If McGregors ready for bare knuckle – Ill be that guy! – Ex-boxer wants Conor BKB debut (VIDEO)

Unbeaten bare knuckle boxing sensation Tyler Goodjohn was vowed to “school” BKB rivals Artem Lobov a..

By Sunday Herald Team , in Sports , at April 12, 2019

Unbeaten bare knuckle boxing sensation Tyler Goodjohn was vowed to “school” BKB rivals Artem Lobov and Paulie Malignaggi, and says he would happily volunteer himself to face Conor McGregor for the Irishmans potential BKB debut.

Englishman Goodjohn says he is out to “change the face of bare knuckle boxing” with a brand of fighting that digresses from typical brute force. Those on Goodjohns list to feel the force next, are ex-UFC featherweight Artem Lobov and former two-weight boxing world champion Paulie Malignaggi, who both recently made the crossover to bare knuckle.

But it doesn't end there. Goodjohn brazenly volunteered himself to face the newly-un-retired combat sports superstar Conor McGregor, should the former two-weight UFC 'Champ Champ' decide to try his bare hand at the craft.

Lobov and Malignaggi have become involved in a very public spat on social media, stemming from the latters infamous sparring session footage row with McGregor from 2017, and look set to square off in the bare knuckle arena on June 22.

Rugged and tattooed, and sporting thick eyebrows filled with scar tissue acquired over hundreds of rounds of combat, Goodjohn has racked up two dominant wins from two fights since his bare knuckle bow in 2018, with his last victory racking up nearly 700,000 views on YouTube, and insists he is now the “biggest guy in bare knuckle boxing”.

RT Sport caught up with El Tornado to discuss his career so far, Lobov, Malignaggi, the burgeoning bare knuckle scene, and a prospective fight with the Irish motormouth Conor McGregor himself.

Tyler, your last fight was a dominant unanimous decision win against Marc Navarro. Do you think it was mission accomplished? What impact did it make do you think?

The last fight against Navarro was definitely mission completed. He called me out on Instagram and made a big thing of it on social media. I accepted the challenge. There was a lot of backwards and forwards going on social media in the months leading up to the fight and I basically went in there and did what I had to do. He said he was gonna rough me up and basically street fight me. I said I was going to box his head off and thats how it went and I didn't really get hit with anything. In terms of how it went, it went spot on. I think the fans really enjoyed it as well.

I think I also proved a lot more about my style as well. In my first fight I proved that I can fight and I can stand there and trade and throw bombs and things like that. In the last fight I showed I can box and move and showed different levels that Ive got in this game and used my experience as a boxer and showed a different style that night. Hopefully I can do that in the next fight as well.

Conor McGregors teammate and former UFC fighter Artem Lobov also had a big, and bloody, recent win in BKB. Hes been touted to fight former two-time world champion Paulie Malignaggi. You've made it clear already that you want perhaps the winner of that fight.

Obviously I want the fight with Artem Lobov or Paulie Malignaggi all day long. That's the fight for me. At the end of the day, theyre coming into my sport now. Im 2-0 and Ive proved myself already Ive been in with two fighters, two wins, two fights of the night. You cant even say anything against that. Literally two fights of the night. Im probably the most entertaining one in [bare knuckle boxing] now.

They dont scare me in the slightest. Paulie Malignaggi I know that I could absolutely walk through that guy. Lobov he would definitely be a harder fight. Hes a tough guy you know evidently a tough guy from the fight he had versus Jason Knight but again – I could school that guy. And I would have no problems with schooling that guy at all. And then anyone else that wants to come in. If McGregor is thinking about it honestly in his head, in his heart he thinks hes ready for bare knuckle boxing – Ill be that guy.

At the end of the day [McGregor] has got to fight someone. People are going to me all this shit about oh why would he fight you hed want a bigger fight' and everything else. Im the biggest guy in [bare knuckle boxing] at the minute. Ive brought a whole knew style to the game. Im showing that bare knuckle boxing is not literally getting in there and having a back street brawl. Its style and countering, rolling, slipping. So yeah, come and prove it against he best and like I say if it means going over to America to do it, Im more than happy to do that.

Dont get me wrong, that Lobov fight with Jason Knight was an entertaining fight but in terms of boxing quality I dont think they really showed a lot. They showed that theyre both tough guys and they can both fight. When you see me in there and Im slipping Im rolling Im countering. Basically Im bringing a whole new level to bare knuckle boxing now.

You have a background in amateur and professional boxing. How did it come about you got involved in bare knuckle boxing?

I basically fell out of love with professional boxing. I was a pro boxer for about 7 years, and there were a lot of fights that werent getting made. There was a lot of emphasis on who not to fight rather than who to fight. And I wasn't about that. I always wanted the hardest fights. There was a lot of emphasis on having an unbeaten record, where, right from day one I wasn't bothered about having an unbeaten record I was just bothered about going in there with the top guys and proving myself against the best.

At the age of 26 I retired. It came about after I went on a radio station and talking about what I had to put myself through to make weight. I wasnt glamorizing it at all but just detailing the lengths I had to go through to get to 10 stone. A week later I had a letter through the post saying the British Boxing Board of Control had taken my professional boxing license away and if I wanted to get it back, I had to go in front of the board with a solicitor. I just rang up and said – you know Ive done enough in this game, theyve just shown me zero respect and that Ive retired. A few months later on I see the whole BKB thing and how big the sport was getting and next thing you know I was fighting in June last Read More – Source

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