Former world champ JoJo Diaz to fight bareknuckle October 10 in Newcastle, England

On Saturday, October 10, former IBF junior-lightweight champion Joseph "JoJo" Diaz Jnr will enter the bareknuckle boxing trigon to take on Brian Hyslop at the BKB 60 event, broadcast live (7 pm BST/2 pm ET) on VICE TV and Telemundo (USA)/TalkSPORT (U.K. & Ireland) from Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England.

Southpaw Diaz, who currently holds a 34-10-1 (15 KOs) record in professional boxing and a 1-0 (1 KO) slate in bareknuckle boxing, returns to face Hyslop (2-1, 1 KO) after having knocked out debut opponent Nate Williams in the opening round at BKB 56 in Los Angeles on July 18.

A 2012 Summer Olympian, 33-year-old Diaz, from South El Monte, California, will be having the first fight of his 14-year professional combat-sports career outside of North America. 

“I’ve fought all over the States and in Mexico,” said Diaz, “but I’ve never stepped into a ring in the UK, not once in my whole career. Newcastle is going to be the first, and I’m doing it bare knuckle. This is a new chapter for me, and I want the fans here to see exactly what a world champion looks like up close.”

The event is headlined by a BKB Super Welterweight world championship showdown, as Rolando Dy (6-1, 5 KOs) defends his title against five-time BKB champion Scott McHugh (17-5, 7 KOs) of the United Kingdom.

Dy is the son of former WBC world junior lightweight champion and 80s TV favorite Rolando Navarrete.