Eric Basran advanced to the next round of an single-elimination boxing competition in Saudi Arabia with a six-round split decision over American Isaiah “Kyree-James” Johnson, a previously unbeaten southpaw from Philadelphia.
The Surrey super lightweight was among 32 fighters in 16 opening-round bouts of the inaugural Riyadh Season/World Boxing Council (WBC) Boxing Grand Prix.
With his win Friday (April 18), Basran is now among 16 boxers left standing in the Grand Prix quarter-finals in June, when he'll battle Ukrainian challenger Danylo Lozan, 22.
"I’m in it to win it, and I can’t wait for the next round," Basran said in a news release.
In four weight categories, Boxers from around the world are competing for $200,000 in prize money and Jose Sulaimán Trophy at the Grand Prix, organized to discover and showcase "the next generation of boxing superstars." Boxers can't be older than 26 years of age or have more than 10 professional fights at the time of entry. Fights are streamed live on dazn.com/wbc.
“I gave my word before the tournament started that Basran is going to win the tournament," said his promoter, Dan Otter (Three Lions Promotions).
"Round one is done, and he showed his skill set. He was by far the most skilled boxer in his weight class. Thanks to WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán and Turki Al-Sheikh for making this possible.”
As an amateur, Basran was a four-time Canadian national champ who won the 2019 Canadian Olympic Qualifier and earned a bronze medal at the 2019 Commonwealth Games. A lifelong Surrey resident, he went to school at Frank Hurt Secondary and has been boxing since age 11.
Basran's boxing career has been chronicled by Surrey Now-Leader for a decade, since 2015.
