The champ's eyes came back changed.
Before his rematch with the top, unbeaten, up-and-coming contender Samuel “The King” Moses on Nov. 6, Ken “Heavy Hands” Huber was pacing menacingly around the red corner room inside Langley’s Coast Convention Centre, eyes like concentrated laser beams of violent intensity, hellbent on redeeming a lopsided loss one month ago to a fighter nine years his junior.
Less than an hour later, after suffering another four-round unanimous decision loss to Moses, Huber, a Kamloops-based amateur boxer by way of 100 Mile House, sat quiet and despondent in the corner of that same room, applying ice and a cold compress to his battered mug, 32-years-old, his eyes soft and wide now staring far off into the distance somewhere, his mind grappling with the big question: What do I do now?
He had high, confident hopes, but last Friday night was not Huber's night, as the British Columbia Combsport champion at heavyweight and cruiserweight lost a second time to Moses, a slick and strong 23-year-old Vancouver boxer, who's now 8-0, who was born in the Ivory Coast and who recently became a citizen of Canada after immigrating here at age 11.
Huber, whose record fell to 28-7, felt he was stretching himself thin after the defeat in The Clash at the Cascades main event, the last of eight bouts that night for 2015 B.C. Golden Gloves titles. Huber, who grew up in Forest Grove, runs the Kamloops Boxing Academy; he's basically coaching himself; he's a dad; he's a full time mechanic. Can he continue to be a fighter too? Can he go pro, as was the plan, after this fight?
“I know it's decision-making time,” Huber says. “Either I commit to this 100 per cent and I get the coaching and attention I need to pursue this at this level. Or I back right out of it and pursue coaching and running the gym. I still haven't quite made that decision. I'm certainly leaning more to making a five year commitment and going down to the Coast and chasing the dream. I've come this far, and I'd hate to turn around and walk away.”
Round 1 in Langley went to Huber. He got to Moses first with a stiff jab and hit him with big right hands and left hooks and Moses staggered and covered up, absorbing the punishment. Someone in Huber's corner shouted, “This one's already in the bag,” and it almost looked that way. But Moses finished the round with a flurry, and for the next three rounds got his punches off first and landed the harder punches more. Huber continued to come forward, but it was Moses' fight.
Huber's titles weren't on the line, so he technically remains the champion. But it was pretty clear inside Moses' room that “The King”, while modest and grateful, considered himself the true B.C. champion.
“Huber is one hell of a competitor,” Moses says. “I take nothing away from him. This was only my eighth fight. I just want to keep going. Huber, I want to say thank you to him for giving me the opportunity to fight him. I think not a lot of people would do that.”
Huber thinks he was a little overconfident after that first round, and was caught looking for a knockout.
“Hats off to [Moses]. He got stronger has the fight went on and he started to see the openings. I was getting sloppy. I was just head-hunting, and he was taking advantage of that.”
“The more I think about it,” Huber adds a few days after the fight. “[Moses] is me 10 years ago. He's bursting onto the scene here and he's starting to tear it up. He's a good boxer.”
Huber says within the next few weeks he'll make a decision about his future in the sport.
“I don't see myself walking away. But I know making a commitment like that is huge. I'm talking about uprooting my whole life and chasing a dream, which sounds great on paper, but it's a huge commitment for a 32-year-old man with a lot of responsibilities.”