Bare Knuckle FC returns to Biloxi, MS with BKFC 16 on Friday, March 19
LEONARD GARCIA VS. JOE ELMORE
DEMARCUS ‘CHOP CHOP’ CORLEY VS. REGGIE BARNETT JR.
Following their Widely Acclaimed, International ‘KnuckleMania’ Event, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), The World’s Fastest Growing Sport, returns with BKFC-16 on Friday, March 19 from the Biloxi Civic Center in Biloxi, MS and live on the BKTV APP, (8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m.).
‘KnuckleMania’ was an overwhelming success on every level and truly grew our international fanbase of subscribers and social media followers,” said Dave Feldman, President of BKFC. ‘We’ve always had a tremendous response from the fans and media to our events in Biloxi, MS since we started BKFC and our Team is excited to return again on March 19 with another outstanding, action-packed evening of bare-knuckle fighting.”
“Leonard Garcia against Joe Elmore is a true bad-blood match and perfect for our main event. Both guys have wanted to fight each other for a long time and both have promised to finish the other in striking fashion. DeMarcus Corley is a former world champion boxer who has fought numerous big names over the last twenty years and surely will be tested by Reggie Barnett Jr. who is excited to welcome him to BKFC.”
“Our last event on December 11 at the Biloxi Civic Center sold out quickly so I encourage fans to purchase tickets well in advance for BKFC-16.”
Tickets for BKFC-16 are Now On-Sale starting at $55 and may be purchased through the BKFC website, www.bkfc.com. The Biloxi Civic Center is located at 578 Howard Street, Biloxi, MS 39530. Doors will open on the night of the event at 6PMCT with the first bell at 7PMCT.
Headlining BKFC-16 is a lightweight grudge match between Leonard ‘Bad Boy’ Garcia, (18-13-1), fighting out of Lubbock, TX and Joe ‘The Hitman’ Elmore, (13-12), of Atlanta, GA.
Garcia made his BKFC debut on February 2, 2019 at BKFC-4: USA vs. Mexico with a sensational second round knockout of Julian Lane. Against Elmore he will be looking to bounce back into the win column following a loss to Jim Alers at BKFC-7 on August 10, 2019.
Moving quickly through the BKFC ranks, Elmore stopped Will Chope in the first round at BKFC-11 on July 24, 2020 and followed that up with a unanimous decision victory over Tom Shoaff on September 11, 2020 at BKFC-12.
Co-featured and making his BKFC debut, Former Boxing World Champion DeMarcus ‘Chop Chop’ Corley of Washington, D.C. clashes with BKFC veteran Reggie ‘Eaz-E’ Barnett Jr. of Virginia Beach, VA in a bantamweight bout.
A true boxing fan favorite for many years and compiling a record of 55-33-1 with 28 knockouts, Corley defeated Felix Flores for the WBO Junior Welterweight Title in June 2001 and defended the world title against top contenders Ener Julio and Randall Bailey. In June 2003, Corley lost a controversial world title split decision against Zab Judah. In his next fight, Corley fought twelve hotly contested rounds against boxing legend Floyd Mayweather on May 22, 2004 in Atlantic City, NJ.
Among the other world champions on Corley’s resume include Miguel Cotto, Junior Witten, Devon Alexander, Marcos Maidana, Lucas Matthysse, Ruslan Provodnikov and Viktor Postol.
The popular Barnett Jr. sports a BKFC record of 5-1. With victories over Travis Thompson, Clay Burns, Rusty Crowder and Matt Murphy, Barnett Jr. will look to stay in the win column following a unanimous decision victory over Abdiel Velazquez on September 9, 2020. His only loss came to then BKFC World Champion Johnny Bedford on June 22, 2019 at BKFC-6.
Additional bouts for BKFC-16 will be announced shortly.