BKB 16 Results: Brad Pickett Only Needed ‘One Punch’, Ricardo Franco with a Devastating Knockout, Meets James Connelly at the ‘Prize Fighter’ Finals

By
Adam LeBarr
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BKB Brad Pickett
Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

Franco and Connelly advance to the ‘Prize Fighter’ finals. Goodbeer, Lerwell, George and Brad Pickett crowned British champions at BKB 16.

Adam LeBarr is BKB’s Staff Writer

It’s not an argument when stating BKB 16 is the promotions biggest, most stacked fight card to date. Filled with high-level former UFC, BAMMA and K1 athletes such as Brad Pickett, Mark ‘The Hand Of’ Godbeer, Will ‘The Kill’ Chope and more, the Indigo at the O2 was quick to sell out 2,500 tickets. Available on the FITE app and Sky TV, BKB™ also announced their broadcast deal for the event with both Virgin Media and FOX Sports Asia, making the pay-per-view event available to millions of fans around the world.

Weigh-ins would go live at 8:00 a.m. EST, the morning of fight night. This is done, according to Jim Freeman Dove (co-owner of BKB) to prevent excessive water-cutting, having the fighters compete closer to their natural weight. Jack Draper missed weight, weighing in at 16.7 st, the cruiserweight limit at 16.5 st. Draper would later make weight with the extended time given.

The night would kick-off with a middleweight contest between Martin Orsuliak and Rob Boardman, the pay-per-view headlined by Brad Pickett vs. Mark Handley for the British flyweight title.

‘Prize Fighter’ and Championship Recap

In the headlining preliminary, Mark Godbeer would make his BKB debut against 4-1 Mickey Parker in a heavyweight championship bout. Both would fight to the final bell, where Godbeer would earn himself the decision victory – a successful bare-knuckle boxing debut for the UFC vet, BAMMA champion.

In the ‘Prize Fighter’ semi-finals, Ricardo Franco would first knockout Connor Tierney in the first round, solidifying his position in the finals at BKB 17 on June 8. Joining him would be James Connelly, who would fight to a decision win over fan favorite ‘Smudger’ Smith. Connelly lost in the quarterfinals, however, his opponent could not continue on due to an injury sustained in their fight. The promotion would welcome Connelly back, granting him a second chance, and boy did he make the most of it.

For the super-middleweight title, Daniel Lerwell and CJ Mills would continue to trade knockdowns back and forth in the early rounds of the fight. In the third, after once again recovering from a knockdown, Lerwell would immediately be on the offensive and put Mills to sleep, becoming the new British super-middleweight champion.

With the lightweight title on the line, in what was a five-round war, both Sean George and Marc Navarro would not let up. The co-main event of the evening, the two both pressed the action and delivered a brawl, which seems to be the theme for tonight’s event. While Navarro was the one pushing the pace majority of the time, it was George landing the cleaner combinations, dancing around the strikes attempted by Navarro. In the end, it was the ‘Outlaw’ George who would retain his British lightweight title, now 10-3-2 in bare-knuckle boxing.

In the main event of the evening, in a rather quick fight, Brad Pickett would quickly land a combination that would send Mark Handley to the mat. After recovering, it would take only ‘One Punch’ to finish the fight, where he would flatten Handley’s nose, breaking it, and winning the flyweight title in his bare-knuckle debut.

These are your full BKB 16 results.

Main Card

  • Brad Pickett def. Mark Handley via TKO – Round 1 – Flyweight British Championship
  • Sean George def. Marc Navarro via Unanimous Decision – Lightweight British Championship
  • Daniel Lerwell def. CJ Mills via KO – Round 3 – Super-Middleweight British Championship
  • Ricardo Franco def. Connor Tierney via KO – Round 1 – Catchweight ‘Prize Fighter’ Semi-Finals
  • James Connelly def. ‘Smudger’ Smith via unanimous decision – Catchweight ‘Prize Fighter’ Semi-Finals

Prelims

  • Mark Godbeer def. Mickey Parker via Unanimous Decision – British Heavyweight Championship
  • Jack Draper and Mason Shaw Ruled a Draw.
  • Scott McHugh def. Paul Stredder via TKO – Round 2
  • Eric Olsen def. Greg Mayne via Unanimous Decision
  • Barrie Jones def. Will Chope via TKO – Round 1
  • Rob Boardman def. Martin Orsuliak via Majority Decision

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