Undefeated NABO Cruiserweight Champion BJ Flores agrees to multi-fight MMA contract with Shine Fights

by Derek Bolender on Mar 9, 2010 12:22 PM EST Comment 23 comments

Consider the floodgates opened.

Current undefeated NABO Cruiserweight Champion B.J. Flores is planning on becoming the next world class boxer to make the transition to mixed martial arts.

After fielding interest from several major promotions, the 31-year-old San Francisco native has agreed in principle to a non-exclusive, multi-fight contract with Shine Fights.

MMAmania.com (www.mmamania.com) confirmed the pending deal with sources close to the negotiations earlier today.

Unlike the recent high profile signings of James Toney and Ricardo Mayorga, Flores will be a champion switching sports while still in his prime.

Flores is currently in London, England, where he's serving as a sparring partner for John Ruiz while he prepares for his upcoming WBA championship fight against current titleholder David Haye on April 3.

"El Peligroso" is scheduled to return to the United States immediately afterward and join a fight camp that has yet to be selected at this time. This would position him to compete in his first professional MMA fight in early summer, possibly in June or July.

For those unfamiliar with Flores he has accumulated a professional boxing record of 24-0-1 since he turned pro in 2003 with 15 knockouts. He is also a former National Golden Gloves light heavyweight champion and National Amateur heavyweight champion.

You may also recognize him from ESPN2's Friday Night Fights where he can be seen as a frequent guest analyst.

The 6'2" Flores currently competes in the cruiserweight (or junior heavyweight) division, which has a limit of 200 pounds, and should transition nicely into either the middleweight or light heavyweight division in MMA.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for further details regarding his upcoming debut.

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Comments

Good stuff

There more A-level competitors the better.

JASONFAHQ is a troll

by bigbadbunbun on Mar 9, 2010 12:27 PM EST reply actions

I'll be honest

I dont follow boxing that much anymore. So aside from boxing, does he even have any martial arts experience?
Also, is the NABO one of the bigger boxing organizations nowadays?

@fjbar on twitter...formerly El Mexicutioner

by _Felix_ on Mar 9, 2010 12:30 PM EST reply actions

It's the North America WBO title. By no means the same as holding the WBO title but still...

high level boxing. I am kind of surprised by this. I never imagined a serious exodus of high level strikers into MMA because unlike grappling and amatuer wrestling – striking arts pay a lot more, in fact normally more than MMA. This obviously is still only a couple of guys but we can only hope.

I still think Mayorga is gonna try to hold the fight ransom until they increase his pay and the fight won’t happen. But still very intriguing to see BJ. He has a lot to learn though, i hope they match him right.

by NNR (formerly NameNotRequired) on Mar 9, 2010 1:25 PM EST up reply actions

NABO's not particularly big, it ain't a world title level organisation

Don’t know that much about BJ, but it’s good to see that a successful boxer is making the transition at a fairly young age.

"Not a lot of professional sports down here (in Australia)"
"We just had our best season (of TUF) last season and it was season 10"
"Nogueira is probabaly the best HW of all time"

Dana White, proving that he's clueless about Australian sports, has never heard of Fedor and is still trying to hype up TUF 10.

by David W-S on Mar 9, 2010 4:19 PM EST up reply actions

Wonderful

Shine gets BJ Flores, UFC gets James Toney. Ugh.

It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.

by Jesse Holland on Mar 9, 2010 12:31 PM EST reply actions

LOL I was thinking that myself….
At least BJ is doing it the right way starting out in a smaller promotion and work his way up.

JASONFAHQ is a troll

by bigbadbunbun on Mar 9, 2010 12:34 PM EST up reply actions

Are you sure?

Hey Jesse, are you sure this 100% accurate? I’ve heard from a couple of people that are close to BJ that this isn’t true, but I’m not even 100% sure if they’re accurate.

I do know, however, that he is NOT serving as a sparring partner for John Ruiz right now. Ruiz doesn’t even live in England, so why would he be training there? BJ is in England helping David Haye, serving as his sparring partner to prepare for John Ruiz. BJ did work with John Ruiz for about a week, but when David Haye found out, he offered BJ a position with his camp, so he left Ruiz and flipped sides to the Haye camp.

by FightHype.com on Mar 9, 2010 3:14 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah I was wondering about the Ruiz training comment

Ruiz couldn’t even be arsed to come over here to do a press conference so I doubt that he’s training in England. Even Haye doesn’t usually train over here, his main base is in Northern Cyprus.

