19-year-old Surrey boy Eric Basran has been chosen as one of seven boxers chosen to represent Canada at the upcoming 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.
Basran was crowned national champion in the elite-men 56 kg category, after beating Kevin Chauvette and Thomas Bloomenfeld during the national championships in Quebec City.
The vigorous team of Canadian boxers will be led by Olympian Mandy Bujold, who will attend the Commonwealth Games for the second time after winning bronze at Glasgow in 2014. The selected athletes have showcased themselves against world-class boxers in the last few months and Boxing Canada is confident that they will offer great chances to contribute to Canada's medal count.
At the age of 11, Basran started learning boxing as a sport. He soon realized that boxing was his true love. It was at this point that he officially started his journey that would one day lead him towards representing Canada in the sport. When asked what aspect of boxing he finds the most endearing, Basran says that he thrives on the mentally as well as physically challenging nature of boxing.
Up until the beginning of the year, Basran was playing for the Queensborough Boxing Club and represented Team BC. The next step forward was to win a spot in Canada’s national team. He achieved this by defeating his rival from Quebec, in the 56-kg elite male category, at the Canadian Senior Championship in May 2017.
Back in 2015, Basran competed in the Ringside World Championships in Kansas City, Missouri. He was only 16 years old at the time but competed against opponents who were senior to him in both age and experience. Nonetheless, to face an international opponent with a winning track record did not come without pressure. “I was thinking about all the hard work and all the hours I put in, when I walked into the ring,” he recalls.
Jerry Veerasamy, Basran’s coach, has faith in the young boxer's skills but believes that he will have to put in the hard work necessary to beat much more experienced opponents. Basran is cognizant of this and knows that he has to be diligent in his preparation for a fight. This includes not only eating clean but also working on his stamina and working out.
With the support of his coach and parents, and own hardwork, Basran has managed to achieve a prominent spot in the boxing world. Baran’s mother, Vicky, is immensely proud of her son and credits her husband for taking out time all through his childhood to help him train.
Beyond boxing, Basran is a student at Frank Hurt Secondary School in Surrey. Boxing Canada, the national governing body for the sport of boxing in Canada, will put aside one year of education for him. Though the boxing champ states that it is hard to balance time between studies and boxing, he is confident that he will complete his education while maintaining a successful boxing career.
Basran is currently in Montreal training for the upcoming Continental Championships. He is all set to fight in the Northern Alberta Gold Glove Championships. For the future, he has his eyes set on the 2020 Olympics and is racking up international fights on the go in order to achieve his dream.
