Ricardo Lucio Galvan has spent the greater part of a year waking up at 3 a.m. to begin his morning conditioning run at the hills by Pyramid Way in Sparks, NV.
As one of the most decorated amateur fighters in Reno, Galvan is primed to make his impact in the professional ranks.
This Friday, Lucio Galvan will fight in his first professional bout against Benji Amezquita out of Portland, Oregon.
The fight will take place in the Atlantis Resorts and Casino with the first bell starting at 7 p.m. Lucio Galvan’s fight against Amezquita will be one of six fights on the card for the evening.
For Lucio Galvan, the fight is something that he has dreamed about for years. He began his fighting career at the local Boys and Girls Club boxing gym and cannot contain his excitement for finally reaching the professional ranks.
“I was telling some other guys a month ago, I was like ‘Wow, I’ve still got a month to go’ and now it’s fight week and I’m just more than excited,” Lucio Galvan said. “I’m just ready to put on a show.”
While he has been one of the more decorated amateur fighters in the past few years, Lucio Galvan has had trouble with finding a promoter that will take him under the label. Finally, after months of searching, Lucio Galvan has found a promoter in Terry Lane of Let’s Get It On Promotions to take a chance and allow him to showcase his skills.
It’s been my dream, ten years,” Lucio Galvan said. “After so many “no’s”, it’s motivating and I’m definitely hungry for this win.
Lucio Galvan is a lightning-quick featherweight that has great hand speed to compliment his precise footwork.
Over the past three months, he has worked under the direction of esteemed boxing coach, Robert Stovall. When he first met Lucio Galvan, he immediately saw the potential that he had and volunteered to help train him for the upcoming fight.
“He’s a talented boxer,” Stovall said. “He improves on his conditioning and his work and all that. There’s not a whole lot that he’s going to learn in the beginning. But you learn and learn and learn and I believe he’s ready to rock and roll.”
Stovall is one of the coaches of the University of Nevada men’s boxing team and was eager to train the young boxer. Over the past three months, the two have been working on improving his boxing technique as well as his conditioning.
“He’s ready to turn pro,” Stovall said. “He’s training very well. We work well together but the most important part is that he wants this fight. A lot of people want to box. A lot of people want to play baseball. A lot of people want to play tennis. Not only does he wants to box but he works for it.”
Lucio Galvan prides himself on being one of the hardest workers in the amateur ranks. In addition to waking up and running the hills at Pyramid Way, he also trains and spars in the afternoon following a full day of business classes.
Lucio Galvan, who is also a Dreamer, aspires to be the first in his family to graduate from college. Currently, he is a full-time student and a sophomore at the University of Nevada, Reno, and is pursuing a general degree in business. In the future, he wants to utilize his business degree in order to build his own boxing promoting brand.
However, at the moment, all of his focus is on preparing to beat Amezquita this Friday. After months of sparring with the club members at the UNR Boxing Gym, he is ready to take on the challenge of turning pro.
“He’s done well,” Stovall said. “If he does everything that he’s supposed to do on Friday, there’s no doubt in my mind he’ll stop the fight. It will not go four rounds.”