"Not a lot of professional sports down here (in Australia)"
"We just had our best season (of TUF) last season and it was season 10"
"Nogueira is probabaly the best HW of all time"

Dana White, proving that he's clueless about Australian sports, has never heard of Fedor and is still trying to hype up TUF 10.

by David W-S on Mar 9, 2010 4:20 PM EST up reply actions

Exodus

You watch. The dam has been pretty much broken. More professional boxers will cross over. They can see where the money is going to be at. Gonna be fun.

by Kung Foo on Mar 9, 2010 12:32 PM EST reply actions

its the baggage that comes with them i worry about.

by freedomthrtyfve on Mar 9, 2010 12:35 PM EST reply actions

explain please?

The world is a dangerous place to live - not because of the people who are evil but because of the people who don't do anything about it. - Albert Einstein

by Ulf Murphy on Mar 9, 2010 12:37 PM EST up reply actions

Baggage?

Like Rampage’s? Or Junies? Or Warmachines?

JASONFAHQ is a troll

by bigbadbunbun on Mar 9, 2010 12:38 PM EST up reply actions

dana should do a mma vs boxing megacard!

They say money can't buy happiness? Look at the fucking smile on my face. Ear to ear, baby. -- Boiler room

by DrewMoney$$$ on Mar 9, 2010 12:40 PM EST via mobile reply actions

The NABO belt is a meaningless belt. It pretty much just puts them in a position as a contender for a major title. BJ Flores is the real deal, though. He hasn’t faced truly elite level competition in the boxing world, but has great skills and a lot of talent. Not sure if he has any wrestling background. Could be a good addition to MMA world.

by Tuff.Gong on Mar 9, 2010 12:42 PM EST reply actions

bj flores

How much money do you think he makes per fight in boxing? I can’t imagine this contract with shine fights is going to make him a lot?

They say money can't buy happiness? Look at the fucking smile on my face. Ear to ear, baby. -- Boiler room

by DrewMoney$$$ on Mar 9, 2010 12:54 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

this is good for mma. More fans , publicity and more respect when Toney and others get a beat down. Then excitment when a boxer actually does well (Id like to see David Haye) he is a fan and said he could do it after retiring a champ but his boxing career hasnt went the way he wanted. so maybe not for a while.

I was a fool to think Bisping had any chance against the Axe Murderer, and even more foolish to bet agaisnt the great Puck Head.

by Tonyuk on Mar 9, 2010 1:08 PM EST reply actions

David Haye has shown the sport a lot of respect in the past and ripped Enzo when he claimed that he could walk into MMA, I'd love to see him try the sport one day

Hopefully Ruiz doesn’t waste too much of his time and he can actually get a fight with one of the Klitschkos sorted, as he’s now got the name value to be a huge draw in this country, he just needs a legitimate opponent to make the big money. I can’t believe that Vitali is wasting his time against the European champion, though it is funny that Fraudley just lost out on his biggest fight in years because his opponent got fastracked into this world title fight.

"Not a lot of professional sports down here (in Australia)"
"We just had our best season (of TUF) last season and it was season 10"
"Nogueira is probabaly the best HW of all time"

Dana White, proving that he's clueless about Australian sports, has never heard of Fedor and is still trying to hype up TUF 10.

by David W-S on Mar 9, 2010 4:25 PM EST up reply actions

BJ Flores

The NABO title Flores has is completely worthless. Cruiserweight paydays are pretty low and comparable to MMA salaries. BJ is completely untested as a top level boxer and probably saw an opportunity to fight less rounds and make comparable money.

I’d bet my life savings he makes zero impact in MMA beyond this shine fights contract.

by traydawg on Mar 9, 2010 1:08 PM EST reply actions

I agree about the salary and possible reasoning to make the switch. However, I think he can make a real impact if he takes the cross training in grappling seriously. He had a college football scholarship and is very athletic. If you have ever heard him on ESPN he is very smart and good with strategy/ fight analysis. If he approaches it professionally and seriously, you might lose your $300.

by Tuff.Gong on Mar 9, 2010 1:50 PM EST up reply actions

Thanks Derek

Thanks Derek,

Looks like an interesting new fighter. Props to Shine Fights!

by justbleed9999 on Mar 9, 2010 1:23 PM EST reply actions

this is excellent

For MMA now top level Boxers can only make the sport that much more better Bj should be in the UFC within a year lets see what these guys can do with the right grappling.

by The real ZACK on Mar 9, 2010 5:20 PM EST reply actions