BKB 48 announces 3 title bouts featuring #1 pound for pound fighter
BKB 48 goes down in South Florida with three massive title fights transpiring on the same night. BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing will promote their BKB 48: Brawl in the Pines V card on November 22 from the Charles F. Dodge Center in Pembroke Pines, featuring some of the top pound-for-pound bare knuckle fighters worldwide. In the headliner, BKB heavyweight champion Gustavo Trujillo will look to maintain his spotless record in the sport when “The Cuban Assassin” clashes with former Bellator MMA and ONE Championship competitor Tony Johnson Jr.
“Hulk” is a former King of the Cage titleholder, and Tony Johnson Jr. looks to become a two-sport champion and claim a significant bare-knuckle boxing strap against the dominant 32-year-old Cuban combatant. Trujillo boasts a 7-0 professional ledger with seven stoppages in the opening round. This run includes stoppages over bare-knuckle world champions like former BKFC pound-for-pound number one fighter Lorenzo Hunt, former BKB champ/ UFC vet Ike Villanueva, and former BKB titleholder Richie Leak.
In the co-main event of the night, the top pound-for-pound fighter in BKB and BoxRec’s #1 P4P bare knuckle fighter. LT Nelson will run it back against Barrie Jones. This is a rematch of their BYB 30 title fight that saw Nelson halt the legend of gloveless combat inside the distance as Jones fell by way of a third-round KO. Prior to that contest, Jones boasted perfect 10-0 record with nine finishes.
With that victory, “Smash” Nelson added to his status of being the BYB 2-division champion at middleweight and super middleweight by snagging Jones’ BYB Police Gazette World Middleweight title. Since then, Jones has captured the BKB light heavyweight strap with a lightning-quick stoppage of Gregoris Cisneros, and with that win, “The Welsh Wrecking Machine” vaulted toward now being the #5 ranked pound-for-pound bare knuckle fighter in the world.
BKB 48’s third title fight, and the overall card so far
Rounding out the trifecta of BKB 48 title fights, BKB lightweight champion Jarod Grant will collide with Jon Barnard. Grant was initially the interim titleholder, which he won on May 31st against Jorge Bargallo, but Grant has now been elevated to full champion. This came after the prior BKB lightweight champ Julio Tanori, was stripped of his title, which was tied to a recent spell of inactivity.
Barnard dispatched BKB’s featherweight titleholder Harold McQueen in a lightweight eliminator bout to lock in his top contender status, which he can potentially capitalize on in a big way here in November.
The remainder of the BKB 48 card reads as follows:
- Yordan Fuentes vs. Julian Fernandez
- Jarome Hatch vs. Ike Villanueva
- Yunieski Gonzalez vs. Zion Tomlinson
- Jorge Bargallo vs. Ash Williams
- Brandon Shavers vs. Dan Catlin
- Jose Malespin vs. Nate Williams
- Angel Keihl vs. Katherine Connor
