Joseph 'JoJo' Diaz To Debut in New Sport One Month After Ashton Sylve Loss

Former IBF super featherweight champion Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz is looking for a fresh start.

With another lopsided decision loss to Ashton Sylve in Misfits Boxing, Diaz is now just 2-9 in his last 11 fights while falling to 34-10-1 overall. The skid has sent the 33-year-old into an entirely different realm as he prepares for a clean slate in the bare-knuckle boxing world.

Just two weeks after his loss to Sylve, Diaz has signed with BKB, the bare-knuckle promotion announced on Thursday. He will make his debut at BKB 56 on July 18.

JoJo Diaz is fighting bare knuckle 👊

Former two-division boxing world champion Joseph "JoJo" Diaz will headline the BKB 56 undercard on July 18 in Los Angeles as a part of a multi-fight deal with BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing.

You can watch this fight live exclusively on BKB’s… pic.twitter.com/c5OqnBdSZz
— BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing (@bkbbareknuckle) July 2, 2026

Diaz’s scheduled bare-knuckle debut will already be his third fight of 2026. The California native fought Alexis Rocha in March and Sylve in June – just one month before his anticipated BKB bout.

Diaz does not yet have an opponent for his bare-knuckle debut in his home state. BKB announced that he will be competing in the featured prelim before the main card begins.

Although Diaz has not had much success lately, his strength of schedule rivals the best in the industry. ‘JoJo’ has gone toe-to-toe with Devin Haney, Tevin Farmer, William Zepeda, Oscar Duarte and a memorable 2025 Fight of the Year candidate with Regis Prograis.

JoJo Diaz joins BKB’s expanding roster

Joseph Diaz, Jr. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With a mere 44 percent knockout rate, Diaz has never been known as a one-punch knockout artist. However, his durability and chin have always been his calling cards, even as the results have gotten away from him. Diaz has only been stopped once in his 45-fight professional career.

Diaz joins a high-profile BKB event headlined by another former prominent boxer. Former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz will also make his bare-knuckle debut in the main event against fellow debutant Dominic Salcido. Ortiz and Salcido, two California natives, meet in a 154-pound five-round bout.

Middleweight and super middleweight champion Lorawnt T. Nelson returns in the BKB 56 co-main event, taking on Russian combat sports veteran Serob Minasyan. The 37-year-old Minasyan is just 2-2 in the BKB, but gained traction by upsetting Roberto Duran Jr. in his second promotional outing.

Ortiz and Diaz will soon be joined by Fernando Vargas Jr. and Amado Vargas, who each make their BKB debuts in July. The Vargas brothers, sons of former two-time 154-pound champion Fernando Vargas, simultaneously signed with the promotion in early 2026.

Fernando Vargas Jr. is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Callum Walsh in the co-main event of Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford.

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