Introducing Kyle Lacanlale

By Mario Ortega Jr. –

Good things come to those who wait, or so they say. Aspiring super bantamweight Kyle Lacanlale is hoping to prove that saying true when he finally steps into the squared circle for the first time as a professional next Saturday, August 31st, in a scheduled four-rounder at the Oakland Marriott City Center in Oakland, California. The bout, with an opponent agreed to, but not yet signed as of press time, will serve as one of the special attractions in support of Amari Jones’ hometown debut against Daniel Echevarria. For Lacanlale, it is an event roughly fourteen-years in the making.

Lacanlale, born in San Mateo, California and residing in nearby San Ramon, first found the sport of boxing at the young age of six-years-old. Like many boys his age, Lacanlale was inexhaustible, which led his parents to steer their young son towards athletics. 

“Originally I played basketball when I was little and I was just a super energetic kid,” explains Lacanlale. “There was a boxing gym down from where I lived, so they wanted me to go and burn that extra energy. I was excelling by the time I was eight, so they wanted me to start competing. I had my first fight a month after I turned eight-years-old and I fell in love with the sport. Since then I have been competing and growing at every level.” 

Lacanlale found boxing at a time when the most popular fighter in the world was a fellow Filipino and the San Francisco Bay Area boasted three incredible representatives at the highest level. Lacanlale became a student of the game at a very young age and took note that men very much like himself were succeeding in the sport he was growing to love. Now that he is turning professional, Lacanlale is ready to carry on the tradition and represent his heritage and region in the example set before. 

“I am Filipino, so I grew up watching Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire. Their exciting styles is something that drew me into the sport. Andre Ward, being local, helped me out a lot in getting into the game as a fighter. He’s dropped a lot of knowledge and still does. So picking things from their styles and adding it into my game, as well as listening to their past experiences, are some things that have really helped me out. Andre Ward, Robert Guerrero, Nonito Donaire, James Page…I grew up on those fighters. Just to have my moment to be able to turn pro and to represent the Bay Area and my culture, it is special to me.” 

Lacanlale, much like Guerrero, Donaire and Ward before him, excelled as an amateur during a long career that he began at a very young age. 

“I won a national title early on when I was really young,” explains Lacanlale. “Then I took a break and once I came back in, I became ranked in the 119-pound division and beat multiple national champions in national tournaments. I think I established myself as one of the top fighters in those divisions.” 

In June of last year, Lacanlale made a second consecutive appearance at the U.S. National Championships in Lubbock, Texas. After scoring a decision win in his first bout, Lacanlale came up short via three-round split decision in the next round two days later. With success in national tournaments, Lacanlale had designs on qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Team, but a training injury scuttled those plans. Soon after, Kyle and his father Lyndon made the decision to shift focus to the paid ranks, first eyeing a potential November 2023 debut. 

“Since last November, we have been trying to get a fight,” explains Lacanlale. “We’ve tried everything, from going to L.A., to going up north, and some things just haven’t worked out. Some fights fell through and some opponents pulled out.I just stay in the gym and stay focused and it just has given me more time to stay sharp. It has just been like one, long camp. I have been having fun, continuing to get sharper.” 

Since the last couple years of his amateur run, Lacanlale has fought out of Benjamin’s Boxing, owned and operated by Ali Benjamin, in his hometown of San Ramon. Over the last few months, Lacanlale has spent time working with former world middleweight champion James Page, who has taken to training out of the Lion’s Den Boxing Gym in nearby Pittsburg, California. 

“[James Page’s] experience from when he was a fighter, he definitely uses that and pushes me,” says Lacanlale. “His work ethic is there and he’s telling me the things he wishes he could have done. So now I am just implementing that and it has worked out well so far. My pops has been training me out of Ali’s gym here in San Ramon and the last three or four months we have been working with James Page. He has been working with my dad and correcting the things we need to correct and I have been making those adjustments. We have seen that my game has been elevating and going where it needs to go.” 

Despite not learning who he would be fighting until about two weeks before the fight, Lacanlale feels well-prepared for whatever style opposes him in his debut. Experience is earned and not learned and luckily for Lacanlale he has many years’ worth of amateur tournament match-ups to draw from. 

“I feel like I have a lot of experience, having fought in the amateurs for so long, so it won’t be too different than being in an amateur tournament, when you don’t know who could be coming up next,” compares Lacanlale. “So I feel like I can make those adjustments pretty quickly. I have been sparing a lot of different looks, so I am prepared for whatever is going to come. I am really training hard so my work is going to show. I have been ready for this since last November. It is just time to go.” 

The chief benefit of Lacanlale’s somewhat delayed debut could be that now all of his Bay Area fans, friends and family will be able to attend and witness his big night in person. With the Oakland Marriott City Center a short 30 minute drive through Crown Canyon Road onto Interstate-880 from Benjamin’s Boxing in San Ramon, expect to hear a raucous cheering section in support of the budding Fil-Am star. 

“We were getting ready to fight in LA and other places and my family was getting ready to fly out and rent out hotels to be able to see my fight,” recalls Lacanlale. “So to have this fight here in Oakland, near home, it is going to be packed-out. My family is so supportive, since I was eight-years-old, so you can expect there to be a lot of people there on August 31st. They can expect to see me show out. I am ready to put on a show for all of them because they have been supporting me for so long. I am ready to make a statement in my professional debut as the start to a long career.” 

Tickets for the event, promoted by Lion’s Den Boxing Promotions and Upper Cut Promotions, are available online at uppercutpro.com 

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected]