There was no butter chicken before this fight. And it wasn’t “Coach Huber” in the ring, either.
It was Ken “Heavy Hands” Huber in there, and the Kamloops cruiserweight, by way of 100 Mile House, landed them just – just – enough for a split-decision win over Victoria boxer Bryan Colwell, retaining his provincial Combsport title.
It was a story of halves and a fight which could have went either way in the co-main event of the World Boxing Council’s (WBC) Western Canadian Amateur Championships, hosted by the the MadKatz Boxing Club and held in a steamy Rutland Centennial Hall in Kelowna on May 31. Where Colwell was great early on – using his arm-length advantage and jabbing, and outboxing Huber considerably in the first and second rounds – Huber got more dangerous as the fight progressed, persistently stalked his opponent around the ring, and touched him with big shots in the later rounds.
And what’s a boxing match without a bit of controversy or drama?
Huber, 30, hit Colwell below the belt in the second round. Colwell, 24, took the full five minutes allotted to him to recover, and no one could blame him for it, it was hard shot, and deemed accidental. Huber paced anxiously in a neutral corner, then got down and busted a set of push-ups.
That was Heavy Hands, finding his rhythm, getting the crowd going, explains Huber, who’s admittedly a slow starter.
“I need to take a few punches and get in the groove. I want to be an exciting fighter. I want to make exciting fights… Love me or hate me, you’ll know who I am.”
The fight was close heading into the fifth and final round, and neither boxer was taking it off. Unfortunately for the younger Colwell, it was his first time going past three rounds.
Huber had been there before. And in the lead up to the fight he talked a lot about how hard he trained for it. (Colwell won via split-decision in a three-round, non-title fight against Huber in March. For his part, Huber, who operates the Kamloops Boxing Academy, says he wasn’t at his best that night, mentally or physically. He says he took the fight on a week’s notice, ate too much before it, and was in the corner as a coach for his fighters on the same card before stepping into the ring himself.)
That extra conditioning was the difference in the rematch. Huber pinned Colwell in the corner in the final minute and ripped him with big shots. The exclamation mark: a hard Huber right sent the challenger’s mouthpiece to the canvas. The referee stepped in – some in the building thought it was over – but the fight continued after Colwell got his mouthpiece back in and survived as the final seconds ticked off.
When the last bell clanged, Huber got down for more push ups. He says he knew he had the decision. But not everyone did.
“I thought we won the fight,” says Colwell’s coach Jason Heit. “I thought for sure, clearly Bryan Colwell won the first round, the second round and the third round.”
Heit concedes rounds four and five went to Huber. Heit says he thinks the low blow in the second was intentional, and Huber should have lost a point for it.
“I would love to see the punch stats in this fight. I bet you it’s two to one in Bryan Colwell’s favour,” Heit goes on to say just after the bout, where Colwell, still visibly upset with the decision, is pulling his gear off while letting expletives fly like his hands in the early rounds.
“I respect Ken as a person and as a fighter,” adds Heit, a mixed martial arts fighter himself and instructor at Island MMA. “I like him. But, fights are fights. You win some, you lose some. Some you think you won, and you didn’t. That’s just how it goes. Anything that’s judged can be difficult.”
Huber, who’s also the current WBC Western Canadian Cruiserweight champ and WBC Canadian Cruiserweight champ, says he wants to turn pro after a national championship fight in Ontario in October.
Huber and Colwell spoke briefly in the fighters’ warm-up area after their bout.
“I told him to go back to the gym,” explains Huber. “Get training. Get working again. Let’s do it again. Let’s have a rubber match. He’s a young, hard-working up and comer. I have a lot of respect for him.”
Still, Huber adds: “I think I’ve definitely proved who’s number one.”
Asked if he had anything to add at the end of a post-fight interview, Huber’s voice cracked.
He thanked his team, sparring partners, friends, family, everybody. And the tears came.
It hit him – he’s still the champ.
