In a stacked combat sports weekend, here's what you need to know from BYB 27!
(Photo courtesy: BYB Extreme)
The Mighty Trigon took center stage in the bare knuckle world this past weekend, sharing the combat sports calendar with marquee gloved action like Gervonta Davis vs Frank Martin and Subriel Matias vs Liam Paro.
While Davis’ knockout win over Martin will be the clip that makes the rounds and penetrates the generalist sports media, it was BYB 27: Brawl In Duval that likely provided the best raw action inside a ring anywhere in the world over the weekend. The main event between Jon Bernard and Harold McQueen delivered on every promise, and the undercard was every bit as memorable in some cases.
BYB is riding a definite wave of momentum after its formal announcement last week that it had acquired BKB during a fight-week press conference.
“Make no mistake, BYB and bare knuckle fighting is taking over the combat sports world, with a trajectory not much different than the UFC and MMA were on twenty years ago,” said BYB CEO Gregory Bloom. “BYB has positioned itself as the far-and-away leader in advancing the sport of bare knuckle fighting both domestically and internationally. We have come a long way since Dada 5000’s backyard, but we’ve grown strategically, maintaining full control of the product, its ownership and its intellectual property, and have continued to uphold the highest standards of professionalism. We have a brand ready-made for mass consumption, and the addition of BKB exponentially strengthens our product, worldwide, as bare knuckle goes mainstream.”
For the first card of a “new era,” so to speak, the company couldn’t have done much better.
Here are the fights you have to see from last weekend:
Jon Barnard vs. Harold McQueen
This fight was one of the instances in combat sports in which the bad blood purporting to flow during the fight build-up does indeed spill over into the fight itself. In the case of Barnard and McQueen, it spilled over in such a way that you knew for certain that the heat between the two men was real.
McQueen floored Barnard early in the fight, standing over Barnard taunting him. The energy between the two men was such that it looked like the two were ready to fight outside of the agreed-upon rules, and the referee had to earn his paycheck and cooling the tension enough to allow the fight to actually continue.
Barnard weathered the early storm, and although he absorbed some bombs along the way, just continued to walk McQueen down with technically sound, intelligent pressure. In the third round, he seemed to simply break McQueen’s will, keeping him on a knee for the count of 10.
It was an outstanding come-from-behind victory, one that came in a unique fashion. It wasn’t a one-shot comeback knockout, but rather a display of veteran poise, never panicking despite the early scares and heightened emotions. Ultimately, Barnard was everything he told McQueen he was.
Yordan Fuentes vs. Jarome Hatch
Bare knuckle boxing produces plenty of otherworldly, cinematic displays of courage, but even in this world, Jarome Hatch’s performance—in a losing effort mind you—stands out.
Fuentes-Hatch was one of those fights in which the fighter battling from underneath, the one losing most of the rounds and visibly absorbing the most punishment, becomes the story of the fight, both for the commentators and in the minds of the viewers. How much punishment can he take? Is it possible that he can pull off the miracle comeback? He’s bloody and beaten, but is it possible he has more energy than his opponent?
These are the questions you found yourself asking as you watched Hatch, streaming blood and looking through swollen eyes with the opening the size of coin slots attempt to walk Fuentes down and drag him into a war round after round.
Fuentes was the better, more accurate fighter on the night, and deserved the decision he received, but Hatch damn near pulled it off, with the judges issuing a split decision.
Hatch said in a compelling pre-fight feature that Fuentes had “never faced a motherfucker like me,” and boy oh boy was he correct.
Go and watch this fight immediately.
Skylar Thomas vs. Shyanna Bintliff
Bintliff made here professional combat debut in this one, diving right into the deep end with a bare knuckle boxing match. For two and a half rounds or so, it looked like her amateur boxing pedigree would be too much for Thomas, as Bintliff scored with uppercuts and right hands.
At a certain point, Thomas started applying what commentator Paulie Malignaggi described as “all-out pressure,” selling out to simply force Bintliff into as many exchanges as possible, insisting that she absorb punishment one way or another. The gamble paid off, as Thomas ultimately broke Bintliff down in the fourth round, keeping her on a knee for the count of ten.
Thomas took some extra satisfaction in the win as Bintliff officially weighed in six pounds heavier than her at a re-negotiated catchweight.
“When someone comes in 20 pounds over the contracted weight and you have to let them know that’s not ok,” said Thomas on Instagram following the fight.
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