Castleford fighters Anthony Holmes and Nathan Owens impress with victories on BKFC debut

The American promotion could not fail to be impressed by the performances of the Castleford fighters as they brought the house down at Newcastle’s Walker Activity Dome.

Holmes, a world champion with the previous promotion he fought for, left the venue as the BKFC’s first British cruiserweight champion while Owens was testing himself for the first time in the world of bare knuckle boxing and came through with a thrilling victory.

In one of the top of joint top of the bill contests Holmes produced an impressive display to stop Darren Hendry in the fourth round.

A strong start saw the Cas man land some powerful punches in the opening round. Hendry came back in the second, but Holmes turned the tables again in round three against a more defensive opponent.

And early in the fourth round Holmes landed a huge right hand that dropped Hendry and led to the fight being stopped.

"In his fights he’s usually rushed so I was trying to be patient the first three until he gassed and then I was going to up it in the last two,” explained Holmes.

"But then it was just coming the way it came. I knew he was struggling with range and it was a matter of time. The longer it went on the more it was coming to me.”

Holmes stepped up in weight for the fight, but coped it with it well in his desire to continue to make his mark in the sport.

He added: “I was having to eat constantly in order to keep weight on, but I know this was a good fight.

"I’ve just moved promotions and won the world titles there so I just want to keep getting more world titles.

"I want to keep progressing and I want to go to the States.”

Castleford's Nathan Owens is ready to fight again and takes on BKFC test

In contrast to Holmes, fellow Cas fighter Owens is a bare knuckle novice.

In what was regarded as the fight of the night by many of the fans, he needed the judges’ decision to beat more experienced bare knuckle fighter David Round in a light heavyweight bout, but was a worthy winner and showed off some great skills that turned the clock back to when he was a rated young professional boxer.

He also showed guts when caught with some big shots in the second round, but returned fire with fire in dropping his opponent near the end of the round.

From that point he largely controlled the fight and was a unanimous winner, taking two of the judges’ verdicts five round to nil.

After the fight and his return to the ring after 10 years, Owens said: “What a feeling!

"It felt amazing to be back in the ring after 10 years. Massive thank you to my team @brenton_nick & @marksfitness_ and it was an absolute pleasure to share the ring with David Round.”

The BKFC promotion has enjoyed huge success in the USA and are now planning to stage shows on a regular basis throughout the UK as the sport’s growth and popularity continues.