Photo by Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship
Two lightning-quick knockdowns from the fringes of sport lit up the combat scene during a weekend in which fighting seemed to dominate headlines.
A landmark, all-women boxing event in the UK set the record for the biggest audience ever captured during a live women's sports event on Sky, the broadcaster told Insider in a statement Monday.
Claressa Shields beat Savannah Marshall after Alycia Baumgardner edged Mikaela Mayer at the O2 Arena in London.
Two million people tuned into the event on Sky's platforms, the broadcaster said, with a live audience peak of more than 1 million for the Shields vs. Marshall fight.
It wasn't the only notable event, though, as Devin Haney returned from Australia with all of the world's major lightweight titles, having retained the undisputed championship with a second successive defeat of former ruler George Kambosos.
But it wasn't all about the mainstream shows.
DAZN introduced the weekend's action with a creator-focused boxing event Friday called KSI's Misfits and DAZN X Series 002.
Anthony Taylor beat Ashley Rak-Su with a clean sweep of three 30-26 scorecards, thanks largely to a knockdown in the first round that was struck with Taylor's first punch of the night inside three seconds.
Watch the knockdown blow right here:
—DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) October 15, 2022
Taylor wasn't the only athlete from these sideshow events that seemed to command the fight fan's attention.
Photo by BKFC
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, which is competed with bare fists inside a circular ring, is used to generating viral moments — including a three-second knockout of its own.
Another violent finish took place Saturday at BKFC 31 when Chris Camozzi, a former UFC fighter, clubbed Bubba McDaniel to the floor with apparent ease.
Watch the stunning first-round knockout right here:
Elsewhere, in mainstream fighting action, Deontay Wilder posted a thunderous first-round knockout of his own, when he left heavyweight opponent Robert Helenius looking like he'd seen a ghost thanks to an exorcising right hand.
The finish saw Wilder rebound in style after back-to-back losses to Tyson Fury, and he told reporters at a post-fight press conference that he'd welcome bouts against Premier Boxing Champions stablemate Andy Ruiz Jr. or unified heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk in the near future.
He even cried in front of journalists when talking about a fighter who was left in a vegetative state following a fight in 2015.
Earlier in that PBC show, which took place Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Caleb Plant was admonished by a referee for miming the digging of a grave while celebrating a violent knockout over Anthony Dirrell.
There is no major boxing shows happening this weekend, however, the UFC takes its show on the road when it holds UFC 280 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
