Former boxing champions Victor Ortiz and JoJo Diaz made successful bare knuckle boxing debuts, as BKB debuted to a sold-out crowd at LA Live on Saturday night. Ortiz, a former welterweight champion in 2011, showed his resilience and power to earn a hard-fought five-round unanimous decision victory over Dominic Salcido. Ortiz captured the WBC title with a dominant win over Andre Berto and lost in his next fight to Floyd Mayweather Jr.). Afterwards, Ortiz said: “glory be to God, he gave me the victory. It was a hard one but I enjoyed it.” 

 

Diaz needed less than one round to make his statement. The former IBF junior lightweight champion dropped Nate Williams with a bodyshot for a first-round knockout. Coming off a gloved-boxing loss just two weeks earlier, Diaz’s explosive finish reversed his career momentum and signaled that he has a future in bare knuckle fighting. Diaz said: “I loved it. I’m the type of fighter that likes to bang on the inside and give the fans an action packed fight. The fighters I’ve been boxing in the boxing ring have been moving around. In the Trigon it’s all close quarters so you have to bang it. I feel like this is my home.”

 

LT “Smash” Nelson, BKB's pound-for-pound #1 bare knuckle fighter, dropped down in weight, and fought through the loss of two teeth to knock out junior middleweight Serob Minasyan in the fourth round. The performance keeps his quest alive to become a three-division crld champion.

 

Former interim junior middleweight champion Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo rolled back the years with a thrilling comeback. After weathering a tough first round, he stopped much younger two-time National Golden Gloves champion Rashad Bowens with a highlight-reel knockout in the second round. The win reminded that Angulo’s aggressive, high-pressure style is tailor-made for bare knuckle.

 

ADDITIONAL RESULTS

 

Henry Correles, a former multi-weight MMA champion, thrilled the home crowd in his BKB debut with a doctor’s stoppage TKO over Ihor Blazhenko early in the third round.

 

Adel Altamimi remained undefeated at 3-0, stopping Eduardo Perez by Doctor’s Stoppage TKO at the end of a war in the fourth round.

 

Ozzie Alvarez earned his first bare knuckle victory, taking a grueling five-round

unanimous decision over Kaine Tomlinson Jr.

 

Jesse Sparks stayed perfect at 2-0 with a first-round knockout of Darius Lesane.

 

Zion Tomlinson overwhelmed previously undefeated Said Abdulgaziev, forcing a referee stoppage just before the end of the first round.

 

Danny Ramirez spoiled JD Burns’ return with a strong BKB debut victory.

 

Jorge Martinez scored a first-round knockout over Ryan Venable.

 

Jackie Cataline and Alexa Gracias battled to a four-round split draw in the opener.