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Undefeated Canadian super lightweight prospect Eric Basran (8-0, 3 KOs) defeated previously unbeaten Isaiah “Kyree-James” Johnson (11-1, 7 KOs) earlier today by way of a six-round split decision in arguably the Fight of the Night in the preliminary round (16 bouts) of the inaugural Riyadh Season/World Boxing Council (WBC) Boxing Grand Prix in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The 26-year-old Johnson is a Philadelphia southpaw fighter from the United States.
“I just want to thank everyone who has supported me throughout my career,” Basran said after his fight. “A special thanks to my coach, Jon Quinit, and my promotional team, Three Lions Promotions. A special thanks to Turki Al-Sheikh, Mauricio Sulaimán, and the entire WBC staff. I’m in it to win it and I can’t wait for the next round.”
All winners of the 16 preliminary round bouts advance to the quarterfinals (16 fighters, 8 bouts) of the Grand Prix tournament in June. Basran will take on Ukrainian southpaw Danylo Lozan (13-0, 8 KOs), who won a six-round unanimous decision over reigning Eurasian Boxing Parlement Champion Kamronbek Eshmatov (10-2, 7 KOs) to advance. Lozan, 22, captured a gold medal at the European U-23 Championships.
Basran, fighting out of Surrey, British Columbia, as an amateur was a four-time Canadian National Champion, who won the 2019 Canadian Olympic Qualifier, in addition to capturing a bronze medal at the 2019 Commonwealth Games.
The single-elimination tournament is being streamed live exclusively on www.dazn.com/wbc. It started with a total of 128 fighters in four weight classes – featherweight, super lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight – and the first preliminary round concludes this Sunday.
“I gave my word before the tournament started that Basran is going to win the tournament.
Round one is done, and he showed his skill set,” Basran’s promoter Dan Otter (Three Lions Promotions) commented. “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.”
All fighters will be subject to random drug testing in compliance with the WBC’s Clean Boxing Program, as well as Riyadh Season’s commitment to VADA testing.
The opening round of 32 matches had scheduled six-round bouts, which will increase to eight for the final rounds in each division, and participating fighters represent more than 40 countries from around the world.
In addition to the $200,000 winner’s purse, the four divisional winners will receive the Jose Sulaimán Trophy, named after the late WBC President Jose Sulaimán, who first envisioned a prospect-based Boxing Grand Prix more than a decade ago.
There is open scoring after the second and fourth rounds, a buzzer sounds 30 seconds prior to the end of each round, instant replay may be implemented, and no draws are guaranteed.
Unbeaten featherweight prospect Iman Lee (13-0, 8 KOs) won his first fight of the WBC Grand Prix of Boxing tournament on Thursday, impressively outboxing Argentina’s Juan Manuel Albornoz (4-1) over 6 rounds. Scores were 58-56 (2x) and 57-57.
The bout took place at the BLVD City Global Theater in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where 32 featherweights competed in phase 1 of the tournament live on DAZN.
The tourney, a brainchild of the late Jose Sulaiman, kicked off on Thursday with the featherweight division and continues through the weekend with super lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight brackets. The winners in each division will earn the Flame of Hope trophy and significantly raise their profile.
The tournament featured innovative changes, including open scoring after rounds 2 and 4, instant replay, and a new way of scoring that eliminated the possibility of a draw.
While Lee dominated the bout with sharp jabs and tight defense, many were surprised to hear that the judges seemed to favor the more aggressive but less effective Argentine after 2 rounds.
“Honestly, I wasn’t too focused on the open scorecards,” said Lee immediately after the bout. “I primarily focused on improving each round, one at a time until the fight was over.”
Indeed, the 25-year-old Yonkers, NY native and his corner kept cool throughout the contest, despite having a last-minute opponent named when original foe Eduardo Santiago encountered difficulties getting to Riyadh.
“I didn’t really pay too much attention to the opponent change,” said Lee. “I knew at the end of the day we still had to take care of business regardless of who’s in front of us, and that’s why we trained for any style.”
However, the 4-0 Albornoz, who fought his last 2 bouts in South Africa after beginning his career in Argentina, did surprise Lee with his pressure.
“I was a bit surprised because from film and from what we were told, he supposedly tends to move around the ring more,” admitted Lee. “But we made the necessary adjustments and got the win.”
Having won the first round of the tournament, Team Lee now has several weeks to prepare for the next phase, a showdown with Mexico’s Angel Sauceda Hinojosa in June. The 22-year-old Hinojosa improved to 12-0 (5) in phase 1 with a unanimous decision win over Maikel Ordosgoitti of Venezuela.
“I know my potential is way higher than what I showed tonight, so I’m going back to drawing board to put on a great performance in June,” stated Lee. “Overall, it was a great experience, and I’ll feel a lot better come June now that I got my feet wet.”
