A handful of Abbotsford combat sports athletes are set to return to the ring later this month.
It kicks off with Boxing British Columbia’s 2022 Provincial Championships, which occurs from Feb. 11 to 13 at Griffins Boxing and Fitness in North Vancouver.
Mamba Boxing-trained Abbotsford fighters Simon Chahal, Pavleen Gosal and Calib Masih will all be competing at the event.
Local fight fans may remember Chahal from his split-decision victory over Terrace’s Chris Copper at Mamba Fight Night 4. He also lost via decision to Dominick Yueng at Mamba Fight Night 8. Gosal is a 15-year-old from Rick Hansen Secondary School and she will be competing for the first time at provincials. Masih has previously competed in Vancouver.
Abbotsford athletes Ashley Watkins and Valentyn Bulat are both on the card competing in kickboxing for the All Martial Arts 37 event at Fraserview Hall in Vancouver on Feb. 11.
Watkins most recently competed at Mamba Fight Night 6 when she lost to Coquitlam’s Tara Rae. She was scheduled to fight at Mamba Fight Night 9 last year, but her opponent was unable to compete.
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Bulat, a 25-year-old originally from the Ukraine, has competed in the sport in Europe and has been training in Abbotsford for several years.
Abbotsford’s Kultar “Black Mamba” Gill also heads to Singapore to be in the corner for ONE Championship’s Bibiano Fernandes as he defends that promotion’s bantamweight title against John Lineker.
The event, entitled Bad Blood, occurs on Feb. 11. Fernandes has spent time training in Abbotsford prior to the fight. The match was scheduled to occur in December, but was pushed to Feb. 11. Fernandes has won his last two fights in ONE, and has a career pro record of 24-4.