Undefeated Bare Knuckle Brawlers Mark “The Shark” Irwin and Joshua “The Preacherman” Oxendine to Headline BYB 17 Brawl at Rock Hill for the BYB Lightweight Championship

BYB Extreme Bare Knuckle Fighting Series returns to the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center Saturday, May 13 for an exciting night of action

Rock Hill, SC –  After hosting the first bare knuckle fighting event in South Carolina history last December, BYB Extreme Fighting Series will return to Rock Hill on May 13 for BYB 17 Brawl at Rock Hill.

Matchmaker Mel Valenzuela announced today that Charlotte’s (by way of Pembroke, NC) Joshua “The Preacherman” Oxendine (2-0, 1 NC, 2 KO) will battle Huntington Beach, California’s Mark “The Shark” Irwin (2-0, 2 KOs) in a matchup of undefeated lightweights to crown the inaugural BYB Lightweight Champion. 

Upon turning pro in 2021, Oxendine, a US Marine Corp veteran and minister working towards his BA in Christian Ministries, became the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina’s first professional fighter. Irwin is a 2-time California State USA Boxing Champion, an undefeated gloved pro (4-0, 3 KOs), and recipient of the 2022 BYB knockout of the year.

While their backgrounds are radically different, neither lacks confidence in a fight months in the making. 

Said Oxendine, “Mark will probably do everything right leading up to the fight, but there will always be that one mistake he won’t be able to live down: signing the contract to fight me.”

Irwin, coming off ACL reconstruction surgery, has long been one of the most colorful and vocal fighters in combat sports, “The long awaited and much anticipated return of bare knuckle’s most exciting fighter is here. I’m the baddest man on the planet, and on May 13th I’m going to go into enemy territory to prove it in violent and dramatic fashion. Shark week is back.”

BYB 17 Brawl at Rock Hill will take place May 13 at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Tickets are available now at bybtickets.com. Follow @bybextreme on social for more information.

ABOUT BYB

Originating in South Florida with backyard legend Dada 5000, whose backyard fights gained worldwide popularity online, BYB was founded to harness the excitement of bare knuckle into a more structured product for a wider, more mainstream audience. Since 2015, BYB has worked diligently to grow the reach of bare knuckle fighting on both a domestic and international level, hosting events in Wyoming, Mississippi, Florida, South Carolina, London, and Dubai, and is continuing to work with athletic commissions throughout the United States globally to expand the fanbase growing sport of bare knuckle fighting. For more information on BYB, visit bybextreme.com and follow @bybextreme on social.

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