Robert Duran Jr. replaces Paulie Malignaggi against Victor Ortiz in the main event of BKB 62 on December 5th at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles.
The BKB announced the change on Thursday, saying Malignaggi stepped down for personal reasons. The promotion announced an Ortiz-Malignaggi match in October.
Robert Duran Jr. will step into the Dec. 5 main event after Paulie Malignaggi pulled out for personal reasons
Duran Jr., the son of four-division boxing world champion Roberto Duran, went 13-4 with 10 knockouts in professional boxing. He made his bare-knuckle debut in 2024 with a third-round TKO of then-BKB welterweight champion Javon Wright. He is 4-2 in the BKB, with all four wins coming by stoppage. He last stopped Ryan Spivey in the first round at BKB 58 in August.
“When you get an opportunity like this, you have to take it,” Duran Jr. said in a press release. “Victor Ortiz is a boxing legend, a former world champion who has shared the ring with some of the best in the sport. I have the utmost respect for what he has accomplished, but when that bell rings, it’s all business. I step up to make the most of this opportunity, prove what I can do and show the world that I belong on that stage.”
Ortiz (33-7-3, 25 KOs in professional boxing), a former WBC welterweight champion, won a unanimous decision at BKB 56 over Dominic Salcido in his bare-knuckle debut.
FIGHT UPDATE 🚨 Second generation star Robert Duran Jr. replacing Paulie Malignaggi in the main event of BKB 62: Los Angeles and Victor Ortiz. #BKB62 | SATURDAY DECEMBER 5 | 🎟️ Tickets at https://t.co/pxqt1WO5bQ https://t.co/dDBVO26Or6
— BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing (@bkbbareknuckle)
November 12, 2026