Roberto Duran's son makes stunning bare knuckle debut (Video)
By Amy Kaplan
The son of famed boxer Roberto "Hands of Stone" Duran made his bare-knuckle boxing debut on Friday night and stunned in his first performance. Robert Duran Jr. competed in the BYB 26: Mile High Brawl in Denver, CO under the BYB Extreme Bare Knuckle Fighting Series banner. Previously he'd competed in boxing fights but this was his first venture into bare knuckle.
Duran Jr. stepped in to face fellow debuter, Javon Wright, and finished him with a TKO in round three. You can watch the clips below. His fight was awarded the Fight of the Night honors.
Duran Jr. was fighting for the first time since his knockout loss to Jack McGann on the Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia last year. It's clear he's proven he can get back up after being knocked down, both figuratively and literally.
“This sport suits me. Before I ever laced up the gloves, I was fighting bare-knuckle on the streets growing up," Duran Jr. said of his switch to bare-knuckle when his signing was announced. “In bare-knuckle, I can build my own name and own legacy outside of the shadow of my namesake. I intend to focus solely on bare-knuckle, provided BYB can keep me active. It is the future of combat sports and I plan on being one of its first mainstream stars for years to come and help propel it to the masses."
BYB 26 full results
- LT Nelson defeated Tommy Turner via TKO, Round 1 - 2:30
- Patricia Juarez defeated Khortni Kamyron via TKO, Round 4 - 0:56
- Zion Tomlinson Sr. defeated Ulysses Diaz via TKO, Round 2 - 0:36
- Roberto Duran Jr. defeated Javon Wright via TKO, Round 3 - 1:37
- Walter Raul Saravia defeated Shawn Rall via TKO, Round 2 - 1:52
- DeWitt Dixon defeated Art Parker via TKO, Round 1 0:34
BYB is also having a pretty darn good week. A few days before the event, it was announced the promotion had acquired BKB. This union is a significant step forward for the promotion in hopes of building itself amongst the best of the best in the sport.