Victor Ortiz, Paulie Malignaggi set for Bare Knuckle Boxing clash

Former boxing world champions Victor Ortiz and Paulie Malignaggi are set to meet under the BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing banner.

BKB announced Saturday that Ortiz and Malignaggi will headline BKB 62 on Dec. 5 at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. The bout will take place inside the promotion’s Trigon ring, with tickets scheduled to go on sale Oct. 12.

Ortiz (33-7-3, 25 KOs) is a former WBC welterweight champion who faced Floyd Mayweather Jr., Andre Berto and Marcos Maidana in traditional boxing. He made his bare-knuckle debut at BKB 56, earning a unanimous decision over Dominic Salcido.

“I’ve been in some of the biggest fights of my career, and now I’m ready for a completely different challenge in the Trigon. Paulie is a former world champion with a lot of experience, but this is bare-knuckle boxing and I’m coming in prepared to fight,” Ortiz said.

Malignaggi (36-8, 7 KOs) held world titles in two weight classes during his professional boxing career. The Brooklyn native most recently challenged BKB super welterweight champion Rolando Dy, who stopped him in the second round.

“Be ready, Vic. December 5th, I’m coming to your hometown, and I’m taking you out,” Malignaggi said.

BKB CEO David Tetreault described the matchup as a fight that should have happened years ago in traditional boxing. The promotion said additional bouts for BKB 62 will be announced later.