Introducing: Stephen Webb

Ireland’s newest pro comes from a Belfast boxing dynasty and is looking to continue a proud tradition of fighting Webbs.

St James’s lightweight Stephen Webb recently signed a management deal with Kieran Farrell and the 22-year-old is set to start punching for pay soon.

A confident character with good pedigree, the rangey fighter looks to be a good edition to the scene.

Boxing is in the blood for Webb who explained to Irish-Boxing.com how “my family got me into it. I didn’t start boxing until I was 14 but my daddy boxed, he won the Ulster Seniors and my uncle Jim won gold in the [1994] Commonwealth Games and went professional and won the Irish title.”

“Him and my daddy are still really into the boxing and it’s good to have them there to give me advice. I can go and speak to them, it’s good to have that in your background.”

“I always remember my first fight in the Boy 4 Antrim Novices, I was walking to the ring and could hear people saying ‘that’s Webber’s wee lad, that’s one of the Webbs’. That’s always been there, from the start.”

“It’s good to have that. I like to be under pressure. Any fight I lost, it was against someone I took too lightly.”

“I was never beat in Antrim or Ulster as a kid or at Youth level, I won them multiple times and anytime I went down south I was only beaten by a point by the eventual winner, really. I was always there or abouts, I just never took my chance.”

Perhaps not a fighter who jumps out as being ‘perfect for the pros’, Webb believes he has the right team behind him to ensure success without a vest.

The West Belfast boxer outlined how “I boxed for Holy Trinity with the likes of Caoimhin Hynes, Sean McComb, Conrad Cummings, and even Dee Walsh who is going to be training me.”

“We’ve been mates for a long time. I always remember trying to copy Dee, box the way he boxed, hit and not be hit. It’s good to have someone there as a coach who knows what I want, what I like in boxing.”

“I’m a rangey southpaw myself. I’m very, very tall, around about six foot at lightweight, no-one could ever hit me and I would just keep turning them.”

“I’m going to be training with Dee Walsh here and then for the last few weeks I’m going to go and finish camp in Manchester.”

“I went to Manchester last week and I was training with Kieran who was showing me how to sit down on my punches a bit more and even in that week’s training, I felt myself getting more aggressive. I’ll adapt to it very quickly.”

“I was in Gallagher’s Gym training along with Scotty Cardle and Liam Smith, I even sparred with Anthony Crolla as well. It was brilliant, it shows you where you are, and I held my own.”

The plan for Webb is to quickly build under-the-radar on the Manchester scene before soon returning and getting into big fights in Ireland – indeed the Ulster boxer already has some names in mind.

Webb outlined how “I’ve been inactive for the last two years. I broke my hand two years ago and then dislocated my thumb last year, I’ve had no luck.”

“I’m happy enough to go out and fight four or five fellas that aren’t going to test me too much, just because that’s the way it is. But, I’m from Belfast, the Falls Road, and there are a lot of people around lightweight and light welterweight, I’ll be happy to come back around that time [after 4-5 fights] and fighting for the likes of Celtic and Irish titles.

“I was in Manchester with Kieran for the week, we sat down and spoke about what we wanted. I don’t want to be fighting nobodies and getting to 10-0 because you’re not really 10-0, you’re fighting nobodies. I’ll be happy to jump into all-Irish fights.”

“Dan McShane has moved up to lightweight, you’ve Sean Creagh down South, all those names are there for me, all-Irish fights. I want to do what Tyrone McKenna is doing, making a name for himself, fighting Sean Creagh and Jake Hanney. That’s the sort of road I want to go down as well.”

“I’m looking forward to getting going. There’s talk about me having my debut in June. I’ll be guaranteed to bring 150 to my fights in Belfast, friends, family, the St James’s Swifts football team, it’s a close community and we all support each other.”