Sam Webb: "I'm in better nick now than I was for the Small fight"
Sam Webb makes the first defence of his British light-middleweight crown at the Troxy in Limehouse this Saturday, more than six months after he took the coveted belt from Anthony Small.
Webb puts the long period between his last fight down to available TV dates, but added it hasn’t been an excuse for him to slack off.
“I’ve had really tough training I enjoy getting fit and am in the gym all the time,” says Sam who combines his boxing career with a day time job as a plasterer beginning his days with a 5.30am run, before heading off to work at 8 am.
“I run between five and six miles a day and go to the gym at 5.30 pm for a three hour session. I don’t drink or smoke, I go to bed early and don’t go out.”
The Swanley champion 16-1 starts as a huge favourite over Leicester banger Martin Concepcion who has seven defeats in 24 bouts and knows a convincing performance is vital before a live Sky TV audience.
Both men are 29 years-old and will each have an idea of their respective strengths as they have sparred together, but it is Webb who has risen to the domestic heights
And Webb puts much of his rise to championship status down to an ‘environment of positive influence and no negativity’ under the tutelage of trainer Alan Smith which is in stark contrast to his amateur days admitting ‘I doubted myself.’
Sam also recalls the days when he first noticed the potential of current WBA light-welterweight champion Amir Khan.
“People don’t know how fast he is,” compliments Webb.” On one ocassion he had watched Khan destroy a German opponent as an amateur and made a bold prediction to his friends saying
“This kid is real hot, go and put a bet on him becoming a world champion.”
But Sam doesn’t think he will be following Khan’s world title footsteps and admitted the ‘British title is my world title’
He has the better all round boxing skills and is also vastly fresher than the Leicester challenger who has been on the end of several heavy defeats and predicts Concepion and his team will be surprised.
“They think I’m slow but I’m 110 percent confident. I’ve had good sparring, I’m in better nick for this than I was for the Small fight. I’ve always been confident apart from my setback.” (referring to his only loss in 2006 against Aleksei Stoda)
All this should be enough to see him outclass Concepcion in an entertaining spectacle but he needs to box smartly and avoid his big punches as Martin is a powerful and exciting come forward fighter.
Despite stopping just four opponents compared to Concepcion’s ten there is a possibility of Webb winning inside the distance through cuts, though a wide-points win is the more likely outcome.
Webb could then exceed his own expectations as he is ranked number one challenger by the EBU for the strap held by Lucas Konecny who destroyed Matthew hall for the vacant title last month after Ryan Rhodes was stripped.
Another option would be to first face light-middleweight Prizefighter winner Prince Arron who has been made his mandatory challenger.
