MIAMI, FL – On the heels of becoming a two-division BKB World Champion and solidifying himself among the top, if not top, pound-for-pound bare knuckle boxers in the world this past weekend at BKB 47 in Leeds, BKB Bridgerweight and Super Cruiserweight Champion Marko Martinjak announced today that he will vacate his BKB Super Cruiserweight title and focus his efforts on dominating the stacked BKB Bridgerweight division. His first-round knockout of Bridgerweight Champion Dan Podmore on Saturday brought the Zagreb, Croatia fighter’s record to 13-2 with 13 knockouts, and made him a bare knuckle boxing champion in an unprecedented five different weight classes: Super Cruiserweight and Bridgerweight (concurrent), Cruiserweight, Super Middleweight, and Light Heavyweight.
Said Martinjak, “Championships, to me, are a means to an end – and that is to become the best ever to do it. In order to be the best, you have to beat the best. There is a reason I am called the ‘Emperor of Bare Knuckle.’ I have the highest boxing skillset, the highest boxing IQ, and the highest boxing mindset of anyone in the sport, and every fight, I am better than my last. I am the greatest pound-for-pound bare knuckle boxer in the world. Not LT Nelson, not Gustavo Trujillo, not any of those washed up MMA clowns in the other organization.”
He continued, “Now, I am working my way through the upper weight classes. I can fight at Heavyweight, but I won’t go down any more. I’ve proven all I’ve needed to prove in Super Cruiserweight, and now it’s time I assert my domination over the Bridgers. I am vacating my Super Cruiserweight title. Line them up. Anyone who wants it, can try to come get it.”
With the Emperor’s abjuration, BKB Hall of Fame Matchmaker Mel Valenzuela announced that BKB’s number one-ranked Super Cruiserweight Yordan Fuentes and number two-ranked Julian Fernandez will now fight for the vacant title at BKB 48 in South Florida on November 22.
That fight will be the fourth title fight on the stacked card headlined by BKB Heavyweight Gustavo Trujillo taking on Tony Johnson Jr., a rematch between BoxRec’s number one pound-for-pound bare knuckle fighter in the world and two-division champion LT "Smash" Nelson and the legendary "Welsh Wrecking Machine" Barrie Jones for Nelson’s Super Middleweight title, and the first title defense of BKB Lightweight Champion Jarod Grant as he takes on number one contender Jon Barnard.
For more information on BKB 48, visit bkbbareknuckle.com and follow up on social media @bkbbareknckle.
ABOUT BKB BARE KNUCKLE BOXING
In the past two years, BKB (originally BYB) has purchased the UK-based BKB, the world’s oldest professional bare knuckle boxing company, and in doing so merged the organizations to create the largest bare knuckle boxing company in the world in terms of roster, library and distribution; ushered in ethical and legalized gambling to the sport; acquired the rights to the historic and prestigious Police Gazette Diamond Belt which now serves as the Bare Knuckle Boxing World Championship; and brought bare knuckle boxing to lineal television on both sides of the Atlantic, including the recent deal with VICE TV and Telemundo Desportes in the US, and in the UK with TalkSport.
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