Ben ‘The Bomber’ Bonner will fight in front of a crowd of 23,000 in Philadelphia
Teesside bare-knuckle boxer Ben ‘The Bomber’ Bonner(Image: BigBoysBrawlHQ)
Teesside bare-knuckle boxer Ben Bonner will compete for a second world champion title in America next week. Dubbed ‘The Bomber’, Ben from Grove Hill will face Austin Trout in the main event at the BKFC Liberty Brawl on July 3, 2026, at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Bonner’s previous fight was in the same arena in February 2026 when he beat Tony Soto for the second time in-front of a sold out 23,000 crowd. Ben said: “The fight takes place on American Independence weekend July 3/4th so is expected to be a sell out crowd again of 23,000. The bout is for the vacant BKFC Lightweight World Title.”
Trout enters the fight with a 5-0 BKFC record and is ranked among the promotion’s top pound-for-pound fighters. And Ben is the former BKFC lightweight champion and is ranked number one lightweight contender in the world heading into the match.
Ben, who fights out of the Fuse Fight studio gym at Cannon Park under the guidance of Craig Morfitt, the head coach, is known as a knockout puncher with a high boxing IQ. Since taking up the sport four years ago Ben fought his way to his first world title last summer.
A 12,000 crowd at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, saw him clinch the BKFC 70kg World Lightweight title with a thrilling unanimous decision victory over Tony “Loco” Soto. And when he returned to see mam Danielle in Grove Hill after the fight, the community he grew up in turned out in force to welcome him home.
Ben with head coach Craig Moffit, BKFC British champion Gary Fox and Lou Fuse from Thefuskeuk podcast(Image: thefuseuk)
It’s been a remarkable rise to the top for Ben, 35, a drug counsellor. The former Joseph’s Primary and Newlands School pupil played football at a decent standard for various local sides and in his 20s, resumed conventional boxing.
But intrigued by the arrival in the UK of US-based BKFC (Bare Knuckle Fight Championship) Ben got in touch – and he’s never looked back.
He said: “I’d seen it on TV and it quite intrigued me and I did think to myself ‘I’d like to give it a try’. I messaged a guy in America about joining and he put me on to a promoter in the UK who offered me a fight in London.
“I’ll be honest, when I was in the changing room before that first fight, a guy on the fight before me walked back in with his nose on the other side of his face… I remember thinking ‘I’m not sure I signed up for this’.” However, he fought and ended up with a five-fight deal afterwards.
“I guess it looks more brutal than conventional boxing because of the amount of blood you’re more likely to see and the superficial cuts and what not. But if you look at the data, it’s safer than conventional boxing because there’s less trauma to the head.”
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