Ken Huber is the new World Boxing Council Cruiserweight (WBC) Canadian champion.
The Kamloops boxer – who was born and raised in 100 Mile House – won a split-decision over London, Ontario fighter Renie Placid in front of a sold-out crowd at the Coast Hotel and Convention Centre in Langley on Sept. 13.
“I’m on top of the world,” Huber says. “I couldn’t be happier.”
The national champion will now represent Canada in a WBC world tournament in Budapest, Hungary – the date of which is yet to be determined.
Basically, this tournament built team Canada, and we’re going to Budapest as a team, explains Huber, 29.
The win moves Huber’s amateur record to 28-4.
“We saw some footage (of Placid) the day before the fight. We came up with trying to go to body. He’s a big, muscular kind of guy, but we knew his body was going to be soft.
“So, we were slipping the jab and coming downstairs with the right hook to the body and a left uppercut and it was landing consistently.”
Huber also credits his superior conditioning for the win.
“First round, we stuck to the game plan. I took it a little easy, saw what he was going to bring. In the second and third, I picked up the pace.
“He was getting tired and I was in wicked shape. I didn’t tire at all. I took it away from him in the conditioning.
“He was just as skilled. It was a super tough fight – one of the only times I’ve been to a split-decision.”
His coach Frank Araujo and corner man Kelly Ricketts, owner/coach of the Zeus Fight Science Boxing and Fitness gym in 100 Mile House, were in Huber’s corner for the fight. Huber trained with Ricketts ahead of last Friday’s bout and they’ll maintain that connection, as Huber looks to become a world champion.
“His work ethic is unquestionable,” Ricketts says of Huber.
“He’s going to go where he wants to go, and no one is going to stop him in that process.”
The atmosphere in Langley was raucous, Ricketts adds, and Huber’s – as well as most of the nine other fights on the card – delivered.
“It was pretty wild in there. It was the WBC Canadian Championship, and it lived up to its stature and name.
“[Huber] did get caught with a couple of good ones, but he landed a couple good ones himself. From a coach’s and a spectator’s perspective, it was a good action fight right from the get go, which is what we want. That’s the style [Huber] likes.”
When the bell rang after the third round, Huber says he wasn’t sure which way the judge’s were going to go.
“Watching it from the crowd is different than when you’re in the ring. You don’t see what’s going on and there are a lot of different things going through your mind. [Araujo] was assuring me I had the win, but I was pretty nervous.”
Huber watched the video of the fight Saturday morning and, while admitting some bias, says he doesn’t see a split-decision victory, but something more unanimous.
“There were some good exchanges. He landed a few really good punches. I won’t take anything away from him. He was tough.”
Huber isn’t planning on coasting on his biggest accomplishment as a boxer. He wants more and he’s getting back in the gym as soon as possible.
“I’ve got no time to waste. The way I see, the sooner I get back into the gym, the sooner I get better. “I’ve hungered for this. I want it. There won’t be any time off.”
Huber says he believes he hasn’t fought his best fight.
“I still don’t feel like I’ve performed up to my potential. After every fight, you’re a little more comfortable, you’re a little more confident.
“Every fight I get a little closer, but I’ve yet to find that same comfort zone I find in the gym when I’m in the ring under the lights. I want to keep moving toward that.”
When asked about the significance of a fighter from a small town like 100 Mile House winning a national title, Ricketts says Huber proves the rule: if someone works hard enough and has the right attitude, it doesn’t matter where he or she is from.
“Kenny proved that last night, and I think he’s going to prove it in Budapest.”
