KO for Bahdi in pro debut
Lucas Bahdi made a great impression in his pro boxing debut.
Fighting Luis Yan Revilla last Saturday (6-5 with a knockout) in Mexico City, the 25-year-old Niagara Falls native knocked out his Mexican opponent in the second-round of a fight that was scheduled for six rounds.
It was a memorable night for the former three-time Canadian amateur champion.
“There was probably about a 1,000 people there and the Mexican fans they love boxing,” he said. “They really liked me because they like good boxing. They don’t care where you are from.”
The 2014 Ontario Athlete of the Year admitted to a few butterflies before the fight.
“I was a little nervous going in because it was different going out as a professional with smaller gloves.”
In the first round, he was trying to find his range against a Mexican opponent who knew what was coming.
“He had definitely watched a lot of video on me because he was trying to counter my shots and he knew what my favourite punch was.”
Bahdi was hoping to record a first-round knockout, but had to settle with winning the first round handily. In the second round, he started to attack the body and then ended the fight with a huge overhand right to the side of the head that sent Yan Revilla crashing to the floor in the centre of the ring.
“It was probably the hardest punch I have ever landed on somebody,” Bahdi said, with a laugh. “I actually bruised my knuckle on his head and when I landed the shot, I felt the impact through my whole arm and I knew he wasn’t getting up.”
Yan Revilla got off the canvas after 11 or 12 seconds and Bahdi was able to celebrate his first pro knockout and victory.
“It was definitely a good feeling and it got the ball rolling,” he said. “I am going to be fighting every month now.”
Bahdi learned a lot from the fight.
“It was good to get in there against someone who is more experienced as a professional,” he said. “You normally start off with a four-round fight, but it was a six because we are looking to move pretty quickly.”
It didn’t take long for him to get a fight once he decided to abandon his amateur career.
“I set my mind to fighting in May and I didn’t want to waste any time,” he said. “I told myself that as soon as I got a fight lined up, I was going to take it.
“I stayed ready, I was in shape and it came up a week or two before.”
Bahdi had been talking with a couple of promoters and told them he wanted to fight in May, and would take a match no matter where it was or who it was against.
“I had been talking to Tyler Buxton since January and we decided to finalize things before I went to Mexico,” he said. “He offered me the fight and we made a deal.”
That deal is with Bruxton’s United Boxing Promotions (UBP).
“Lucas is Niagara Falls’ most decorated amateur fighter since the days of Mike Strange and Billy Irwin,” UBP president Buxton said, “I’m excited to welcome him to the United Boxing Promotions team.”
Bruxton feels Bahdi’s timing is right.
“Lucas joins the pro ranks at a very exciting time with the opportunity to box in Brampton at the CAA Centre, but also to put Niagara Falls on the map as a boxing destination,” he said, in a press release. “We have a track record of bringing amateur fighters through the pro ranks to world title fights and we expect nothing less than Lucas bringing a world title fight home to Niagara Falls.”
Among UBP fighters are: world super welterweight title challenger Brandon (Bad Boy) Cook (20-2, 13 KOs): North American Boxing Association lightweight champion Josh (Dubs) O’Reilly (15-0, 5 KOs); former International Boxing Federation international heavyweight champion Frankie Rill; and, World Boxing Council international silver lightweight title holder Christian Uruzquieta (18-4-1, 6 KOs).
Bahdi, who is trained by Willis McMananan and Stevie Bailey, likes what UBP can provide him.
“I’ve seen what they can do with their other fighters,” he said. “They move their other fighters pretty well and that is what caught my eye. And he is having four to six shows in Brampton and we are going to have a couple of show a year in Niagara Falls.
“He is able to get me the number of fights I am looking for.”
That number is a lot.
“A year from now, I want to be 10-0 with 10 knockouts,” said the owner of Olympia Motors on Montrose Road in Niagara Falls.
