On Friday October 28, a twenty-nine year old family man from South Jersey will make his eleventh professional appearance inside a boxing ring.
Ninety-nine times out of one hundred, a fighter who fits above billing would be nothing to write home about. But then again, there is only one Derrick “Take It To The Bank” Webster.
Although he committed to the fight game at a relatively late age – “about twenty-one, twenty-two years old” – the 10-0, 6 KO Webster was exposed to boxing as a little kid.
“Tony Thornton, The Postman, he was from Glassboro [New Jersey] and I would always watch him run and train,” Webster recalled. “The funny thing is, though, as a kid, I didn’t have that love I have now for boxing. Boxing is just something I picked up. In a way, I would say boxing chose me, I guess. When I was a kid I would watch it, but I would kind of stay away by it.”
And since that day just less than ten years ago when boxing became an integral part in a young Derrick Webster’s life, the 6’4” light heavyweight from South Jersey has made the most of every opportunity that has presented itself.
“In amateurs I went 38-2 and won the Golden Gloves about eight times — mostly at the novice level,” Webster remembers. “I had the aspirations of making the Olympic team, but I fell short of that. I broke my hand in one of the tournaments, but there was nothing I can do but let it heal up.”
But even as his Olympic dreams were broken along with the bones in his hand, Webster didn’t get discouraged. Rather, he turned his attention to the professional ranks and set his sights on becoming a world champion; a goal that becomes more realistic each time Webster steps through the ropes.
Like most boxers, Webster’s journey as a professional prizefighter hasn’t come without setbacks, however. Besides the broken hand suffered in his amateurs days, Webster’s biggest roadblock in his career has been his ability to secure opponents.
After turning professional in May 2009, Webster made two more appearances inside the ring that same year. With 2010 set to be his breakout year, Webster was only able to scrap twice, once in January and the other in February.
As Webster’s 2010 rolled on without him stepping into the ring for over a ten month time period, he finally linked up with Central-Jersey based promoter, Nedal Abuhumoud, who heads up Nedal Promotions.
Webster describes how the two linked up. “I went down to Trenton to Mugsy’s Gym and was boxing his fighter’s down there. Mugsy [Episcopo] took a real liking to me and my style and we sat down and talked to Nedal,” he said.
Webster went on, “My trainer [Denny Brown] actually knew Nedal, they already had a relationship from the past and he thought it was a good idea to sit down and talk with him. All of 2010 I was always scheduled to fight, but we had a lot of fighter’s pull out of fights and I didn’t fight at all.”
Since linking up with Nedal, Webster has fought with regularity. Since January, Webster has fought five times and is slated to make his sixth appearance on Friday October 28 at Harrah’s in Chester, Pennsylvania – a outdoors fight that was scheduled to take place last weekend, but was postponed until the 28th due to undesirable weather.
“To sign with Nedal now and to be moving the way I am now, he’s made a tremendous impact on my career and everything he told me he was going to do, he’s doing so far. He’s doing a great job promoting me.”
His high-rate of in-ring activity has been just what the 10-0, 6 KO Webster has needed. “I want to stay as busy as possible. I’m not someone who parties or drinks or anything like that so my body is always in excellent shape. I’m always ready to fight.”
Make no mistake, not all fighter’s are ready to go 24/7. Most boxer’s fight, allow time for rest and relaxation, recuperate, and then get back to the gym. But not Webster. He has a constant and underlying motivation that pushes him to the best he can be, to be prepared to fight at all times.
“My motivation is wanting to provide a life for my family and give them things I didn’t have growing up,” Webster said. “I’ve always just been one of those kids that always wanted to strive to have more, I’m not a complacent person. Even if I were to make a million dollars in a fight, I would even try to push more to make more than that. So the motivation really just comes from me wanted to provide and give my family things that I didn’t have.”
And so far, with Nedal Abuhamoud and Denny Brown’s guidance, Webster is navigating rather easily through the super middleweight and light heavyweight waters on the East Coast.
Webster is an impressive physical specimen – 6’4” southpaw with an 80” reach. He’s lean, but solid – pure muscle.
“I have the total package. You’ll find a lot of times fighter’s have speed but no power or power, but no speed. I got speed and power.”
That speed and power caught the eye of Bernard Hopkin’s strength and conditioning coach, Danny Davis, who thought it a good idea to bring in the undefeated Webster in as a sparring partner of Hopkins’ as the 46 year-old future Hall of Famer prepares for his October 15 Pay-Per-View bout against “Bad” Chad Dawson.
His time inside the ropes with Hopkins will prove to be valuable as he continues his pursuit of a world championship.
When describing why he is so unique, Webster said, “boxing’s a thinking man’s game. On top of speed and power, I can box, brawl. If I get you the right way, my aggressiveness can cause a devastating knockout, which a lot of fighter’s have encountered that so far.”
His polished mixture of the above attributes have carried the Glassboro, New Jersey native to his 10-0, 6 KO record so far, and Webster hopes it will bring him a regional title by the end of 2011 or early 2012.
There’s a humble confidence that Webster exudes – one that almost heirs on the side of cockiness, although not intended that way. He just knows that if you come to see him fight, you’re going to see his efforts, his motivation, his working towards accomplishing his goals all on display, inside the ropes.
“I run into a lot of people that say they don’t watch boxing anymore because they say the Hagler’s are gone and the Sugar Ray Leonard’s are gone. They say boxing’s not exciting anymore. That is something I try to bring everytime I step in the ring — that excitement that everybody says is missing. That will to want to come out and see a fighter. I want people to come and see me not because they know me but because they like what I do inside the ring.”
Webster had trouble securing fights in 2010, but he stayed in shape, always fight-ready. This year, 2011, he linked up with Nedal Promotions, a partnership that seems like the gift that keeps on giving. It’s been fight after fight for Webster. He has been able to showcase his talents with regularity, getting more eyeballs on him, more mouths talking about him. But in many 2011 has just been a set-up year – a primary year. The South Jersey southpaw is setting himself up for something much bigger next year.
It’s for this reason that I’ll go on record: Derrick Webster in 2012.
Kyle Kinder can be reached at KyleKinder1@gmail.com or Twitter.com/KyleKinder
