Month: August 2021

Biloxi, MS – Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), The World’s Fastest Growing Sport, has announced a stacked undercard for thisFriday’s Night’s, August 20, BKFC-20 event from the Mississippi Coast Coliseumand broadcast live on the BKFC TV App in addition to globally on FITE.TV (8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT)

 

Remaining tickets starting at $55 are now on-sale through Ticketmaster HERE and will be available at the venue’s box office the night of the event.  The Mississippi Coast Coliseum is located at 2350 Beach Blvd, Biloxi, MS 39531. Doors will open on the night of the event at 6:00 p.m.local time with the first bell at 7:00 p.m. local time. 

 

BKFC-20 is headlined by the highly anticipated rematch between former BKFC world champion ‘Brutal’ Johnny Bedford, (5-1-0, 3 KOs), of Colleyville, TX and Reggie Barnett, (6-1-0, 2 KOs), of Virginia Beach, VA competing for the vacant BKFC Bantamweight World Championship. 

 

Co-featured at BKFC-20, hometown favorite and former UFC standout, Alan ‘The Talent’ Belcher will make his BKFC debut in a middleweight fight against MMA veteran Tony ‘Kryptonite’ Lopez, of Yucaipa, CA. In a special attraction heavyweight bout, popular Quentin ‘The Hero’ Henry, (2-1-0, 1 KO), of West Monroe, LA will face Jason ‘J Hook’em’ Fish, (2-0, 2 KOs), of Saginaw, MI. 

 

Headlining the undercard in the heavyweight division, Dillon ‘Bad Boy’ Cleckler, (2-0, 2KOs), of Pensacola, FL battles BKFC debuting Justin Thornton of Natchez, MS. Cleckler returns to action following a first-round knockout of Chris Jensen on February 5, 2021 at KnuckleMania. 

 

Also, in the heavyweight division, popular fan favorite Bobo O’Bannon, (2-1, 2 KOs), clashes with Lewis ‘The Beast’ Rumsey, (1-0, 1KO), of Williamsport, PA. O’Bannon hits the squared circle following a sensational victory over Zachary Calmusat BKFC-17 in one of combat sports’ most exciting fights of the year. Rumsey comes off a sensational first-round victory over Adrian Miles at BKFC-15. 

 

Competing in the 165lb. division, Mississippi native, Harris ‘Sandman’ Stephenson, (3-0, 2KOs), returns to BKFC facing off against Melvin ‘The Young Assassin’ Guillard, (0-2), of Denver, CO. At BKFC-15, Stephenson knocked out Drew Lipton in the first round. 

 

In the lightweight division, Elvin ‘El Bandido’ Brito, (3-2, 1KOs), clashes with BKFC debuting Julio Garciaof Mount Vernon, WA. At BKFC-16, Brito won a unanimous decision in an action-packed fight over Brad Kelly. 

 

Fighting in the 165lb. division, Mississippi’s Kaleb ‘Lionheart’ Harris, (3-3, 3KOs), returns against BKFC debuting, long-time professional boxer Derrick ‘Superman’ Findley, of Merrillville, IN. Fighting at BKFC-16, Harris scored a first-round knockout over Noah Cutter. A 16-year boxing veteran with a career filled with numerous upsets, Findley hits the BKFC stage for the first time after impressing at tryouts this past January. 

 

In the 185lb. division, Scott ‘The Irish Spartan’ O’Shaughnessy, (1-0, 1KOs), of Slidell, Louisiana, battles BKFC debuting David Simpson of Virginia. At BKFC-16, O’Shaughnessy quickly impressed with a first-round knockout of Melvin Guillard. 

 

Competing in the 155lb. division, Adam Pellerano, (2-1, 1 KO), clashes with John ‘The Florida Keys Kid’ Chalbeck, (1-0, 1KO), of Howell, MI. In his last fight at BKFC-15, Pellerano won a unanimous decision over Rusty Crowder while Chalbeck scored a third-round stoppage of Greg Bono at KnuckleMania. 

 

Battling in the 185lb. division, Louisiana’s Ryan Jones, (1-1, 1 KO), challenges Kaine Tomlinson Sr., (0-2), of Roanoke, VA. 

 

Opening the evening in the 155lb. division, Tennessee’s Bobby Taylor, (2-0, 1KO), faces Ronnie ‘Bam Bam’ Rogers, (1-0, 1KO), of Anderson, South Carolina. 

 

“Catch All Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship Action at BKFC.com”

“I’m facing a tough Mexican fighter, but I’ll beat her at her own game!” WBC and WBO Featherweight World Champion Amanda Serrano Defends Her Titles Against Super Bantamweight ChampionYamileth Mercado Sunday, August 29 in Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley SHOWTIME PPV^® Co-Feature.

