Julian Fernandez is unbeaten in gloveless combat and is fighting in his hometown of Tijuana, Mexico, against one of the most pedigreed bare-knuckle fighters of this era. ‘Pitbull Jr.’ is defending his Police Gazette diamond super cruiserweight title against Dan Podmore, and Fernandez appeared on Bare Knuckle Bowker with the help of interpreter Mel Valenzuela, SVP Global Fight Operations and Matchmaker for BKB.
Within the aforementioned context of preparing to make his first title defense on September 19th with a one hundred percent finishing rate, all in the first round and doing so against a four-time, three-weight BKB champion, Fernandez said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
“Yeah, my first defense in Tijuana in my city….Like the great Julio Cesar Chavez once said, the easy part is getting there, the difficult part is maintaining the belt. Maintaining that championship level, that championship status. So he is looking forward to this opportunity and then it is a big step in his career. But it’s a step that he’s ready and excited about.”
Addressing the pugilistic credentials of ‘Big Pod’ heading into their main event clash on Saturday, Julian Fernandez stated [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
“He’s excited to be fighting only the very best. That’s what he trained for and they expect nothing less. He’s bringing that, keeping that belt in Tijuana. He’s excited to be fighting in front of his home city and in front of his home audience.”
Delving into some of the more studious elements of preparing to deal with the Trigon proclivities of Podmore, Fernandez quipped [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
“Before every fight that he has, him and his team take the time to study their opponent and to develop a game plan. He says that they have a gameplan. They’ve studied [Dan] Podmore Ad Nauseam and have a game plan for him. All that’s left is to execute that game plan come Saturday night.”
BKB 59 also kicks off a Zanfer partnership here where the indicators are there for a broader plan involving subsequent Mexico expansion with additional events down the line following the action this weekend. Fernandez is stoked to headline this first event in Mexico and touted Zanfer as the best boxing promoter in the country as they anchor things logistically in this newer market for the company.
Julian Fernandez: Myself and Cecy Ulloa are “going to close the show in spectacular manner”
Julian Fernandez also has a Mexican national boxing title to his credit, and while BKB has indicated a want to co-promote with the likes of Zuffa Boxing and Matchroom, Fernandez was clear that he is squarely focused on the world of gloveless combat right now. Fernandez is also impassioned about creating a ripple effect in his home country whereby a surge of future Mexican bare-knuckle champions will emerge and become inspired.
Cecy Ulloa is also looking to bolster the Mexican bare-knuckle ecosystem in her own title bout vs. Andy Nguyen in the BKB 59 co-main event. Ulloa could become the second Mexican woman to wear BKB gold after modern bare-knuckle icon Paty Juarez. Offering his viewpoints on the penultimate fight of the night for the super flyweight Police Gazette diamond belt at BKB Tijuana, Julian Fernandez said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
“He’s saying that he definitely feels that [Ulloa’s] going to bring that warrior spirit into the ring and come out with her hand held high. That they’re going to close the show. Both Cecilia and him, Main and Co-main are going to succeed. They’re both going to succeed and make their people proud. They’re going to close the show in spectacular manner.”
