'haha u lost u silly mug fight a 10 year old next time,' and 'u put so much effort in sacrificed all that time to and failed to defend your mickey mouse title'.
The boxer, who weighs 11 stone, decided to confront his internet troll when Mr O'Brien branded him a 'disgrace' after losing his English light-welterweight title on points last week. He offered 1,000 to any of his followers who could give him the troll's address, and received it within minutes.
He drove more than 60 miles from Hull to Sheffield where he tweeted a photo of Mr O'Brien's street, saying 'right Jimbob im here !!!!! someone tell me what number he lives at, or do I have to knock on every door #itsshowtime.'
At that point, Mr O'Brien finally apologised but refused to meet the man he had poured scorn over.
Today Woodhouse said he finally decided to act after seeing how worried his wife was about the abuse.
Feud over: The pair chatted about their spat on ITV's Daybreak
Feud over: The pair chatted about their spat on Lorraine Kelly's show - and Mr O'Brien was keen to admit his mistake
He told ITV's Daybreak: 'If you are in the public eye, I don't think it's right that you should be abused, your family should be abused, your children should be abused, I don't think anyone has got the right to do that.
'I was sat on the sofa with the wife on Monday and the thing is she sometimes uses my account as well and she's seen this abuse and it worries and scares her.
'We don't know who this guy is and some of his threats, I don't know if he's being serious or not. I could see that she was worried and I thought enough is enough, I am going to put a stop to this right now.'
He later tweeted: 'On my way home from Lorraine Kelly show, #jimmybrownpants said how sorry he was so that's good enough for, be aware trolls #iwillfindyou.'
Woodhouse drew widespread support for his actions from the Twitter community, including from footballer and prolific tweeter Joey Barton.
Mr O'Brien, who sat next to him on the show, said he realised he had 'let everyone down' with his abuse.
'I was really childish. Looking back on it, I realised that I had done a wrong thing,' he said.
Heading home: Woodhouse eventually gave up after failing to track down the troll
Multi-talented: Woodhouse chases down David Beckham in a Premier League game back in 2002
Career change: Woodhouse has been boxing since 2006
'I can only offer my deepest apologies to anyone I ever abused on Twitter. I've let everyone down - friends, family - and I do feel really embarrassed.'
Woodhouse had been championed by the likes of Lennox Lewis and John Prescott after he put a Twitter troll in his place by driving to confront him on his doorstep.
The ex-England Under 21 player lost his English light-welterweight title on points to Shane Singleton on Friday night and he was branded a 'disgrace' by 'Mr O'Brien, who was reportedly abusing Woodhouse on Twitter for months.
Woodhouse kept his swiftly-increasing number of followers updated on his progress as he honed in on 'Jimbob'.
Quickly backtracking, Mr O'Brien tweeted: 'I am sorry it's getting a bit out of hand,' he tweeted. 'I am in the wrong. I accept that.'
Woodhouse eventually went home, and later jokingly tweeted: 'Just found out you can block people. Could have let me know earlier, I could have saved 20 quid in petrol.'
As word of the story spread celebrity names began to pay tribute to Woodhouse, who started his career at Sheffield United before Birmingham City paid 1million for his services in 2001.
Former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis tweeted: 'Ha! I LOVE this story about @woodhousecurtis paying a visit to a #keyboardwarrior on Twitter.'
And former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott - who once famously punched a heckler for throwing an egg at him - tweeted: 'THIS is how we deal with things in Hull. Boxer @WoodhouseCurtis tracks down a Twitter troll to his street!'
Woodhouse spent the 2005-06 season playing for Hull, where Prescott was MP from 1970 to 2010.
He has had 17 wins, four losses and 0 draws in his boxing career.
Your mother is ugly Curtis Woodhouse. Come round to my house, I dare you. - Kevin, Manchester, 14/3/2013 14:06~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~HA HA! Hark at you hiding behind the anonymity of your computer!!! How about you add your address next time you have something big and brave to say........hahahahahahahahaha!!!!! - Tim - it is me, Kent, 14/3/2013 16:06 JAJAJAJAKAKA hows about you post your address, what kind of numpty puts their address online? Curtis Woodhouse can transfer me a grand if he wants my address. However Tim, reply with your address! I'll send you some flowers and a Justin Beiber CD. FOR YO MAMMA
- Kevin , Manchester, 14/3/2013 16:21
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