Victor Ortiz and Paulie Malignaggi are set to take their boxing rivalry into the Trigon, with the former world champions scheduled to headline BKB 62 in Los Angeles on December 5. The five-round super welterweight bare-knuckle contest will take place at the Orpheum Theatre.
Ortiz, 39, enters with recent momentum after winning his BKB debut in July. The former WBC welterweight champion outpointed Dominic Salcido by unanimous decision over five rounds at BKB 56 in Los Angeles, marking his first competitive bout without gloves. Now he faces Malignaggi, a familiar name from the previous era of televised boxing, in a fight that brings together two former champions whose careers took very different turns after their title-winning peaks.
Victor Ortiz to face Paulie Malignaggi in BKB main event
BKB has listed the bout as the main event of its December 5 Los Angeles card, with five rounds scheduled at super welterweight. Ortiz built a professional record of 33-7-3 with 25 knockouts during an 18-year boxing career. His biggest victory came in April 2011, when he beat Andre Berto to win the WBC welterweight title. Ortiz has not boxed professionally since a unanimous-decision win over Todd Manuel in May 2022, but his BKB win over Salcido showed he remains active in combat sports.
Malignaggi arrives after a difficult result in his most recent bare-knuckle outing. The Brooklyn native was stopped by BKB super welterweight champion Rolando Dy in the second round of their May title fight at Manchester’s AO Arena. Dy dropped Malignaggi twice before the contest was halted 56 seconds into the round.
The defeat left Malignaggi with a 1-2 bare-knuckle record. It was a sharp reminder that bare-knuckle boxing creates a very different set of problems from conventional boxing, where Malignaggi made his name through movement, timing and high-volume combinations rather than knockout power.
The 45-year-old retired from gloved boxing in March 2017 after losing to Sam Eggington. He finished with a 36-8 record and seven knockouts, having won the IBF junior welterweight championship against Lovemore Ndou in 2007 before later adding a world title at welterweight.
Ortiz owns the clear edge in stopping power on their boxing records, while Malignaggi’s route to victory has long been based on staying mobile, landing clean shots and controlling tempo. Those styles will be tested in BKB’s three-sided Trigon ring, where the unusual shape can limit escape routes compared with a standard square ring.
There is also a recent-form contrast. Ortiz comes in off a five-round decision win and has just one bare-knuckle bout on his record. Malignaggi has more experience in the format, but he is trying to reset after the Dy knockout.
