Jesse “The Reaper” Sparks has spent just 53 seconds winning his first two bare-knuckle fights. Richard “Silverback” Carmack is next in line to find out whether that pace holds up. Sparks will face Carmack in a super heavyweight bout at Bally’s Fightnight by BKB on Friday, November 20, at Bally’s Dover Casino Resort in Delaware. Sparks enters at 2-0 with two knockouts, while Carmack brings a 2-1 record and two stoppage wins of his own. Neither man’s bare-knuckle victories have needed the judges.
The matchup puts Sparks’ finishing streak against an opponent with experience in both gloved and bare-knuckle boxing. His first two appearances have taken less time combined than a single round, but Carmack has already experienced winning and losing in BKB. That gives the undefeated prospect something different to deal with in Dover. “I’m not coming to Dover to go the distance or leave anything to the judges,” Sparks said in BKB’s announcement.
Jesse Sparks in BKB
“I’m always looking for the finish. Carmack is next, and I’m preparing to bring the same power that got me here.” The action takes place inside BKB‘s Trigon, a three-sided fighting enclosure rather than a traditional boxing ring. Its 60-degree corners leave fighters a different set of angles to negotiate. For Sparks, the plan sounds less about exploring the architecture and more about getting straight to work.
Carmack’s two bare-knuckle victories came against Troy Depriest and Travis Fulton. BKB’s fight history lists a first-round knockout against Depriest and a third-round technical knockout against Fulton, followed by a first-round knockout loss to Juan Arciniega-Adams.
His record gives Sparks a warning, too: Carmack has finished opponents early himself. “I’m not stepping into the Trigon just to be another name on Sparks’ record,” Carmack said in the event announcement. “I’m coming to win, and if the opportunity is there, I’m going to finish the fight.”
Sparks and Carmack join a card headlined by former world-title challenger Hank Lundy’s bare-knuckle debut against Jairo “Almighty” Santos. Kylle McMillan faces James “Get Down” Brown in the welterweight co-main event. McMillan enters at 3-1 with two knockouts; Brown is 5-1 with three. The remaining announced matchups pair Albert El Zaibak with Triston Harrison at super featherweight and Branden Smith with Braxton Smith at heavyweight. BKB has also removed the previously scheduled Jade “Evil Smile” Masson-Wong versus Monica “Fearless” Franco bout from the Dover lineup.
