There will be a whole lot of bare knuckle flavor on the next Misfits Boxing event on September 14.
Some of BKFC’s athletes and personalities will be stepping out of the bare knuckle realm and into a different arena next month at Misfits Boxing 18.
The card will be headlined by adult performer and internet personality Elle Brooke, who will be taking on BKFC strawweight Jenny Savage. Brooke has impressed even the most skeptical of observers of crossover boxing/influencer boxing, clearly taking the sport more seriously than most of the participants have and do in this realm. Brooke has spent time working with former pro boxing champion Ebanie Bridges, and is training in Houston alongside two other world champions in Regis Prograis and O’Shaquie Foster in Bobby Benton’s gym.
Brooke’s pursuit of boxing bona fides has led her to face one BKFC vet already, Paige Vanzant, whom she knocked down prior to a disputed draw. That said, Vanzant’s boxing prowess has always been questioned, as has her actual interest in continuing to succeed in combat sports when she is independently famous and wealthy without it already. In Savage, Brooke has found someone with none of those concerns, a full-time fighter who can benefit greatly from this platform.
Savage has fought some of the very best that BKFC has to offer in the strawweight division, including pound-for-pound great Britain Hart twice, and most recently, world title challenger Taylor Starling.
“The Tennessee Gangster” has spent much of her bare knuckle career training alongside Christine Ferea at the SSF Submission Academy. After focusing on grappling and MMA for years, the former high school wrestler went back to her middle school boxing roots and found a true niche for herself in the bare knuckle realm.
Although she would appear to still be very much in the BKFC mix, Savage has been open about her desire to explore the possibilities in the Crossover Boxing realm as well, particularly if she can spring the “upset” in this bout.
“I think it's better for the promotion is Elle wins, because she's a star. But, as much as I really appreciate (them) and (their) promotion and what (they) want, I want to disappoint everyone. I want to win,” Savage told @louiethereporter on YouTube. “I'm going to stop her. We're going to stop her in the second or third round.”
Photo Courtesy: BKFC
Savage’s plans don’t stop in the influencer realm however. She’s specifically mentioned wanting to face the aforementioned Bridges, which would be a colossal step up in class and prestige.
“I plan on winning this championship and defending it. I would love to fight The Blonde Bomber. I'd like to fight big names,” said Savage.
One of the reasons Savage has been able to share the ring with the A-list bare knuckle fighters she has already is her defensive acumen, allowing her to block and ride with shots well enough to stretch fights out. However, Savage will have to deal with the same transition that fighters like Mike Perry, Sonya Dreiling and other bare knuckle fighters who have stepped into high-profile gloved outings have struggled with.
“I don't want to be a boring fighter. I protect myself really well. What I want to focus on is being more aggressive. In bare knuckle, I do fight like a boxer, but I believe it's cost me some fights,” said Savage.
Savage won’t be the only BKFC fighter on MF Boxing 18 though, she’ll be joined by Crystal Pittman, who will take on Jully Poca for the MFB Women’s Cruiserweight title. Pittman is coming off a terrific win over Sydney Smith at KnuckleMania this year, her second straight victory in the promotion.
Photo Courtesy: BKFC
If things go to plan, Pittman would love to become a duel champion in the X-Series and BKFC, as she’s previously announced her intentions to get Ferea in the ring herself.
"I know if she’d come up to 135, I truly feel like I’m the Queen of the 135 division. So I’m absolutely open for her to come up there. I will greet her with open arms, I will never run from a fight. That’s my division," Pittman said at the post-fight press conference following her win over Smith.
It isn’t just BKFC fighters on this card either—one the company’s most popular ring card girls is getting in on the action too. Carla Jade, who works on BKFC UK shows, is also a crossover boxer herself with a 1-0 record, and will be back in the ring against Nikki Hru.
Jade, who runs Finesse Ring Girls, an agency providing ring card girls for combat events, made her boxing debut against Tash Weekender on just three weeks’ notice. Having been racing between gigs, Jade didn’t even have a boxing gym membership at the time, but crammed in a haphazard camp and emergency sparring, and fell in love with it.
"I used to do some pad punching. I always wanted to fight, but I knew I didn't have the time to commit myself to it or the skill to try it professionally. So when the YouTube stuff started picking up and people were getting really well paid for it, I thought I should dedicate some serious time to it,” Jade told The Sun UK earlier this year. "It's funny because I know I am not that well known. But as soon as I won my last fight all these random girls started offering me out. The best one was I had one girl wait outside my hotel room, screaming she wanted to fight me. I didn't think it would be that easy to get another opponent or this fun!"
Top Photo Courtesy of BKFC.
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