Friday’s heavyweight Clash @ the Cascades 51 showdown between Palvir Atwal and Jay Byard ended with a new B.C. champion crowned.
Atwal, of Bisla Boxing, took the win but not before going five tough rounds.
The main event presented a heavyweight showdown with top ranked heavies Palvir Atwal and Jay Byard fighting for the second time. Both Atwal and Byard fought a tough see saw battle last January and the decision was split. Add to the close fight was the fact a point was taken from Atwal in the final round. In January Byard was awarded the decision.
This night a B.C. title was on the line and there would be an extra round to decide the night.
“Atwal was very poised and came in at a very trim 203 lb. Byard was 216lb., four pounds less than the last outing, although trimmer he seemed a little flat and boxed in spurts,” said organizer Dave Alison, of Langley City Boxing. “Atwal fought a solid fight with a consistent flow in his process. Atwal also had a very sound body attack that took the steam out of Byard.”
In the semi main event (lightweight), former Canadian Featherweight Champion Lev Jackson was back in the ring after a layoff of a couple of years. He was facing Elroy Fruto of POWD a Richmond Club, Fruto just won the City Title and is the up and coming guy in the division.
“The fight did not disappoint,” Alison noted. Jackson clearly won the first round and as the fight progressed it started to even out. The two exchanged combinations and in the end of a close fight the decision was awarded to Jackson.”
In a cruiser-weight fight Mike Wells of Kamloops took on Harkereet Nijjar of Bisla Boxing. The fight was one sided not due to a bad performance by Wells, it was simply an outstanding performance by Nijjar, Alison explained. The Kamloops corner wisely stopped the contest late in the second round, the 18-year-old Nijjar was outstanding.
Lightweight Jacob George of N Burnaby won a tough decision over POWD’s Herman Chuak. Robin Benipal of Bisla Boxing and Mateo Rawlings of Kamloops were in a spirited bout won by Benipal.
Riley Grey of Gracies won by stoppage over Kenny Nghlam of Langley. Both were fighting for the first time. Roland Jin of N Burnaby won a close decision over Adrian Santos of Langley.
And in this corner…
Langley City Boxing and Bisla Boxing will host a Pro-am event May 25 at the Langley Events Centre.
On offer will be four pro fights and six amateur contests headlined by Sarah Pucek who will defend her Canadian and Commonwealth Featherweight Championships.
Pucek is ranked #7 in the world by the WBC and will face Olivia Gerula a former WBC World Champion and top 10 boxer.
“The Pucek-Gerula fight has been in the works for a year and it is the fight we have wanted,” said Allison.
He’s Pucek’s long time trainer and manager, noting the Gerula match has been a year in the works.
“The fight was on hold due to scheduling issues and it looked like we were not going to be able to put this bout together,” he commented.
Gerula is a veteran of 40 pro fights and has fought in 11 world title fights. Pucek has only 11 pro fights in all.
“We know we are the underdog in this fight, this is not what is normally done in boxing. When fighters fight at home, they are normally the favourite,” Alison noted.
The Clash @ The Center will also feature Middleweight Julian Kim of Port Kells and the pro debut of Heavyweight Aman Aujla of Bisla Boxing. Western Canadian Champion Alisah McPhee will be on the card.