Jack Dempsey’s great-grandson Josh Gormley guarantees his 1st bare-knuckles fight isn’t going distance

MIAMI: Knockout artist Josh “Dempsey” Gormley, the great-grandson of legendary world heavyweight boxing champion Jack “The Manassa Mauler” Dempsey, has predicted a knockout victory in the main event on the “BYB Brawl 1: Brawl For It ALL” pay-per-view card, presented by Pure and Natural (www.getpureandnatural.com), on Friday night, April 5, at Cheyenne Ice & Event Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

“BYB Brawl 1: Brawl For It ALL” is promoted by BYB Extreme Fighting Series (BYB), bare-knuckle fighting’s most intense combat sports promoter, and its inaugural event includes 10 professional bare-knuckle fights and two mixed-martial-arts fights, all contested inside its revolutionary triangular cage, known as “The Trigon”.

Integrated Sports Media will distribute the Apr. 5th “BYB Brawl 1: Brawl For It ALL” 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 action starts at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT for a suggested retail price of $24.95.

Two bare-knuckles fights will be streamed live for FREE on FightBook MMA on the FITE.TV Network and Facebook Live, starting at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, leading into the aforementioned PPV card. The two fights on the BYB Preview Show are three-time U.S. Army boxing champion Georgia flyweight Albert “Speedy” Martinez vs. Virgin Island native Kory “Ballistic” Vialet, who lives in Texas; and Canadian featherweight Desmond Johnson vs. International Muay Thai champion Robert “Billy Bad Ass” Fletcher, of Park City, Minnesota.

“BYB Brawl 1: Brawl For It ALL” will also conclude production of “Dawg Fight 2”, the acclaimed documentary in which Dada 5000 was the subject and star, produced once again by award-winning documentary filmmaker Billy Corben (Rakontur). Back-yard brawling icon Dada 5000 will be one of the commentators at cage-side.

The 6′, 5″ Gormley has made a career putting opponents to sleep, evident by the 22 stoppages on his 23-6 pro boxing record. His opponent, veteran Illinois MMA fighter Bobby “Zombie” Brents (17-7), is a former Shamrock FC champion who went the distance, albeit in a losing effort (split decision), to Gormley’s brother, Chase Gormely, 2-1/2 years ago at Bellator 162.

“I’ve been a pro fighter a long time,” Gormley said, “but I’ve never fought bare knuckles. I’ve been training with no gloves and it feels good. My opponent is 5′ 9″ and a wrestler, but we’re fighting in a triangular cage. I guarantee this fight isn’t going the distance. That’s the way I’ve always fought. I don’t believe I can lose because I’m right, mentally and physically, for this fight. He’s in trouble! Somebody’s lights are going out and it’s not going to be me.”

Gormley, who fights out of Miami, where he is a personal trainer, takes great pride in his bloodlines, yet he doesn’t feel any pressure because he’s the great Jack Dempsey’s great-grandson.

“No, no pressure,” Gormley noted. “Maybe a little when I was younger, but I’ve been doing this a long time. I felt that I could have been world heavyweight champion (in pro boxing) if I had the right people behind me. I didn’t have control of my boxing career.”

Gormley’s mother was Dempsey’s granddaughter. Josh visited his great-grandfather a few times and he has some wonderful memories. “He was a good guy, a cool guy,” Josh remembered, “and he was interesting, too. He was close friends with (Hall of Fame trainer) Angelo Dundee and (Hall of Famer fighter) Willie Pep was a bartender at Jack’s bar (Dempsey in New York City). My great-grandfather was the first boxer to be a millionaire and friends with the great Babe Ruth. Jack fought during the depression, he came from nothing. He was a hobo and that’s why he fed so many down-and-out people for free.”

Gormley wants to make his great-grandfather proud on April 5th. “I had retired from boxing and the only reason I’m doing this is that he started out fighting bare knuckles,” Gormley added. “I’ve been through it all. I am older now but feel 10 years younger than I am. I couldn’t fight 10 or 12, but five three-minutes rounds? I can do that easy. I want to go out with a bang…a big knockout!”

Canadian kickboxer Jake “The Good” Young takes on Nebraska MMA veteran Matt “MFD” Delanoit in the co-featured event. In this classic clash of fighting styles, kickboxer Young also has an amateur boxing and MMA background, and Delanoit has a 27-14 pro MMA record.

In a grudge match between fighters from bordering stares, Wyoming favorite and BKB champion Billy “The Kid” Martin, of Casper, faces Colorado striker Leo Pla.

Idaho heavyweight Jamelle “The Best” Jones, a two-time national collegiate wrestling champion, faces five-time pro MMA champion and multiple Tough Man Contest winner, Matt “The Attack” Kovacs, in the mixed-martial-arts main event.

Washington state’s Christine “Knuckles” Stanley, a Chinese-American MMA fighter who has fought in Invicta, is matched versus North Carolina boxer Latoya Burton,who did two tours of Iraq as a member of the U.S. Air Force, in a special female bantamweight bare-knuckles fight.

The spotlight will shine bright on the BYB rematch between Alfonso “Chocolate” Frierson and fellow Miami fighter Mike “Dragon Hulk” Trujillo, who were showcased on the “Dawg Fight” documentary, still available to watch on Netflix, because Frierson’s sensational knockout of Trujillo went viral.

Other bare-knuckles fights on the Apr. 5th card include hometown favorite heavyweight Isaac “Flexx” James vs. Carlton “C Mayja” Little., of Memphis; Atlanta cruiserweight Robert “Real Business” Brown, Jr. vs. Lorenzo Hunt, of St. Augustine, FL; and Michigan bantamweight Brian “Stone Handz” Jackson vs. Dominican John Michael “JoMi” Escoboa, who fights out of Coconut Creek, FL.

The other MMA fight on the card also features a pair of heavyweights, Fort Lauderdale’s (FL) Jermayne “Redman” Barnes and Detroit’s Lamar “The Abomination” Cannady-Foster.

All fights and fighters are subject to change.

FightBookMMA

Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.