Mikie Webber-Kane was back in the gym this week – with his newly-acquired title belt not far from his side.
The 25-year-old from Great Yarmouth is the proud holder of the Southern Area super-featherweight bling – but don’t expect him to let it all go to his head. Webber-Kane does modesty to perfection – and with a huge dollop of reality.
It’s traditional for title winners to be asked ‘so, what next?’. But Webber-Kane dodges the expected answer with the sort of ease he did with most of opponent Robert Caswell’s punches on Saturday night at York Hall. No big predictions, no calling out – just some common sense.
What happens next will be down to his team – Graham Everett and Tony Norman.
“Obviously I want to push on and start pushing towards bigger things and better things,” said Webber-Kane, who finished his opponent off in the sixth round.
“However, Graham knows the game inside out with his experience and knowledge of the game and his contacts and he'll know what's best for me. My job is just to train hard, turn up, be fit and fight. That is my job - who I fight is down to Graham and Tony, who knows me better than anyone, when they have their conversations about what's around for me. There might be fights I'm offered, but I'm not ready for or they're just not good fights for me and there'll be better options.
“We'll have to see. I'm just going to be training and keep ticking over until I get told who, what, where and when? And then we'll be on it from there.”
Talk of English and British title fights is inevitable, but Webber-Kane knows that even after taking his record to 12 unbeaten, nothing is a given.
“The British title is a beautiful one to have, but it's not one you can just stroll in and win,” he said.
“It's a very, very hard title to pick up and being in the gym with the likes of Liam and Ryan Walsh and hearing the stories of Jon Thaxton as well, it makes you hungry for it and it does make you want it, but I know where I'm at right now.
“I'm a little bit off of there, I believe, not even just ability wise, but experience wise.
“I haven't gone past six rounds yet, and the British is a 12 and if I've never even been 10, what am I going to be like in the 11th and 12th? I believe I get stronger as the fight goes on, but that's just a belief, you don't know until you've done it. So Graham and Tony will know when I'm ready for that. It's a beautiful title, so prestigious in the sport, and one day I would like to pick it up and have it as my own and follow in the footsteps of Liam and Ryan, but I know where I am. I'm very level-headed and grounded. I'm not jumping the gun. I know it's a marathon not a sprint and I will get there eventually - we will just take our time.”
Webber-Kane shares his training between Everett’s Norwich Pro Boxing Centre and the Spartans Boxing Club in Yarmouth, where he knows his achievements can have positive side-effects.
“It’s a motivation for them, something they're excited for and they can think, ‘Mikie’s from the same area as us, he has the same background as us’. I don’t think it is a case of them looking up to me – I just want to be able to help push and motivate them.”
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