BKFC: Mundell, as advertised, defeats Sanchez

If you can back it up, it ain’t braggin’.

David Mundell, the BKFC’s pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter, dropped Albuquerque’s Donald Sanchez three times in successfully defending that bare-knuckle fighting organization’s middleweight title Friday night at Tingley Coliseum.

Mundell (10-1), an ultra-confident individual who’d shown little respect for Sanchez during pre-fight interviews, afterward gave the Albuquerque fighter credit for snapping the champion’s streak of wins by knockout at five. The bout went all five rounds, though with lopsided scores (50-42, 49-43, 49-43) handed down by the judges.

For Sanchez (4-2) just not getting knocked out wasn’t what he’d trained for. After the remaining fight on his BKFC contract, the 40-year-old said, he’s done.

“The goal is to win,” he said. “The goal is to be a champion. So here we are, the end of the road. … There’s no point unless you’re fighting for that title.”

In terms of punches thrown and landed, the fight was relatively even. It was Mundell’s heavier hands that made all the difference.

In the first round, Mundell, a southpaw from Oldsmar, Florida, dropped Sanchez with a hard right. Sanchez got to his feet, but went down from a grazing left moments later.

Sanchez fared far better in the second round, winning it on the Journal’s unofficial scorecard, but was dropped again by a hard left hand in the third.

Saddled with a 7-10 round in the first and an 8-10 round in the third, Sanchez’s only path to victory entering final two rounds was a knockout. But, though he landed some clean shots, they had no visible effect on Mundell.

“I wasn’t able to put him on his back foot like I wanted to,” Sanchez said. “He did hit hard, and he was pretty technical.”

Mundell had some kind words afterward, saying he’d been caught by punches he’d not seen coming and calling Sanchez “tricky.

“He’s a tough guy,” Mundell said.

“Tough,” Sanchez said, “isn’t good enough.”

In the co-main event, Murat Kilimetov (3-0), 204.8 pounds, Albuquerque, defeated Leo Bercier (6-4), 206.6, Great Falls, Montana, by first-round TKO.

Kilimetov, a Russian who trains in Albuquerque at Jackson-Wink, appeared to have broken Bercier’s nose with the first significant punch he landed. Thereafter, Bernier cringed in pain with every blow Kilimetov landed to the face and twice was dropped to the canvas.

The fight was waved off at the 1:36 mark of the first.

In a featured fight, Derek Perez (5-4), 145.6, Belen, defeated Rick Caruso (2-5), 144.6, Princeton, West Virginia, by third-round TKO.

After a close first round, Perez gradually gained control against Caruso.

In the third, Caruso dropped to the canvas, in pain from a blow to the back of his head. Caruso complained to referee Aaron Glenn, apparently believing the blow was illegal. But the knockdown stood.

Just as the round was about to end, Caruso again sank to the canvas. Glenn signaled an end to the fight with just one second remaining in the third.

In other fights:

William Albrecht (3-1), 185, Albuquerque, defeated Kyle McElroy (2-6), 184.2, Albuquerque, by second-round TKO.

Felipe Chavez (3-1), 164.8, Albuquerque defeated Brandon Honsvick (1-2), 162.6, Hurricane, Utah, by unanimous decision.

Skyler Mauller (BKFC debut), 174, Crooksville, Ohio, defeated Bryant McClain (0-2), 173.2, Rio Rancho, by first-round knockout.

Bobby Henry (BKFC debut), 160, Broward County, Fla., defeated Albuquerque’s Kasey Yates (0-2), 164.5, by fifth-round knockout.

In what was billed as a grudge match, Albrecht opened a cut near McElroy’s left eye in the first round. McElroy was credited with a knockdown in the second, though it appeared to be more of a trip.

McElroy’s eye took more damage in the second, and he was not allowed to come out for the third.

Albrecht, who’d had some highly uncomplimentary things to say about McElroy earlier in the week, was charitable afterward.

“He’s a tough man,” he said.

Chavez, who’s originally from Socorro, landed almost at will against Honsvick and took almost nothing in return.

Honsvick was dropped by a backhand left jab in the first round, at the same time sustaining a cut under his right eye. Chavez landed the jab repeatedly, progressively mixing in hard right hands. Honsvick, a late replacement for Chavez’s original opponent, had no answer.

The judges’ scores were beyond lopsided: 50-44, 50-40 and 50-44.

Seconds into the Mauller-McClain fight, the appropriately named Mauller launched a wild right hand that caught McClain just in front of the Rio Ranchoan’s left ear.

Down McClain went. End of fight.

Henry was losing on the Journal’s card through four rounds in the first fight of the night, a desultory one to that point, when he suddenly unleashed a right hand that landed flush on Yates’ jaw and dropped him for the count.

THE CROWD AND THE FUTURE: BKFC President David Feldman said Friday’s attendance was approximately 3,300, the smallest of the five BKFC cards that have been staged at Tingley. The BKFC also had promoted at the Rio Rancho Events Center, Revel ABQ and the Kiva Auditorium at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

Feldman said he remains bullish on Albuquerque as a site for future BKFC events, possibly at other locations — at one point mentioning the Pit.

Photos: BKFC 75 at Tingley Coliseum