The main event puts super middleweight champion Lorawnt-T “Smash” Nelson against No. 1 contender David “Tartan Titan” Winiarski, two fighters who came to bare-knuckle from MMA. Nelson, 10-1-1 with nine knockouts, arrives on a seven-fight winning streak with six of those wins coming by knockout, and the two-division champion most recently stopped Serob Minasyan in the fourth round at BKB 56 in Los Angeles in July. “I’ll be ready from the opening bell, and on December 19, I plan to remind everyone why I’m the champion,” Nelson said.
Winiarski earned the shot in emphatic fashion. Earlier this month at BKB 60 in Newcastle, England, he knocked out Geraint Goodridge in 63 seconds in a championship eliminator, ending Goodridge’s unbeaten run. That moved him to 5-1 with four knockouts and set up his first world title opportunity. “Nelson is a great champion, but I believe in myself, and I’m coming to BKB 63 ready to take that belt,” Winiarski said. The contrast is clear: an established champion with a long finishing streak against a challenger riding the momentum of the most decisive win of his career.
The co-main event matches two fighters who have never needed the judges. Featherweight champion Yampier Ramirez, 5-0 with five stoppages, makes the first defence of the title he won at Foxwoods in March, returning to the venue where he became champion and where he had earlier stopped Ash Williams in the second round at BKB 52. His challenger, Jorge Martinez, is 2-0 with two knockouts and will try to become a world champion in only his third professional bare-knuckle bout. Martinez’s limited experience is the obvious question, but his record shows he has finished everyone in front of him, and one of these unbeaten records will not survive the night.
Further bouts are expected to be added to the card. BKB 63 caps a busy close to the promotion’s year, which also includes a London card on November 14 and Victor Ortiz against Paulie Malignaggi in Los Angeles on December 5. By the end of the night at Foxwoods, both divisions will have either a champion with a stronger claim or a new name holding the belt.
