COMBAT SPORTS
England's Bonner KO's Trout in stunning upset
Las Cruces legend taken out 30 seconds into the second round in fight for BKFC lightweight title
There was no way, Las Cruces鈥� Austin Trout thought 鈥� and said as much 鈥� that a mere brawler like England鈥檚 Ben Bonner could match the skills the former boxing world champion had honed over some two decades.
Hold my bitter beer, the Englishman said Friday night in Philadelphia 鈥� not with words, but with a powerful right hand.
In stunning fashion, Bonner knocked out Trout 30 seconds into the second round of their fight for the previously vacant BKFC (bare-knuckle) lightweight title.
Trout, a minus-400 favorite entering the fight, lost for the first time in bare-knuckle competition and is 5-1. Bonner, of Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, is 6-2.
Afterward in the ring at XFinity Mobile Arena, Bonner paid tribute to his fallen opponent while celebrating his shocking upset victory.
鈥淎ustin Trout was the No. 2 pound-for-pound, best-ever bare-knuckle,鈥� he said. 鈥淟et me tell you something. By the time Ben Bonner retires from bare-knuckle I will be the best to ever do it.鈥�
One could argue that the boxing skills Trout had exploited in fashioning that 5-0 bare-knuckle record, and in winning a BKFC welterweight title, deserted him on Friday.
Some 15 seconds into the first round, Bonner dropped Trout with a looping right hand over a Trout left hand that was nowhere near his chin. Trout got to his feet, apparently unhurt, and appeared to win the rest of the round.
But in the second round, recent history repeated itself 鈥� this time, Bonner鈥檚 right hand landing with far more force. Trout, again with his chin unprotected, never saw it coming.
He came nowhere near clambering to his feet before referee Andrew Glenn reached the count of 10. Once the cobwebs had cleared, Trout was able to shake Bonner鈥檚 hand as the outcome was announced in the ring.
The Bonner-Trout fight was the main event of an event billed as the BKFC Liberty Brawl. The matchup between an American and an Englishman in the evening鈥檚 finale was widely expected to produce another victory for the colonies.
Trout, in the spirit of things, entered the area wearing a stars-and-stripes robe and a matching top hat. His trunks, as well, bore the red, white and blue.
The fireworks were all Bonner鈥檚. Trout was counted out for the first time in his career and stopped short of the prescribed distance for only the second time, having lost to Jarrett Hurd by 10th-round TKO in 2017.
Trout, who lives and trains in Houston, will turn 41 in September. He鈥檚 had a remarkable career that has produced a USA Boxing national amateur title, a trip to Athens as an Olympic alternate in 1984, a WBA junior middleweight title, a victory over Puerto Rican legend Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden and a BKFC welterweight title.
Retirement would seem a logical reaction to Friday鈥檚 outcome. But will a fighter鈥檚 pride dictate otherwise?
