Rico Franco: bare-knuckle fighter to challenge for world title
Gainsborough’s Rico Franco will take on Austin Trout, the former boxer who shared the ring with legends such as Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship World Welterweight Title
Rico Franco will challenge for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship World Welterweight Title, this Saturday, as the promotion heads to Marbella, Spain for a historic event.
Franco will take on Austin Trout, the former boxer who shared the ring with legends such as Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez. Trout is the reigning BKFC World Champion, with the fight acting as the event’s co-main bout.
BKFC is the fastest-growing sports promotion in the world, with their Marbella event set to attract some of the biggest names across sports and entertainment, including BKFC investor, Conor ‘Notorious’ McGregor.
Speaking ahead of the bout, Franco commented: “Everyone is going to see me shock the World. I envisage a massive stoppage. Then when I win the title, I’ll go down to 70 kilos and take that belt too.”
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) is the first promotion allowed to hold a legal, sanctioned, and regulated bare knuckle event in the United States since 1889.
Based in Philadelphia, and headed by President and former professional boxer David Feldman, BKFC is dedicated to preserving the historical legacy of bare-knuckle fighting, while utilizing a specifically created rule set that emphasizes fighter safety. BKFC holds all of its bouts in a revolutionary circular four-rope ring, designed to encourage fast-paced and exciting bouts.
The patented BKFC “Squared Circle” contains scratch lines, based on the Broughton Rules which governed bare knuckle fighting in the 19th century, and which requires fighters to “Toe the Line”: start every round face to face, and just inches apart.