BKB Naked Knuckle Boxing will maintain its first occasion outdoors america and United Kingdom when BKB 59 arrives in Tijuana, Mexico, on September 19. The present launches a multi-event partnership with Zanfer Promotions and positions Mexico as BKB’s entry level into Latin America.
BKB 59 is scheduled for Auditorio Municipal de Tijuana, with Tijuana’s personal Julian Fernandez defending the BKB Tremendous Cruiserweight World Championship towards former three-division BKB titleholder Dan “Large Pod” Podmore. Mexico’s Cecy Ulloa will meet Andy “The CrAsian” Nguyen for the vacant BKB Tremendous Flyweight World Championship within the co-main occasion.
BKB Heads to Mexico
BKB has beforehand staged occasions throughout its established US and UK territories, however Tijuana marks the promotion’s first transfer into a brand new nationwide market. The July settlement with Zanfer was constructed as a long-term plan relatively than a single-night collaboration, with the businesses focusing on a number of reveals annually and a route into the broader Latin American combat-sports house.
Mexico is sensible as the primary cease. Boxing sits deep within the nation’s sporting tradition, and Zanfer brings a neighborhood monitor document that few promoters can match. The corporate has labored with names together with Jaime Munguia, Emanuel Navarrete and Rafael Espinoza, and can assist BKB co-promote reveals and determine Mexican boxers focused on shifting into bare-knuckle competitors.
BKB CEO David Tetreault has described the Tijuana date because the promotion “planting” its flag in Mexico and Latin America. Fernando Beltran, Zanfer’s founder and president, has framed the deal as the beginning of a bigger construct for bare-knuckle boxing within the nation.
Fernandez is a becoming option to entrance the primary card. The Tijuana fighter carries a 3-0 bare-knuckle document, together with 2-0 underneath the BKB banner, and has stopped each opponent he has crushed. His final BKB outing ended with a first-round knockout of Alex Wilson at BKB 53.
Earlier than switching disciplines, Fernandez constructed a 16-4 skilled boxing document with 13 knockouts and received a Mexican nationwide boxing championship. His challenger has a for much longer historical past in BKB’s UK scene. Podmore, from Birmingham, has held heavyweight, bridgerweight and cruiserweight titles within the promotion. He enters with a 9-4 bare-knuckle document and a latest TKO win over Jarome Hatch at BKB 55 in Cardiff.
A win in Tijuana would give the veteran one other title chapter, whereas Fernandez can use a hometown protection to turn into one of many first faces of BKB’s Mexico operation. The second title struggle provides the debut card one other Mexican connection.
Mexico is the primary nation past BKB’s established US and UK footprint to host one in all its occasions. That provides BKB 59 a distinct really feel from a regular cease on the schedule: Tijuana is meant to be the bottom for an ongoing Mexican presence, with the corporate utilizing the September 19 card to introduce its format, expertise pool and championship construction to a brand new viewers. BKB CEO David Tetreault has described the transfer because the promotion “planting” its flag in Mexico, a line that displays a plan to construct roots relatively than make a quick cross-border go to.
The transfer arrives throughout a interval of fast progress on TikTok. BKB launched its account in April and had collected greater than 53 million likes by August, whereas its BKB 55 preliminary broadcast from Cardiff was reported to have set TikTok’s highest watch time for a dwell sporting occasion. The corporate has stated Mexico varieties a part of a long-term worldwide plan that features america and United Kingdom, with the target of creating a mainstream sports activities model able to filling arenas throughout all three markets.
Zanfer’s position reaches past staging BKB 59. The partnership is about as much as assist tv and digital distribution, industrial sponsorship and future dwell occasions in Mexico and the Latin American area. Zanfer may also present a neighborhood route for boxers focused on crossing into bare-knuckle competitors, which might give BKB a extra constant Mexican expertise base after the Tijuana debut. The promoter has labored with high-level Mexican boxing figures, together with Jaime Munguia, Emanuel Navarrete and Rafael Espinoza.
The selection of Tijuana additionally provides BKB a neighborhood figurehead from night time one. Fernandez was born in Mexico, fights out of Tijuana and can make the primary Mexico most important occasion a hometown title protection. The 32-year-old is unbeaten at 3-0 in bare-knuckle bouts, together with two BKB wins, and each a type of victories has ended earlier than the ultimate bell. His matchup with Podmore pairs a neighborhood champion with a former BKB titleholder throughout three weight divisions, giving the occasion a transparent sporting hook alongside its enterprise significance.
Puerto Vallarta’s Ulloa has competed in fight sports activities for 18 years and owns a 2-1 BKB document with one no contest. She was ranked No. 1 at flyweight in bare-knuckle boxing in 2019 and now has the prospect to win a world title in her residence nation.
Nguyen, a three-time King of the Cage atomweight champion, comes into the bout at 1-1 in BKB after a protracted MMA profession. That pairing provides BKB 59 a distinction between Ulloa’s expertise in bare-knuckle competitors and Nguyen’s background as a veteran of combined martial arts.
BKB has added a number of former boxing names in latest months, together with Paulie Malignaggi, Victor Ortiz, Joseph “JoJo” Diaz Jr., Alfredo Angulo, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Lee Selby, Lucas Browne, Hank Lundy, John Molina Jr., Fernando Vargas Jr. and Amado Vargas. The Zanfer deal provides a pathway for extra boxing expertise from Mexico to hitch that group over time.
