Joshuah Lupia can count his recent success on the quality of sparring he has received.
Lupia scored a first round knockout victory over Bartlomiej Wanczyk Sunday night in a welterweight clash at the Rebel Entertainment Center in Toronto, Canada. Lupia, who grew up in Niagara Falls, Canada, improved to 14-0, 12 knockouts.
Marco Contreras, who trains Lupia, has been impressed with the recent development and progression of Lupia.
“He has been progressing and improving with each training camp,” Contreras told The Ring Monday morning. “He is now holding his own against top fighters he has sparred against.”’
Aside from training Lupia, Contreras also trains former WBO world welterweight titleholder Egidijus Kavaliauskas and former WBC world light heavyweight Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
In preparation for the Wanczyk fight, the 26-year-old Lupia sparred against Kavaliasukas and the once-beaten welterweight Vlad Panin. Lupia currently trains in Oxnard, California and resides in nearby Ventura.
In his previous fight on December 10, Lupia stopped Ismael Urieta in the sixth round. Three months prior to the win over Urieta, Lupia knocked out Victor de Lira Quezada in a clash of unbeaten welterweights.
Lupia has stopped his last five opponents and six of his last seven.
Wanczyk, who resides in Nowy Sacz, Poland, falls to 15-3, 7 KOs. In his previous fight on March 22, the 36-year-old Wanczyk lost by unanimous decision to fringe contender Lukasz Wierzbicki.
Hard-hitting light heavyweight Mohamed Zawadi of Barrie, Canada improved to 9-1, 8 KOs, stopping Gi Sung Gwak (5-2, 3 KOs) in the third round.
In a light heavyweight clash between 37-year-old fighters from Toronto, Nick Fantauzzi defeated Mikhail Miller (3-9-2) by majority decision. Fantauzzi improved to 13-1, 5 KOs.
The Lupia-Wanczyk fight was part of a card promoted by Lee Baxter.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at santio89@yahoo.com
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