Fes Batista, the Huddersfield-born American-based boxer, has won his first professional fight in front of more than 10,000 fans.
The 24-year-old former Moor End High School student, real name Mohammed Faisal, outpointed Lawrence Purifoy in a four-round welterweight bout in Pensacola, Florida.
Batista, brought up in the Beaumont Park area, was fighting on the undercard of a show headlined by former four-weight world champion Roy Jones Jnr, his promoter.
He has agreed a three-year deal with boxing legend Jones after impressing in amateur fights and wants to box in both the USA and the UK as he tries to push his career forward.
Victory over Purifoy came on the 29th birthday of Lady Gaga, the singer whose lyrics Batista says helped him overcome suicidal thoughts after being the victim of racism as a teenager.
He has already made an impact working as part of the World Boxing Council’s anti-bullying programme.
Now Batista, who took up the fight game five years ago and has trained at Floyd Mayweather’s Las Vegas gym, wants to make his mark in the ring.
“I certainly think I can make real progress and my motivation is there to go up the ladder and eventually get a world title,” he said. “I want to show people that you can overcome the kind of bullying I had and become successful.”
