Maryport bare-knuckle boxer wins big BKFC fight

Maryport bare-knuckle boxer Bartek Kanabey was victorious on the big BKFC stage on Saturday night.

The west Cumbria based fighter took just 54 seconds to win his lightweight contest with Bakhtyor Kudratov at BKFC 60 Milton Keynes.

Poland-born Kanabey, who moved to Cumbria in his teens, defeated his Uzbek opponent by technical knockout (TKO) in the first round.

The 26-year-old's opponent appeared to have the better of the early exchanges at Planet Ice.

But Kanabey then moved in for a one-punch finish which also left Kudratov with an injured right forearm.

Referee Andrew Glenn stopped the fight and soon afterwards raised Kanabey's arm in victory.

It proved a successful outing on the big stage for Kanabey, who walked to the ring draped in a half-Poland half-Cumberland flag.

He earned his BKFC fight after becoming a double champion at the WBKB II event at Lillyhall recently.

Kanabey, nicknamed 'the Polish Plough', trains at Just Grind MMA Academy at Workington under the eye of coach Dave Straughton.