James Lilley and Luis Palomino battle for the former’s BKFC lightweight title at BKFC 45 on June 23rd.
The fistic fireworks broadcast on Fite TV as well as the Bare Knuckle TV app. The pugilistic proceedings emanate from Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
Lilley spoke to Dylan Bowker of Bare Knuckle News to discuss the machinations of the matchup, maintaining a championship reign of over a thousand days versus trying to derail that momentum, and so much more. Excerpts from the chat are below.
James Lilley
Based on some interviews I’ve seen of yours, it seems like the focus was to always secure a Luis Palomino fight. Is that a fair characterization?
“Yeah, if like for example Alan Belcher was the number one pound for pound then maybe I wouldn’t go for that as much because he’s a much heavier fighter than me. But because it just so happens that the champion of my division is also considered the number one pound-for-pound in the whole organization then that’s the fight I want. I want to show the world what I’m all about. I love fighting.”
“If I was at the bottom of the pile, I’d still fight for as long as my body let me. But it just so happens that if you’re good at something and you’re consistent, you get the rankings and you get more plaudits. So they kind of go hand in hand. Yeah as I said, I’m just loving the fact that the best guy in the organization, I’m fighting.”
BKFC
Are you curating your camp to have sparring partners with similar body types to the champion replicate the stylistic attributes Palomino brings to the squared circle?
“To be honest, it’s hard to find people to sort of replicate Luis’ style. I think he’s got a very unique style where he fights in sort of phases where he’s like on you and then he backs off and he counters. It’s really hard to replicate that style. So I’ve had a variety of opponents. I’ve had guys who were experienced MMA fighters, experienced professional boxers, experienced bare-knuckle fighters. So I just have a variety of different fighters. That’s the best I can prepare. So it’s more about me getting sharp and changing.”
“Especially we’ve got like three or four different boys there and one of them’s a brawler, one of them’s a boxer, one of them likes to grab you. It’s nice to have that so you’ve got multiple game plans depending on how the fight goes.”
“It’s really hard to get someone; Bobby Taylor is a perfect example actually. We thought he was going to rush me and come on me straight away. As soon as the buzzer sounded, he took a step back and went on the back foot. So you can never predict what another man’s going to do. They’ve got certain styles and certain niches but it’s hard to actually predict what they’re going to do on the night.”
BKFC 45
Being a former BKB champion, how much would winning a BKFC title mean to the overall bare-knuckle resume/ legacy?
“For me, the goal wasn’t, I didn’t set out to become like world champ, you know, BKFC champion. My goal was to get over stateside and fight in America. I kind of take everything as a bonus. But as the ceiling got higher, as I sort of got into the rankings, and then beat this guy and beat that guy, I kind of got it in my sights that that’s something that I wanted. When I first started out doing sort of bare-knuckle and came over to BKFC, I never was like I want to be world champion.”
“I was just like right, let’s just see where this journey takes me. It’s only when I’ve had this consistency, I’ve had this good support team around me that were like right well where can we go with this? Luis Palomino was always going to be that guy. I’ll be honest, if he’d vacated or I was fighting someone else for an interim title, I’d kind of be a little bit more disappointed. Because he’s got this pound-for-pound status, he’s a two-weight champion.”
James Lilley continued, “So the belt is really icing on the cake. Actually getting to fight who many consider the best bare-knuckle fighter on the planet is more of an achievement. I’m just happy that it can come with a title, you know?”
James Lilley vs Luis Palomino
When I spoke to Luis Palomino he was playful with your nickname and said he had the aim to put your ‘Lights Out’. Do you have a particular prediction for how the story of this fight unfurls?
“Yeah, I think, you know, I’ve got great respect for Luis. He’s been a great champion but you know, all reigns have to come to an end. I think boldly I’m going to predict that I’m going to knock him out in the fifth round. I think I’m going to work him out early and then I’m going to shock the world as he tires. I’m going to get him out of there and I’m going to be the first Welshman to hold that BKFC belt. Then I’ll look forward to as an honorable man giving the champ a rematch in my hometown.”
