Bryce Hall tests skills with Gee Perez at BKFC 48 on August 11th.
The fistic fireworks take place at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The broadcast transpires on Fite TV as well as the Bare Knuckle TV app.
Hall spoke to Dylan Bowker of Bare Knuckle News before the bout. Excerpts from the chat are below.
Bryce Hall
It seems like you’re getting in a lot of hard work with dual division BKFC champ/number two pound-for-pound ranked fighter in the company, Lorenzo Hunt. The BKFC cruiserweight champion Hunt will also corner you for this fight as cruiserweight contender Chris Camozzi will corner Perez. What’s the entire timeline for that dynamic with ‘The Juggernaut’ Hunt and who reached out to who for the training?
“I actually asked the BKFC to connect me with him. I’ve seen his highlight knockouts, I’ve seen his power, and I think we have a similar-ish build. Gee Perez is coming up to the 165 weight. I’m going down to 165 but I’m a built guy. So I feel like our fighting styles would be similar in the sense of we’re the big bullies waking around just hitting hard.”
What was your first exposure to the sport of bare-knuckle boxing?
“Bare-knuckle is blowing up. I think it’s gonna be a massive sport, especially after August 11th and people see the first influencer try it out. I wanted to do it because I know I hit hard and I know I have knockout power. I’ve knocked people out. In my last fight, I didn’t get to prove anything over some *******. This is in a sense my redemption – to do a bare-knuckle fight against a 3-0 bare-knuckle fighter in his prime, so…”
Photo credit to Phil Lambert/BKFC
BKFC
This would seem like a win-win, almost where if you even have a valiant showing, it can open up opportunities in gloved boxing and perhaps more bare-knuckle. Is that kind of how you’re looking at it as well?
“I’m gonna be the first and only influencer to ever do this I would assume. I think a lot of influencers are going to say they want to try it, but they’re not going to. I think once they see what happens on August 11th, they’re going to realize it’s way too brutal for them. I’m not scared. I’m not scared to get punched in the face. Not scared to punch someone in the face bare-knuckle. I’ve done it. This is something that I just want to do (laughs). I want to do it.”
When did Gee Perez get on the radar and when did the bad blood/slapping at weigh-ins/post-fight callouts start ramping up with him?
“I think once I announced that I was doing like a bare-knuckle fight, because we were already in contact with Dave Feldman, Gee Perez saw an opportunity to hop on. Like oh man, I want to fight this influencer for an easy – like, oh I’m going to get this influencer and beat his ***, blah, blah, blah. Then I watched his fights. I saw that he was 3-0 or 2-0 at the time. I was like, ok let me see what this guy is about.”
Bryce Hall continued, “Noticed that he fights at like 125-135, lightweight. So I thought like ok, this fight wouldn’t happen, he’s way too light for me. Then he made another video saying that he would fight me at any weight. So then I was like ok, not really impressed with anything that he’s done. He’s a good fighter but I wasn’t like oh ****, I’m scared to fight this guy. I think I can get the best of this dude. Let’s sign the contract, let’s run it. 165, we’ll meet in the middle.”
BKFC 48
The aforementioned work with Lorenzo Hunt would provide you a great chance to sit under one of the better learning trees in the sport since Hunt has such high fight IQ. What have you gleaned from him regarding this sport and how has the work with him bolstered your understanding of this game?
“I’m learning a lot more of like the inside fighting, grappling. I was a wrestler growing up, very comfortable with grappling. I know there’s a lot of different rules when it comes to BKFC vs like, actual boxing. To be honest, I could see that working heavily in my favor because of my wrestling background. So this fight, I’m going to be a dog… I’m going to be patient, but if it comes to being on the inside, I don’t think Gee Perez is going to want to be there.”
Poster courtesy of BKFC
Bryce Hall vs Gee Perez
To use the parlance of pro wrestling, it seems like you’re relishing in the heel role for this one being the influencer interloper into BKFC. Gee Perez is also BKFC’s cut man and a pretty endeared figure in the bare-knuckle community. Is that a fair characterization of the mindset/approach heading into this one?
“(laughs) I mean I’m going in as like the massive underdog. I don’t think there’s a villain nature to my persona. I think I’m going to go in there, I’m going to do my thing, and I’m going to get a lot of people pissed when I beat their boy up, I guess.”
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