A Surrey banquet hall was packed for the 10th Bisla Fight Night event Friday (May 12).
Five amateur fights were followed by three professional bouts at Taj Park Convention Centre in Newton, where cars filled the parking lot and lined 132 Street. Tickets sold for $50 at the door of the 600-capacity venue, and kids under 10 were admitted free.
“It was a great night, and we had more people show up than expected, so we had our hands full,” said event promoter Inder Bisla, who runs Bisla Martial Arts in Newton and watched his sons win their respective fights.
All five boxers representing the Bisla gym were winners Friday, including Jiang Tang, Ranveer Singh, Gavin Bisla, Harkerat Nijjar and Buneet Bisla.
In the night’s final pro fight, Buneet beat Mexico’s Fernando Galvan by majority decision. The bout was long-anticipated, as Bisla’s last fight on home turf was in 2017, and his record was 6-0 (with three KOs) heading into the ring against Galvan.
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Very full house at Bisla Fight Night 10 at Taj Park Convention Centre in #SurreyBC. @BislaMartialArt #boxing pic.twitter.com/AWjUYWoFsb
— Tom Zillich (@TomZillich) May 13, 2023
5th and final amateur bout of the night: Erik Zienowicz (Calgary) vs Harkerat Nijjar (Bisla Boxing) at Bisla Fight Night 10. Surrey’s Nijjar wins unanimous decision. #SurreyBC @SurreyNowLeader #boxing pic.twitter.com/U0PqkTyWh1
— Tom Zillich (@TomZillich) May 13, 2023
Friday’s pro/am event was sanctioned by both BC Athletic Commission and Boxing BC Association, and Bisla Fight Night 11 is planned for a night later this year, according to Bisla.
He trains his sons Buneet, 25, and Gavin, 22.
“They’ve been training since age four or five,” Inder recalled. “We started Bisla Martial Arts in 2009 and since then they’ve been strictly training with me. I’ve been involved in the fight game since I was 13 and competed in martial arts and boxing.
“They’re moving in the right direction so we’ll keep pushing them as long as they want to pursue it.”
Surrey’s Nijjar won his fight by unanimous decision over Calgary’s Erik Zienowicz.
“He (Nijjar) is a provincial champ and silver-medalist at nationals,” Inder noted. “He’s looking to pursue Olympics, Pan-Am Games, and go that way.”
The gym operator says boxing is becoming more popular in Surrey, and Friday’s large crowd indicated that.
“We’re doing pro fights because there weren’t enough of those to move Buneet in the right direction, so we’re trying to hold those fights here,” Inder explained.
“The next one will be in September back at Taj Park,” he added. “We’ve done the fights at other venues here, but that one works for the parking and being in a building by itself. We’ve done a couple in Bollywood Banquet Hall but it’s hard to get parking there and bring the ring up to the second floor, all that. It’s a little easier getting in and out of Taj Park (Convention Centre).”
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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