Yuma local wins Bare-Knuckle boxing pro debut

Alex Magana emerges victorious with second-round TKO

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) - Alex "El Guapo" Magana has competed in combat sports since middle school, but the Yuma native recently stepped into unfamiliar territory.

After being contacted by the Bare Knuckle Cartel promotion last year, the former Cibola wrestler made the jump to professional bare-knuckle boxing. His debut could hardly have gone better.

Magana earned a second-round technical knockout over Jimmy Scully in Tulsa, Oklahoma, marking a successful start to his professional bare-knuckle career.

The victory carried far more significance than just adding a win to his record.

Magana said the triumph came after a difficult year filled with personal struggles, including challenges with his mental health.

"It goes back to struggles with mental health," Magana said. "I had such a tough year this year, and just overcoming every single thing that came with that and getting my hand raised and knowing I had my friends in the right corner, just not them knowing personally what I've been through. It was such a indescribable feeling man."

He also admitted there was extra motivation after hearing Scully dismiss him before the fight.

"He was talking a little trash before, calling me a journeyman, underdog and amateur," Magana said. "I'm just glad I got to prove who the journeyman was."

Although the fight ended in Magana's favor, it was far from one-sided.

After scoring an early knockdown, Magana became overly aggressive while trying to finish the bout. That allowed Scully — a champion in another bare-knuckle promotion — to land a punch that knocked Magana down for the first time in his life.

"I remember being on both feet and then I'm looking at the floor all of a sudden like, 'Hey, what happened? Why am I on the floor?'" Magana said. "It was my first time ever being knocked down, not just in a fight, but ever. To come back from that wobbliness and show that resilience, it was a war."

Magana credits his wrestling background for helping him recover and ultimately finish the fight.

"I think wrestling, even though I love striking sports, was such a big deal to me," he said. "It taught me how to grind things out and that toughness that you really can't learn in another sport."

Preparing for a bare-knuckle fight also required significant adjustments compared to traditional boxing or mixed martial arts.

Without padded gloves, fighters must be more precise with their punches while also protecting the bones in their hands.

"The training was so much different," Magana said. "When you take away even those couple centimeters of space from the glove, you realize you have to step through your punches a little bit more. But then you also realize the damage that you do to your hands without the gloves. So that's been a new experience."

Magana's impressive debut has already created new opportunities.

He said he has been offered another fight in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, in November, though he is still deciding because his hands are recovering from the Tulsa bout. He also received an offer for a bare-knuckle championship fight from Bare Knuckle Cartel.

"I'm thinking, take this fight in Mexico, get another win on the record, and then take that title fight early next year," Magana said.

With his first professional bare-knuckle victory behind him, Magana is already setting his sights on an even bigger goal: winning a championship.