Photo credits: Ed Diller

NEW YORK – Puerto Rican star and unified WBC/WBO Featherweight World Champion Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano plans to take full advantage of her opportunity on the SHOWTIME PPV event headlined by Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley when she faces super bantamweight world champion Yamileth Mercado on Sunday, August 29 from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. “It means a lot to women’s boxing for me to be in this position to perform on this stage,” said Serrano. “We deserve to be in the spotlight. I’ll perform like I always do and represent for women’s boxing the best way I know how. I’m very excited that they chose me for this event.” In an event headlined by the renowned content creator and pro boxer Paul, who will be taking on his toughest test to date in the ring against the former UFC champion Woodley, Serrano knows that her style will help her gain fans on this big platform. “Expect this to be a war, because I always bring the fireworks,” said Serrano. “I have a fan-friendly style and I’m going out there to finish my opponent. That’s what the fans want to see. “Don’t blink during this one, because even though she’s a tough fighter with a lot of heart, this could be a short fight. I give her a lot of credit for accepting this fight right away. I know that I’m facing a tough Mexican fighter, but I’ll beat her at her own game!” Already the most-decorated fighter in women’s boxing, having won world titles at every weight class from 115 to 140 pounds, the Brooklyn-based fighter currently has her sights set on becoming undisputed at featherweight, which means eventually luring the other 126-pound titlists into the ring with her. “If Erica Cruz and Sarah Mahfood want to be considered the best, they have to face me,” said Serrano. “Each of them was offered the biggest purse of their career to face me on August 29, and they turned it down. I want to be undisputed in this division, but they refuse to take any chances. All I can do right now is train to be at my best and make another statement against Mercado.” Throughout her training for this fight, Serrano has had the opportunity to train side-by-side with the event’s headliner in Paul. While she sees Paul doing what is necessary to reach his ultimate dreams, she too is intrigued by his matchup against the very tough Woodley on August 29. “Jake is an up-and-coming fighter who’s taking all the right steps,” said Serrano. “He’s learning on the job and he’s shown that he’s a very hard worker. He’s got a positive team around him and I’m excited to see how he fights Tyron Woodley. Woodley is a great fighter and I’m looking forward to seeing how that matchup plays out.” Tickets starting at $45 are still available via RocketMortgageFieldHouse.com. The event is co-produced by SHOWTIME PPV and Most Valuable Promotions and promoted by Tony and Bryce Holden of Holden Productions. The pay-per-view telecast is produced and distributed by SHOWTIME PPV. Barstool Sportsbook is the official sports betting partner for the event and will be incorporated in a unique, fully integrated brand activation that is to be announced in more detail.

Photo credits: Amanda Westcott, Triller – Ed Diller DBE – Michelle Ju

New York, NY – Tuesday Night at Madison Square Garden, Triller Fight Club presented ‘TrillerVerz’. Featuring the first ever live Verzuz Rap Battle betweenTHE LOX and DIPSETcombined with an outstanding night of professional boxing in front of a sold-out New York City crowd. The highly anticipated rap battle lived up to its billing as the East Coast legends entertained for almost two hours at the event broadcast live internationally on FITE.TV and Triller.co.

Prior to the Verzuz Rap Battle and in the main event of the boxing card, World Ranked Heavyweight Michael ‘The Bounty’ Hunter II, (20-1-1, 14 KOs), knocked out Mike Wilson, (21-2, 10 KOs), in the fourth round (2:49) of their scheduled ten-round bout. Competing in a WBA Heavyweight World Title Eliminator, Hunter looked sharp from the outset displaying his full arsenal of power shots to the head and body of the valiant Wilson.

Hunter badly hurt Wilson in the fourth stanza prior to landing a sensational right hand to the jaw dropping the Oregonian hard to the canvas. Although rising to beat the count, referee Ricky Gonzalez called a halt to the action at the 2:49 mark of the round.

Co-featured in a ten-round welterweight clash, ‘The Fighting Pride of Huntington, NY’ Chris Algieri, (25-3, 9 KOs), made his triumphant return to the ring with a dominant ten-round decision victory over veteran southpaw Mikkel LesPierre, (22-3-1, 10 KOs), by scores of 100-90 (twice) and 99-91.

Displaying his full arsenal of world class skills throughout the fight, including blistering shots to the body, the former world champion Algieri left no doubt he could compete at the top levels of the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions after a two-year layoff.

Competing for the vacant IBF-USBA Welterweight Title, Brooklyn’s Ivan Golub, (20-1, 15 KOs), won a ten-round unanimous decision over Eric Walker, (20-4, 9 KOs). Dropping Walker in the fifth and ninth rounds, the more active Golub was victorious by scores of 98-90, 97-91 and 96-92. Golub has now won seven fights in a row dating back to June 2017.

