Langley’s Alisah McPhee challenged Shelly ‘Machine Gun’ Barnett from Toronto for the Canadian Bantamweight Championship at the Langley Event Centre Friday night (May 25).
The bout was the main event of a stacked card that not only featured the best of local pros but had an amateur undercard that was also stacked.
It was the first boxing show at the Langley Events Centre and the first-ever pro boxing match in Langley Township.
The 34-year-old Barnett won a unanimous decision over McPhee to capture the Canadian Bantamweight Championship as the main event at “Turmoil on 200th” before more than 700 spectators.
The event was presented jointly by Bisla Martial Arts and Langley City Boxing.
“I just came here to win a belt and my dreams came true,” said a beaming Barnett.
The victory – special in itself – had added significance for Barnett.
“When this fight presented itself, it was a dream come true,” she explained. “The fight was on my mom’s birthday – she’s in Heaven – but Vancouver was one of her favourite places and I had never been here before. All the stars just came together.”
Barnett, who turned pro just one year ago, improved to 4-0-1 with the victory.
McPhee saw her record fall to 4-2-1.
The 37-year-old said a cut in the second round was unfortunate timing, but Barnett was a tough opponent and she was looking forward to a rematch.
From the early rounds, Barnett seemed to have the upper hand in the fight, having McPhee on the move over the eight rounds. McPhee did land some shots and have her moments, but not enough to sway the judges.
“I felt strong, I felt very sharp and I felt I was calm enough to use my mind and show exactly what I wanted to show,” Barnett explained.”
The other two professional bouts saw Palvir Atwal win a split decision over Brandon Colantonio and Aman Aujla victorious by first round technical knockout.
Aujla landed a right-hand which sent his opponent crashing to the ground just 1:42 into the bout.
This was his first professional fight.
Aujla didn’t know much about his opponent except that he was a southpaw so when the match began, he was a bit surprised Roberson was using his right hand more.
“It was a surprise to me, but I was able to make the adjustment, saw his left hand was down, faked the right and then landed it clean,” Aujla described.
“You always just want to go in, do your best and if the knockout comes, it comes. Fortunately, today it came,” he added.
Atwal retained his BC Heavyweight Championship belt in his first title defence.
He won despite battling the flu all week and not being able to train as much as he would have liked.
The Surrey fighter said the hometown support was critical, especially in the fifth and final round.
“The crowd motivated me that last round, made me push hard,” he said.
The win improved Atwal’s record to 15-3 overall.
“(Winning) feels good, makes me want to go to the gym and train even harder and do better next time.”
The amateur card featured fighters ready to turn pro.
All three ended in unanimous decisions.
Austin Henry-Maiale defeated Anthony Valera, Manraj Dhanoa topped Ari Ashari and Lev Jackson won over Jacob George.
