Worcester's Perez part of first sanctioned bare knuckle fight at Fenway Park
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Robby and "The Wolf.”
Robby is Robinson Rafael Perez Jr., father of four; Worcester born and a former semi-pro football player.
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"The Wolf" is ... let him explain.
“'The Wolf' has a certain swag that has a feng shui to it," said Perez, who trains at Camp Get Right on West Boylston Street. "It’s not a gimmick, it’s not trying to look cool, it’s just who 'The Wolf" is. He knows what he’s capable of and he just gets it done."
“It’s always been a part of me. I tell people I’ve got a split personality."
Both are set to make history.
Perez is one of 24 fighters who will take their gloves off and stalk their prey on Saturday, August 29 for BKFC 92 when the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship makes its Massachusetts debut at Fenway Park. Perez fought at Fenway on June 6 when he won a boxing match (gloves on) by first-round knockout.
BKFC has hosted events across the world; Saturday's event includes a matchup of undefeated fighters for the World Featherweight Championship.
“It’s an honor to finally get on with BKFC – they're one of the hottest promotions out right now – and being able to do what I love to do," said Perez, who will fight in the Ironweight division (206-225 pounds). I can’t wait. I’m coming out to put on a show for all my Massachusetts people."
"Rob takes everything to the limit," said Camp Get Right owner Kendrick Ball. "He's different. He pushes himself; he likes challenges and he always steps up when he gets the opportunity."
Perez, 33, will fight Guilherme Viana, 40, a mixed martial artist who appeared on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 in 2014. But Perez has other fighters in mind, which was obvious at a Fenway Park press conference last month when he grew heated and vociferously called out two-time BKFC light heavyweight champion Lorenzo Hunt.
"I want Lorenzo!" he said at the event, which has a video that drew more than 20,000 views on Facebook.
When asked about Hunt in a recent phone conversation, Perez quickly raised his voice.
"The Wolf" emerged.
“I got a list," he said. "Lorenzo Hunt; Mike Perry (the No. 4 middleweight in BKFC; 15-time Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor); Yoel Romero (silver medalist in freestyle wrestling for Cuba at the 2000 Sydney Olympics). All three of them. That’s my hit list.
“I want it well known that I want Lorenzo, then I’ll go down a weight class and then I’ll fight Yoel at cruiser and then I’ll drop down another weight class and I’ll fight Mike Perry.”
Perez starred at linebacker in high school
Perez grew up in Worcester but attended Bacon Academy in Colchester, Connecticut. He said he was one of the top linebackers in the Eastern Connecticut Conference and had offers from Division 1 schools, but college was never a realistic option.
"It was just my grades, man. I was a (mess) up as a kid," he said. "I didn’t take the academic part seriously. School wasn’t really even for me. The whole college route probably wouldn't have worked out.”
Perez played semi-pro football for the Green Valley Blackhawks in Connecticut.
“Football was my passion; I love being physical. Using my body to inflict pain on other people.”
One of his three sons, Elijah, plays football at Burncoat High.
Perez, who previously lived in Southbridge, has a 4-3 record as a boxer, but his roots involve taking the gloves off.
“I’ve been fighting bare knuckle my whole life; this ain’t nothing new," he said. "All the training’s the same: I’m a striker, I’m a brawler. I don’t pretend to be a boxer; I don’t pretend to be a mixed martial artist – I just fight.”
Saturday's event begins at 6 p.m. Tickets range from $61 in the grandstand to $758 ringside. The fights will be streamed on bkfc.com or on the BKFC app.
When asked for a prediction, Perez responded with a fairly subdued, un-Wolf-like answer.
“It’s going to be fun and it’s going to be entertaining – I will say that.”
‒Contact Tim Dumas at [email protected]. Follow him on Instagram at tdumas1 and X, formerly known as Twitter, @TDumas2112.
Fight card
Kai Stewart vs Harry Gigliotti: Featherweight
Christine Ferea vs Sofia Landi: Women Bantamweight
Joe Lauzon vs Stash Kuykendall: Welterweight
Rico Disciullo vs Tray Martin: Featherweight
Pat Casey vs Dallas Davison: Middleweight
Charles Rosa vs Charon Spain: Lightweight
Peter Barrett vs Elijah Harris: Lightweight
Taylor Starling vs Kat Paprocki: Strawweight
Guilherme Viana vs Robinson Perez: Ironweight
James Murrin vs Chris Rooney: Featherweight
Jake Pilla vs Angelo Colon: Featherweight
Shane Jordan vs Daniel Pettit: Bantamweight
David Burke vs David Simpson: Light Heavyweight
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester's Perez part of first sanctioned bare knuckle fight at Fenway Park