Top light heavyweight contender ‘Irish’ Joe Ward, (4-1, 2 KOs), continued to impress with a dominant six-round decision over previously unbeaten Tory Williams, (5-1-1, 4 KOs). Scores were 60-54 from all three judges. In front of a large crowd of cheering faithful, Ward used a consistent body attack to break down Williams despite suffering a cut from an accidental headbutt in the fifth round.

Junior welterweight prospect Aaron Aponte, making his Madison Square Garden debut, improved to 4-0 as the 20-year-old Floridian stopped Gerardo Gonzalez, (2-1-0, 1 KOs) in the second round. Aponte impressed the New York City faithful with as he dropped Gonzalez three times enroute to the stoppage by referee Sparkle Lee at :30 mark.

Highly decorated amateur Christina Cruz made her long-awaited pro debut in the flyweight division winning a spirited four-round decision over Indeya Smith, (1-3-1, 1 KO), of Dallas, TX. The New York City native Cruz was victorious by majority decision scores of 40-36, 39-37 and 38-38. 

 

Undefeated light-heavyweight prospect Matthew Tinker, (7-0, 6 KOs), of Yorkshire, UK stopped Utica, New York’s Michael Rycraft, (4-2-1, 3 KOs) by technical knockout. Following two rounds of one-way traffic from Tinker, Rycraft’s corner stopped the bout before the third stanza started. 

 

Fighting in the heavyweight division, Brooklyn’s Robert Sabbagh improved to 3-0 with a four-round unanimous decision over Cleveland Billingsley III, (3-6, 3 KOs), of Chattanooga, TN. Scores for the impressive victory over the valiant Billingsley were 40-36 twice and 39-37.

Opening the show in a tremendous battle of undefeated super welterweight prospects, Guido Schramm, (12-0-1, 8 KOs), of Los Angeles, CA won a six-round unanimous decision over Nikoloz Sekhniashvili, (7-1, 5 KOs), of Gori, Georgia. Scores for the fight which featured excellent two-way action throughout were 59-55, 58-56 and 58-55 for Schramm as both combatants raised their stock.

New NBA Continental Junior Welterweight Champion RayJay Bermudez
(pictures by Emily Harney / Fightography)

DEDHAM, Mass. – Last night, professional boxing returned to Massachusetts for the first time in 1 ½ years, due to pandemic restrictions, as Vertex Promotions presented it first show, “Fight Night on the Charles at Moseley’s,” at Moseley’s On The Charles in Dedham, Massachusetts.

“Fight Night on the Charles at Moseley’s” also marked the initial pro boxing event ever held in Dedham, the town located on Boston’s southwest border that was settled in 1635. Vertex Promotions’ first show was a sellout, in fact, people were turned away at the door.

“I thought we’d do very well because I know Ryan Roach, and he refuses to fail,” an ecstatic Vertez Promotions president Dave Clark commented about his company’s first promoted event. “I was a little bit surprised how well everything went. We have a really good team (Clark, Roach and Mark Porter). Ryan is a manager, but he really helped us out a lot with his experience. Everybody was happy, even the fighters who didn’t win. They all said they want to work with us again. They loved it in Boston and some of them had never been there before.

“I won’t lie, though, it our first experience and I was stressed the last month, but we’re all very happy now. The crowd was awesome. I want to thank the fans, our staff, and especially the fighters. We couldn’t have done it without all of them. We’ll enjoy this for a little while and then keep things going. We’re steamrolling now and we want to keep those kids active.”

Undefeated junior welterweight Ray Jay “The Destroyer” Bermudez (13-0, 10 KOs) lived up to his nickname in the main event, stopping an overmatched Bergman “The Snake” Aguilar (15-9-1, 5 KOs) in round two to capture the vacant NBA Continental crown.

Bermudez (pictured above on left), fighting out of Troy, New York, dropped Aguilar, the former WBA FEDALATIN super featherweight champion, in the second round with an overhand right. Three left hooks to the body put Aguilar on the canvas again, and the end came moments later when Bermudez decked his Nicaraguan opponent for a third and final time with a perfectly place left hook to the body that left Agular grimacing in pain. He was unable to beat the count and Bermudez had a new belt to add to his ABF American West super lightweight strap.

Pre-fight, Bermudez correctly predicted Aguilar wouldn’t last past five rounds. “I saw that his body was open and that was the way to attack him,” Bermudez said after the fight. “I went to work and knew and wouldn’t last too long. I’m ready to fight anybody my team picks. I’m ready for the big dogs!

“I’ve been trained out of Boston (with his uncle, head trainer Hector Bermudez) the last four years and have a nice fanbase. I’m like fighting in New England.”