Zanfer, a promotional home to notable Mexican fighters, including current world champions Jaime Munguia, Emanuel Navarrete and Rafael Espinoza, will assist BKB by sourcing and providing a pipeline of Mexican fighters who want to crossover while also co-promoting events, The Ring has learned.

The pact is supposed to produce multiple events per year across multiple years, and the first event is scheduled for September 19 at Auditorio Municipal in Tijuana. The event will mark BKB's debut in the Mexican market.

“Mexico is one of the most important boxing markets in the world, and there is no better partner to enter it with than Zanfer Promotions — their history speaks for itself," BKB CEO David Tetreault told The Ring.

"Together we are bringing bare knuckle boxing to a country that lives and breathes this sport. Launching with a pair of world title fights is exactly the statement we want to make as we plant our flag in Mexico and across Latin America.”

Tetreault emphasized that BKB plans to crawl, walk and run across Mexico with an eye toward greater Latin American expansion.

Fernando Beltran, the founder and CEO of Zanfer, is also bullish on bare knuckle boxing as the sport continues to enjoy a steady rise in relevance.

"Mexican fans want to see champions fight for titles, and that's what BKB is delivering right out of the gate," Beltran said. "This is the start of something big for bare knuckle boxing in Mexico."

In recent months, BKB has signed Paulie Malignaggi, Victor Ortiz, Joseph Diaz, Alfredo Angulo, Lee Selby, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Hank Lundy, Lucas Browne, John Molina Jr., Fernando Vargas Jr. and Amado Vargas.

The main event for next month features another pro boxing transplant, when Tijuana's Julian Fernandez defends his BKB super cruiserweight title against former three-division BKB champion Dan Podmore. The chief supporting bout features a female fight for the vacant BKB super flyweight title between Mexico's Cecy Ulloa and Andy Nguyen.

Fernandez is undefeated in three bare knuckle bouts and competed as a heavyweight in boxing, compiling a 16-4 record with 13 KOs. The 33-year-old's losses have come against credible competition in Frank Sanchez, Arslanbek Makhmudov and Tom Schwarz, but he's been able to find better success in BKB's trigon ring fighting with bare fists in close quarters.

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan