Troy Laal

= Amateur Career =

Troy Laal (Born June 16 1983 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian boxer. Upon dedicating himself to the sport of boxing the age of 13, Troy settled in at "Savard's Gym" on the east side of Vancouver, and began to make a name for himself in the amateur ranks. After winning the silver medel at the Canadian nationals in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada in 2001, for reasons unknown, he simply walked away from amateur boxing. There have been various rumors surrounding Troy’s sudden departure. One such rumor includes issues stemming from drug use, however, no such problems with drugs or alcohol have ever been recorded. The most likely reason for his exit from the amateur ranks, is thought to have come as a result of an altercation between various members of a boxing gym in a Vancouver suburb, that took place in March, 2002. It is reported that Troy showed up outside of the gym one evening accompanied by 5-10 members of a local Iranian gang from North Vancouver. When the target of their aggression failed to exit the gym, the group then began vandalizing cars in the parking lot. This incident was followed by an official suspension from amateur boxing. The departure from amateur boxing was followed by his professional debut seven months later.

Professional Career

Troy entered the professional ranks on 11/09/2002, with a win over Christian Lopez (Native of Guadalahara, Mexico, fighting out of Othello, Washington) at the “Lucky Eagle Casino” in Rochester, Washington, promoted by hall of fame boxing promoter Bennie Georgino. Following his first professional win, Troy traveled to Japan, were he signed on with former Japanese national welterweight champion and WBA world title challenger Shoji Tsujimoto. Following this, he worked as the sparring partner of former OPBF and WBC feather weight world champion Takashi Koshimoto. Following the summer of 2003, Troy’s professional career was derailed as a result management issues. It is said that Troy was arrested in June, 2002, for the assult and attempted murder of a woman that he was seeing in Osaka, Japan. The charges were later dropped, and it was later found out that the woman had a history of depression and attempted suicide. Never the less, such legal issues and poor public image resulted in the termination of support from his current management, which meant that he was not able to engage in a professional fight under any other management for the duration of his contract (Generally 3 years in Japan). It was during this time that Troy began fighting in unsanctioned club fights that were held by private gyms around Japan. Upon the termination of the 3 year contract, he then traveled back to his native Canada, were he completed his education. On 07/10/2006, Troy won his second (officially recognized) professional bout, in which he defeated former world champion kick boxer Devon Cormac (Brooklyn, New York) in Edmonton, British Columbia, Canada. http://www.kickstartmag.ca/online_content/OC_054.htm

Troy Laal currently lives and trains in Japan were he has been scheduled to participate in a “national tournament”. Troy stated in an interview that he plans to continue training here in Japan. When asked why he had not done more up until now during his career, he replied in perfect Japanese,” youth seems to stop you from understanding what your priorities should be”.

[http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=174670 Troy's professional Record]