Former heavyweight boxer, Joshua “Dempsey” Gormley (23-6, 22 KOs) will make his bare-knuckle boxing debut against former MMA fighter, Bobby “Zombie” Brents (17-7), who was the Shamrock FC champion, in the main event on “BYB Brawl 1; Brawl For It All”. This fight will take place on April 5th at the Cheyenne Ice and Event Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming
“I am really excited to be headlining this televised event, especially in my first bare-knuckle fight,” said Gormley. “I cannot wait to knockout Brents.”
PPV: Integrated Sports Media will distribute Gormley vs. Brents and the undercard fights throughout North America – available in English and Spanish – on pay-per-view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, Dish and Vubiquity in the United States, as well as Bell TV, Shaw, Rogers and SaskTel in Canada, on cable, satellite and digital pay-per-view, in addition to being live-streamed worldwide on the FITE.TV app and website. The undercard for Gormley vs. Brents will start at 10 p.m. EDT / 7 p.m. PDT for a suggested retail price of $24.95.
FREE 2-FIGHT LIVE-STREAM ON BYB PREVIEW SHOW
Two bare-knuckles fights will be streamed live for FREE on FITE.TV and Facebook Live, starting at 9 p.m. EDT / 6 p.m. PDT, leading into the aforementioned pay-per-view card.
Unlike the vast majority of bare-knuckle boxers, who have fought primarily in mixed martial arts sports, Gormley has been a professional boxer for ten years. He won nineteen of his first twenty-one fights and was ranked in the top fifteen in the world by three boxing organizations: IBF (4), WBO, (6), and WBC (14).
Nevertheless, he got knocked out in two consecutive bouts and retired from the sport in 1999. Gormley made a brief comeback sixteen years later in 2015. He won four in a row but suffered back-to-back knockout losses to former world title challenger, Andy Ruiz Jr., and Travis Kauffman in 2016.
Gormley retired from boxing but Dhafir Harris, better known as backyard brawler, Dada 5000, a MMA fighter/ commentator/ filmmaker, convinced Gormley to join the BYB Extreme Fighting Series. Despite being forty-five-years-old, Gormley feels good, mentally and physically, and is in great shape.
“I decided to come out of retirement because I want to become a heavyweight champion, which I was unable to do in boxing,” said Gormley, “I believe that I can have more success in this sport than I had in boxing because my boxing experience and skill set will set me apart from the other fighters.”
Gormley’s massive six-foot, five-inch, 235-pound chiseled frame contributes to his explosive power in both hands. He knocked out seventy-six percent of his opponents during his professional boxing career. The hard-throwing orthodox fighter is tailored made for bare-knuckle boxing since they wear hand wraps as opposed to ten-ounce gloves, which will make him even more of a dangerous, powerful fighter.
“Brents is a great MMA fighter but he is a wrestler and is smaller than I am,” said Gormley. “I will use my boxing skills to pick my shots and then end the fight via a knockout in devastating fashion.”
Gormley, who currently resides in Miami, Florida as a personal trainer, comes from a rich boxing background. His great-grandfather was the legendary former world heavyweight champion and International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, Jack Dempsey. His brother, Chase fought in Bellator MMA, and defeated Brents via a split decision two and a half years ago in Bellator 162.
“I want to thank everyone for all the love and support that they have shown me over the years,” said Gormley. “I will reward their loyalty to me by winning the bare-knuckle boxing heavyweight champion in the foreseeable future.”
During his sixteen-year absence from boxing, Gormley got involved in other combat sports. He won a world title in Cage Wars (Mixed Martial Arts) and K-1 (kickboxing) and participated in wrestling. Last year, he had a small acting role in the movie, Den of Thieves, as a boxing trainer.