It’s fight night in Victoria on Saturday and Surrey’s Buneet Bisla is going for his first Canadian title since turning pro.
“It’s big for me. After this I get to set up my future in the sport of boxing,” Bisla told This is BC.
For as long as he can remember contact sports have been his calling – anything from taekwondo to kickboxing.
Bisla and his brother were trained by their father, who also had some professional bouts back in the day.
“I didn’t get to go because they were at the Casino then,” said Bisla. “But I remember staying up all night and waiting for them to get back home to listen for the result.”
Bisla’s rise through the ranks landed him a fight at New York’s Madison Square Garden last year to face the top American prospect in their weight class.
“Walking in and seeing those lights at the theatre, watching these fights, these world title fights on TV and now I’m here,” Bisla said.
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“I did take my first loss but I learned so much from that and I’ll be back at the stage very soon after this fight on Saturday.”
At age 26, he’s still working with his dad at their Surrey gym, and now is also taking time to train kids in the martial arts that helped push him towards new accomplishments.
“I help them in many different ways, whether it’s with going down the wrong path, or health and fitness, or if they’re not having a good environment at home,” Bisla said.
He told Global News he hopes his success will inspire others.
“There hasn’t been a Sikh fighter or in MMA for the youth to look up to. I had no one like that,” Bisla said.
“We’ve already made it to a very high level and this is just the beginning for us. The ultimate goal is obviously to be a world champion, bring some titles back here to Surrey and to Vancouver and obviously try to be the face for these young kids in my community.”