A couple of Surrey boxers made the most of their time in the ring Friday night (May 25) at Langley Events Centre.
Palvir Atwal won a split decision over Brandon Colantonio, and Aman Aujla won by first-round technical knockout over Kevin Roberson.
The BC Athletic Commission-sanctioned pro bouts were among six held during a “Turmoil on 200th” night of fights.
Atwal retained his BC Heavyweight Championship belt in his first title defence, and improved his record to 15-3 overall.
He won despite battling the flu all week and not being able to train as much as he would have liked.
The Surrey-based 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.
“(Winning) feels good, makes me want to go to the gym and train even harder and do better next time.”
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Meanwhile, in his very first pro fight, Aujla won after landing a big right-hand that sent his opponent crashing to the ground just 1:42 into the bout.
He celebrated by dancing around the ring, to the delight of the crowd.
“I trained hard for the fight. I guess the dance came from all the hard work. It paid off,” he said.
Winning was the goal, and the knockout was the cherry on top.
“You always just want to go in, do your best and if the knockout comes, it comes. Fortunately, today it came,” Aujla added.
More than 700 spectators took in the action at “Turmoil on 200th,” the first boxing event held at Langley Events Centre. The event was presented jointly by Bisla Martial Arts and Langley City Boxing.
In the night’s main event, Toronto’s Shelly “Machine Gun” Barnett, 34, won a unanimous decision over Langley’s Alisah McPhee to capture the Canadian Bantamweight Championship.
“I just came here to win a belt and my dreams came true,” said a beaming 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.”
The card featured three amateur bouts, all sanctioned by Combsport and each ended in unanimous decisions.
Austin Henry-Maiale defeated Anthony Valera, Manraj Dhanoa topped Ari Ashari and Lev Jackson won over Jacob George.