Champion boxer is squeamish about spiders!

And Callum Simpson will exude that raw energy and inner strength when he defends his titles, in Sheffield, on January 11.

That is of course...unless there is a spider in the ring at the Park Community Arena!

Then it may well be a case of bringing in a hired hitman to clear the eight-legged opponent away.

Callum revealed his dislike of spiders in a tongue-in-cheek interview on talkSPORT's Fight Night Boxing Podcast.

He'd had to delay his online chat with hosts Ade Oladipo and Gareth A Davies to ensure he watched his favourite reality TV programme 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'

Barnsley boy Callum has been a fan of the programme for most of the 22 years it has been on air.

Now, in the middle of his training camp, there wasn't much else to do other than watch TV, and maybe dream of an appearance on the show at some time in the future...following in the boxing footsteps of David Haye, Amir Khan and more recently Barry McGuigan.

"I would love to be on that when I retire from boxing - it is a programme I have always watched since I was young with the family sat down on the sofa" he explained.

"Spiders are my only fear," said Callum, who insisted he would be fine with jumping out of planes and being entombed in enclosed places, on the show.

"It is just the spiders. Ever since I have been young" he said, although he wasn't as nervous about them these days.

"I will fight anyone as long as a spider doesn't get in the ring" he laughed.

Callum, once a part-time store worker at Meadowhall, won the super middleweight titles when he defeated Zak Chelli in front of 7,000 fans at Barnsley FC's stadium in August.

It was an "unbelievable night, with unreal atmosphere" he said.

Now some of the Reds' fans and the footballers themselves are planning to watch him fight Brummie Steed Woodall, 30, on a Boxxer show in Sheffield in the New Year.

"Sheffield is only 10 miles down the road so not far for Barnsley fans," he said.

Their team has a 3pm kick-off at Northampton Town on the same day, but fans and players alike can travel back to South Yorkshire to see him fight, around 10pm, he said.

Kevin Maree-managed Callum, 28, also touched on the controversial Ben Whittaker v Liam Cameron fight in October, judged to be a draw when both fighters plummeted over the ropes and out of the ring at the Kingdom Arena, Riyadh.

Many fans believed Sheffield's Cameron had been winning at the time and Whittaker had been looking for a way out.

Simpson, once a Barnsley Star Amateur Boxing Club trainee, still sides with his South Yorkshire colleague.

"I have tried to think about every excuse to give him (Whittaker) the benefit of the doubt, try to get sympathy for him - but I am struggling."

He had watched the bout back a few times, even in slow motion, and questions remained whether Whittaker's sprained ankle required a wheelchair exit from the Arena.

"It was a bit pathetic to be honest," he said, adding that he thought promoters wanted to build up both his own profile and that of Whittaker for a mega fight down the line.

He said Whittaker managed a draw with Liam Cameron while he himself had secured two championship belts and gone up the rankings so he didn't need to pursue his rival.

"He can chase me if he wants" at light heavyweight, he said.

Meanwhile, Callum, 15-0-0, is dieting hard in readiness for January 11, but intends to enjoy his Christmas day dinner.

He will have a full plate - but will go easy on calorie-ridden gravy!