Pro boxer Sarah Pucek has, once again, given her hometown supporters their money’s worth.
For the third time in a year, Pucek headlined a Clash at the Cascades card at Langley’s Coast Hotel ballroom.
And as was the case with the last two outings, Pucek found herself on the winning end of a battle.
Last Friday night, Pucek took a unanimous decision over San Francisco’s Marquita Lee to capture the North American Boxing Federation women’s title in the 130-lb. division.
“The 500 fans were entertained in what turned out to be a history-making fight for an NABF championship,” Pucek’s manager and trainer Dave Allison said.
Pucek’s last outing was Sept. 9 against Lucia Larcinese of Montreal, who she bested via a 10-round split decision.
Prior to that, Pucek had taken a three-year hiatus from the sport due to college commitments and work.
“There was no room in her life at the time for boxing,” Allison said. “This has changed and Pucek has found a new dedication to the sport.
Pucek and Allison have worked together since the amateurs and Allison says Pucek is “a very young 30; she has been a pro for almost 10 years with stops and starts.”
Pucek had 16 amateur bouts over 20 months before turning pro, and had her first three pro matches over a six-month period. She had her comeback fight last April and her bout against Lee for the NABF title was her third match back.
Pucek fights in the featherweight division however Lee’s camp wanted the fight at 130 pounds.
Both women weighed in below 130 pounds – Lee came in at 127 and Pucek at 128.
The match started with Pucek moving a lot using her jab and legs to establish distance.
Pucek’s trainer Dave Allison said the first three rounds were “obviously feeling out rounds” with Pucek setting the pace.
The fourth round saw Pucek pick up the pace and start landing right hands. Lee tried to answer in kind, however was missing the mark.
“Lee was dangerous and proved it in the sixth round coming out with a very impressive round,” Allison reported.
“It was an exciting round that went to Lee.”
Scheduled for eight rounds, the match got better as each round went by.
Pucek started to land combinations and was finishing with some solid left hooks. Both women had good body attacks going down the stretch, Pucek was faster and pulled the trigger better than Lee and this was the difference.
The unanimous decision went to Pucek.
The pro-am show featured another pro bout on the card.
A four round contest featured a match between amateur standout Julian Kim, making his pro debut, and veteran Ted Reno from Calgary.
For Kim it was a perfect pro debut as he was able to win every round, however, “Reno forced Kim enough to make it a valuable fight,” Allison said.
Kim won a unanimous decision.
“The amateur undercard was exciting and not without some controversial decisions that almost goes hand in hand with boxing,” Allison said.
Brandon Kim of Port Kells and Tyson Gembey of Gracie’s were engaged in a competitive match. During an exchange, Kim landed a right hand that put Gembey on the mat.
Kim threw another punch as Gembey was going down, and as a result the referee ruled Kim had landed an illegal blow and disqualified him.
The crowd disagreed with a loud response to the final decision.
In what would be considered an upset, MMA fighter Lupita Godinez won a very close decision against Gina Skopelitis of Harrison’s Boxing in a featherweight contest.
In a very exciting lightweight fight, Cal Bennett of Port Kells won a decision over Elroy Fruto of POWD, a Richmond club.
Then, in another lightweight contest, Arsh Pattar of Ibarra’s Boxing won a decision over Gotham Mohan representing Vancouver-based Sugar Rays.
Finally, Jaskaran Dhaliwal of Mission’s River City Boxing won a decision over Faarhad Sahiadusief of Surrey’s Ibarra’s Boxing.