Bryan Lua

Just 20 years old, Bryan is a two-year pro. A rising young prospect at 130 pounds, he had a good amateur career at the national level before his debut.

He is co-managed and trained by Robert Garcia, the Boxing Writers Association of America “2012 Trainer of the Year,” and a former IBF junior lightweight world champion.

Bryan stayed active in the ring with five fights in his first 17 months as a pro.

In his last fight on May 26 in Fresno, California, he won by third-round knockout against Francisco Camacho.

Boxingscene.com’s Keith Idec reported [excerpts]: Lightweight prospect Bryan Lua floored Francisco Camacho three times in the third round on his way to stopping him in that round.

The 20-year-old Lua, of Madera, California, upped his record to 5-0 and produced his second knockout.

Lua hurt Camacho with a left hook to the body that produced the first of three knockdowns during the third round.

Camacho made it to his feet, but Lua landed a straight right hand to the body that sent him to the canvas again. A game Camacho got up again, yet he couldn’t keep Lua off of him.

Lua cracked Camacho with a combination that included a left hook and a straight right hand and dropped him again. Their fight was stopped after the third knockdown, at 2:43 of the third round. [End Idec item]

Trainer Robert Garcia said, “I started working with Bryan when he turned pro. I knew who he was in the amateurs because my son, Robert Jr., travels a lot with the amateurs and he kept telling me, ‘Dad, you’ve got to see this kid.’

“He wasn’t a standout amateur or anything like that, but his style – we knew he was going to be a hell of a pro.

“He’s very aggressive, has tremendous heart, and he hits hard. He doesn’t have a knockout yet, but that’s because his opponents have been pretty tough.”

Bryan said, “When I was 16 or 17 years old in the amateurs, Robert Garcia said he was interested in training me, but I was busy with school and stuff. I told him I would keep that in mind, and that I would call him when I was done with school. When I signed with Top Rank, I decided to call Robert and it went pretty well. There’s a good chemistry between me and him.

“I train at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in Riverside. I’ve been sparring Mikey Garcia, Hector Tanajara. I also sparred Brandon Rios and Lindolfo Delgado – he’s a Mexican Olympian. There’s a lot of good sparring at Robert’s gym – we’re always busy.

“I’m a boxer-puncher. If I can box a guy, I’ll box him. But if I know I can take him out, I’ll put pressure. I like to counterpunch, too.

“In the amateurs, my coaches and my dad called me ‘The Lion,’ but I don’t like that nickname.”

AMATEUR, PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Bryan said, “I was born in Indio, California, but when I was a couple of months old my parents moved back to Jiquilpan, Michoacán, Mexico. I lived there until I was around nine years old, in the sixth grade. That’s when we moved to Madera, California. I have an older sister and two younger brothers. My mom and dad work in the fields, but every time I go to Riverside for my training camps, my dad goes with me. He cooks for me and gets my vitamins – everything. My two little brothers box. The 17-year-old is looking to turn pro. His name is Leon Lua. The youngest one is named Rigoberto Lua. My dad never boxed when he was younger, he was just a street fighter.

“When I was in Mexico, I would always get in fights. I was a soccer player, and the older guys would make me and my friends fight. They would say, ‘Whoever wins, we’re going to buy them a soda and some chips.’ I was like, ‘I’ll do it.’ I would fight, and I would win and I enjoyed my chips and soda.

“When we moved to Madera, I started getting picked on because I didn’t know English, and I would get in a lot of fights.

“I was 11 years old when I started boxing. My dad said, ‘You like fighting?’ And I was like, ‘Well, yeah.’ I was going to join karate, but there were no karate gyms near me. But we found a boxing gym, and I started boxing. Boxing just seemed to come naturally to me. There were two kids that were there for like, two years already, and they had a couple of amateur fights. I was there for a week and the trainers had me spar with them. I’m not going to lie – I was like, ‘What? I’m going to spar already?’ So, I went in the ring and, I’m not going to lie – I beat them up pretty bad. From there, we were just like, ‘We’re going to stick with boxing,” and that’s how it started.

“I had like 90-something amateur fights. I only had 12 losses. I fought Shakur Stevenson when I was 14 years old. That was in the Junior World tournament in Reno, Nevada. He beat me by two points, but a lot of people told me that I really won and that’s when my name started getting known. Devin Haney beat me once, that was just a local fight, and I beat him in the Desert Showdown. We fought three times and he beat me twice. I beat Ryan Garcia twice in the amateurs, too. I fought him four times altogether, we’re 2-2.

“I’m naturally right-handed and I fight mostly right-handed, but I will switch. Sometimes it throws my opponents off. It’s unexpected. I’m single.”…

AMATEUR HIGHLIGHTS:

2016 U.S. YOUTH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Reno, Nevada, 132 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in his first fight on 1-6-16 he won a 3-0 decision against Doctress Robinson; in the quarterfinals on 1-7-16 he won a 3-0 decision against Rommel Caballero; in the semifinals on 1-8-16 he won a 3-0 decision against Adan Ochoa; in the finals on 1-9-16 he lost a 3-0 decision against Ryan Garcia…

2015 U.S. YOUTH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Reno, Nevada, 132 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 1-6-15 he won by walkover against Desmond Lucas; in the quarterfinals on 1-7-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Michael Dutchover; in the semifinals on 1-8-15 he lost a 3-0 decision against Devin Haney…

2014 NATIONAL PAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Oxnard, California, 132 pounds/junior division – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 9-29-14 he won a decision against Alejandro Campa; in the semifinals on 10-1-14 he won a decision against Ivan Franco; in the finals on 10-3-14 he won a decision against Edvan Sanchez…

2014 U.S. JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Reno, Nevada, 132 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 1-8-14 he won a 2-1 decision against Brandon Vega; in the semifinals on 1-10-14 he won a 3-0 decision against Andres Borrego; in the finals on 1-11-14 he won a 2-1 decision against Nikita Ababiy…

2013 NATIONAL PAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Oxnard, California, 119 pounds/junior division – GOLD MEDALIST: in the semifinals (his first fight) on 10-2-13 he defeated Duke Ragan; in the finals on 10-4-13 he defeated Ryan Garcia…

2013 U.S. JUNIOR NATIONAL SELECTION – Reno, Nevada, 114 pounds: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 1-8-13 he lost a 17-11 decision against Shakur Stevenson…

STRENGTHS: Has good skills and movement…has good punching power…had a strong amateur background…

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 5 fights…16 total rounds…

AVERAGE LENGTH OF BOUTS: 3.2 rounds…

KNOCKOUT PERCENTAGE: 40 %…

DISTANCE FIGHTS: 4 rounds – 3 (3-0)…