Wednesday night was supposed to mark the return of undefeated super middleweight Derrick “Take it to the Bank” Webster (14-0, 7 KOs) at the Sands Casino in Pennsylvania, but it turned out to be much like the rest of a frustrating 2013.
After going through numerous opponents, a trip home from a Las Vegas training camp with former WBC and IBO Light Heavyweight Champion Jean Pascal turned out to be all for naught, with Webster once again having no fighter sign on the dotted line to face him.
“Fighters out there don’t want to get in the ring with a southpaw, but it shouldn’t even be about that,” the 6-foot-4 Webster said as he was headed into the gym for a session with head trainer Denny Brown.
“Fighters should want to fight someone who is going to push them to their limits. That’s what this boxing game should be all about. My height shouldn’t matter. My arm length shouldn’t matter. If we’re fighters, we’re fighters. I think that’s a big part of the reason why people today say boxing isn’t what it used to be, because everybody is so used to being babysat.”
Due to repeated issues finding someone who would agree to step into the ring with him throughout the year, Webster only fought once in 2013 when he won a decision victory over the highly underrated Darnell Boone. In 44 professional fights, Boone has faced just seven total fighters who had three or more losses, standing as the first man to drop number two pound-for-pound fighter Andre Ward and the only man to defeat current WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Adonis Stevenson.
Despite a win over the likes of Boone matched with his perfect undefeated record, Webster still does not get the type of respect from the boxing community that he is due. However, he is undoubtedly on the radar of some of the best fighters in the game, already having participated in 10 championship camps with fighters such as Pascal, Ward, Roy Jones Jr., Bernard Hopkins, Sergey Kovalev and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
“Whenever these world champions are matched with a southpaw, I’m the first person they call.
“You can’t think about southpaws without thinking about Derrick Webster. Whether it’s locally, regionally, nationally or worldwide, you’re thinking about Derrick Webster when you’re thinking about southpaws. Period. And there’s a reason for that.
“When you have a southpaw who has everything going for him, what do you do with that? You can study a basic southpaw, but it’s different when you have somebody in front of you who has speed. Who will crack you back. Who can fight on the outside, who can fight on the inside. Who has feet movement.
“How do you prepare for the total package? There’s no way that you can. That’s why I’m the most feared southpaw. That’s why I’m the best southpaw. That’s still not a reason to duck me, though. At some point, you’re going to have to fight me.”
“Promoters out there want fighters who can put people in the seats.
“When you come to my fights, you see nothing but standing room. When I’m out attending fights, I see a whole lot of sitting room. Let me repeat. When you come to my fights, there’s nothing but standing room. Half of these promoters are bigger than their own fighters, making more noise than their own fighters. That’s because they’re signing the wrong people.”
Webster will next head out to Big Bear, California, to rejoin the Pascal camp for his upcoming January fight with Lucian Bute. Former world titleholders Jones Jr. and Sugar Shane Mosley are among the other fighters who will be there once the New Jersey native arrives. When he gets back to the Garden State, Webster has a few promotional deals on the table that he and his team are pondering, and from there the unbeaten southpaw looks forward to hitting the ground running in 2014.
