From White Collar to Professional Midlands area Lightweight Champion Kane Baker
Kane Baker moved over to the professional ranks on the 16th July 2016 beating Dan Carr on the undercard of the Craig Cunningham v Jason Welborn show at the Play football arena Birmingham. Kane who never had an amateur career but took up the noble art at the age of 20 using the white collar route. He took the sport up as a hobby as he loved to watch boxing and had 20 fights winning 15 of them and a few titles on the way.
After winning his first professional fight he went on to win his next three fights giving him a great start to his pro career. Baker was then offered a great opportunity which was to fight live on Sky sports against the hot prospect Conner Benn. Baker was stopped by the unbeaten Benn in the second round but earned a good purse and some good exposure on the big stage. This defeat lead to even more exposure going on the road again this time to Belfast SSE arena Northern Ireland. He took on another unbeaten prospect in Gary Cully losing on points in a 4 round match.
Kane then got back to winning ways on a Black Country Boxing home show beating Chris Adaway on points. In Bakers next 4 fights he won two and lost two with both defeats coming on the road and were against unbeaten prospects. Kane was getting a lot of notoriety as a fighter who will fight anyone anywhere, he was given another big opportunity when he took on another unbeaten prospect in Darren Surtees traveling half way a cross the world to Saudi Arabia on the undercard of the George Groves v Calum Smith fight that was live on pay per view. Baker was stopped again in the second round, but made a good account of himself and again got a lot of exposure.
In the final month of 2018 Kane was offered the opportunity to fight for the Vacant Lightweight Midlands area title against the unbeaten fellow Brummie Ishmael Ellis. Baker who was fighting at his proper weight for the first time was still the away boxer on the Tommy Owens Promotions show called “The Thriller at the Villa 2” as it was held a Villa park Birmingham. Ellis was the odds on favourite but a lot of people did not take into account that Baker had been in with some of the top prospects in the country and these experiences could count in his favour. Baker put on a fantastic display out working Ellis over 10 rounds to win his first title on a points decision.
After winning the title Kane told me he never expected to every get a chance like this and was thankful to get it as he had five defeats on his record. When I asked him what was next he told me he is not just a boxing fan with a license he is a champion with a license and wants to fight the best out there.
Dexter’s Thoughts
Kane Baker is one of the success stories that have came out of white collar boxing, with no amateur pedigree behind him he has shown that if you have the will you can find away. He has had 14 fights and yes has lost 5 but all these fights have been away fights against some of the UK’s top unbeaten prospects. Kane has only been stopped twice and went the distance in three of his five defeats against Sanjeev Sahota, Gary Cully and Maxwell who has shared the ring twice and gone the distance with lomachencko in the amatures. Im sure if you ask Kane he would tell you he learnt a lot more from the 5 defeats than his 9 wins. I have got a lot of time for Kane as we both fought on unlicensed/White collar secret. Baker is a likable character and has managed to do an awful lot in a short time in pro boxing, fighting live on TV and traveling a broad to fight. He has great support from his Black Country Boxing team and especially from his wife and biggest fan Coral. I think Kane can go as far as he wants in boxing, as he says he is “Chasing stories no glory”.