If Big Knockout Boxing middleweight champ Gabriel Rosado needed any other incentive to give his all April 4 against Curtis Stevens in BKB 2 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, two factors that could motivate the Philadelphia native were released Monday.
BKB announced the main event for their second pay-per-view event between Rosado and Stevens would feature a $30,000 knockout bonus. Rosado won the inaugural BKB event in October , besting game Bryan Vera via Round 6 TKO.
Also announced on Monday were the betting odds for the bout, and as he has been many times before, Rosado finds himself the underdog against Stevens.
MGM Resorts International listed Stevens as a -200 favorite, with Rosado coming in as a +160 dog.
“Playing the role of underdog is something I’ve done my entire career, so I’m used to it and thrive on the challenge,” Rosado said. “I’m not afraid of anyone and when I enter The Pit on April 4, I’ll be ready to implement my training and experience in this format to knock Stevens out.”
Stevens also took to the KO bonus with excitement and even went as far as guaranteeing a win in his first BKB event.
“The $30,000 bonus is just more incentive for me to knockout Rosado on April 4th and become BKB Middleweight Champion,” Stevens said. “Make sure you have the check written out to Curtis “Showtime” Stevens.”
The fight is garnering attention with the notable names, but a new technology being introduced could steal the show.
BKB’s in-glove fight technology will make its debut, giving fans real-time information on who threw the hardest punch in each round, what type of punch it was, where it lands and the hand mass landed on the fighter’s body.
The second BKB event will be available on PPV for $29.99 and will all go down in “The Pit,” a circular fighting space that is smaller than the usual square ring traditional boxing matches take place in. The smaller confines of “The Pit” coupled with no ropes for fighters to lean on, promotes action, increasing the chance of a knockout as made evident with four of the nine bouts ending in a KO, and those that didn’t were filled with big shots.
Rounds are two minutes long opposed to the traditional three, with title bouts being scheduled for seven rounds instead of the usual 12. The nontitle fights last five rounds.
