BKFC 52: Richardson Wins Championship, Croom Handed Loss
It was another exciting installment of bare-knuckle fighting as BKFC52 delivered great excitement, especially in the Bantamweight Championship main event.
Richardson Remains Undefeated to Take Belt
There was a lot of conjecture as to what would happen in the main event. Keith Richardson might have entered the fight undefeated, but the defending champion, Reggie Barnett Jr, had a lot more experience and prior fight experience in BKFC. The champ was deemed to be the pre-match favorite in South Carolina by most boxing news sites.
Richardson didn’t get that particular memo. The challenger came out of the gate with great vigor and steely hands as he scored a knockdown in the first round. The bout went into the second round but no further than 58 seconds. After another series of strikes, Barnett didn’t respond, and Richardson was named the winner by TKO to make a ripple in online boxing news.
As such, he claimed the BKFC Bantamweight Championship and climbed to a 4-0 record in the company. The champagne and parties might already be underway, but Richardson will soon need to appreciate that BKFC moves quickly and Barnett Jr will no doubt be asking for an immediate rematch.
Soto III Climbs to 6-0 at Croom’s Expense
In some instances, the co-main event can be just as exciting as the proceeding fight. Given that this bout pitted two veteran fighters undefeated in their BKFC careers, there was every reason to be excited about Antonio Soto III against Kevin Croom in the lightweight division.
In reality, however, the fight was little more than a training exercise for Soto as he continually hit Croom with strikes as the former UFC man failed to reply with any significant strikes. Come the end of the fight, Croom was visibly hurt with major swelling all over his face. Soto by comparison merely looked like he had gone for a light jog.
The result put Soto to a 6-0 BKFC record, and now even the BKFC’s social media accounts are calling for a title shot for the man. How many more wins does he need to prove himself?
Scott Makes Winning Debut in BKFC
Despite making his bare-knuckle debut, Jeremiah Scott is hardly new to combat sports, having tasted success in various promotions and even tried his hand at both boxing and Muay Thai in the past. Now fighting out of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, he served as a hometown hero on the night and even a birthday boy as the fight night coincided with his 30th birthday.
Chevvy Wildman Bridges delivered the best present of all to Scott, a lovely win. The bout was well contested to start, with Bridges most likely winning the first round – as Scott was dropped to the canvas. However, Scott dug deep and found the resolve to subsequently floor his adversary twice in the third, with the latter resulting in a KO win. Not a bad birthday by all accounts. Bridges dropped to an unfortunate 1-3 BKFC in the process as he quickly left the birthday party proceedings.
Middleton Continues to Struggle in Fight Game
Daishaun Middleton debuted in BKFC 52 in one of the first fights on the main card billing. His professional fight career is an ever-expanding series of losses with bare-knuckle fighting the next medium of woe after unsuccessful stints in Muay Thai and MMA.
Trukon Carson made light work of the fight as it lasted a grand total of 61 seconds before the North Carolinian native scored a KO. Carson moved to 2-1 in the BKFC while also notching up successive first-round finishes, only growing his popularity.
At this point, Middleton would be forgiven for not wanting to step into another pro-fight ring. Returning to the amateurs wouldn’t be a bad idea, as he enjoyed moderate success there. Or he could just try yet another fight discipline…where he can try to make trending boxing news, even if for all the wrong reasons. He could go into fight journalism or something else entirely where he doesn’t collect continuous losses.
Contrasting Records Take Shape in Bushaw’s Fight
Brandon Bushaw might only be in his second fight with BKFC, but he’s most certainly going in the right direction. He took on fellow lightweight combatant Josh Marer. While the first round was nothing to write home about, the second produced an exciting finish.
Bushaw seized the opportunity just 50 seconds into that round to score a decent KO over Marer to win the fight. As such, the records updated with both fighters heading in very different directions. Bushaw put himself to 2-0 in BKFC, while Marer has the indignity of slipping to 0-3 in the promotion. The career trajectories are subsequently shaping up very differently for these two fighters, with Marer potentially having to re-think his career path.
Ref Stoppage Before Third Round in Prelims
BKFC ref Jason Collins will only have gone up in the majority of fighters’ opinions, considering he put the safety of the fighters above everything else in the Micah Lail and Daniel Cooper fight; even if the fans and participants wanted a bit more action,
When assembling the fighters for the start of the third round, Collins spotted the intense swelling around Lail’s eye and decided to have his corner team take another look at it. After no considerable improvement was made, Collins still felt uncomfortable letting the fight continue and called a halt to proceedings.
No doubt both debuting light heavyweights will be back in the ring soon. Micah Lail will most certainly want to see the end of a fight in his next effort. In the meantime, he should definitely let that swelling go down.
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