Was BKFC rigged? Matt Floyd claims he beat James DeGale

Last weekend, at Conor McGregor‘s BKFC Manchester event, fans witnessed the much-anticipated clash between Matt Floyd and James DeGale. It marked DeGale’s first professional appearance since his tough boxing loss to Chris Eubank Jr back in 2019, surprising many fans. The former boxing super-middleweight champion secured a unanimous decision victory, though Floyd has since strongly objected and disputed the outcome.

Controversial fight between James DeGale and Matt Floyd

From the very beginning of the fight, James DeGale endured several headbutts from Matt Floyd, an experience quite unusual compared to boxing. Floyd was penalized three points overall, two for a blatant first-round headbutt, and another for aggressively placing DeGale in a headlock. Meanwhile, DeGale himself lost one point after firing a punch during an official break, adding further controversy to the heated contest.

Both teams nearly clashed in a heated mid-fight altercation, but the situation quickly de-escalated, allowing the referee to continue proceedings. Despite Floyd’s dirty antics, James DeGale’s refined boxing techniques and sharp jab ultimately earned him victory with official scores of 48-43, 48-43, 47-44. However, Floyd strongly disagreed with the result and later claimed on X that he was allegedly robbed during the fight.

“I clearly dropped James twice down in the second round and should have finished the job hadn’t the ref been holding me the whole night… I was fighting James and the referee that night….I outboxed him the night and won most rounds from boxing. I was more aggressive and landed more shots. I won the fight apart from the headbut. The fight was as dirty from both of us,” wrote Floyd on X, while blaming the referee.

I clearly dropped James twice down in the second round and should have finished the job hadn’t the ref been holding me the whole night so James could have free hooks at my face. I’m very disappointed with myself for the headbut and lost the points rightly so. And apologise for… pic.twitter.com/m5sD2G8QVe
— Matt floyd (@Mattythejedi) September 29, 2025

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Official stats from James DeGale vs. Matt Floyd

In the official fight statistics between James DeGale and Matt Floyd, the Australian threw significantly more punches, 145 compared to 72. Floyd was able to successfully land 89 of his punches, while DeGale landed 45 clean shots despite throwing far fewer.

Although Floyd’s accuracy stood at 61.37 percent, DeGale edged slightly higher with 62.5 percent, showcasing superior precision despite volume. Considering deductions from Floyd’s repeated fouls and DeGale’s effective boxing strategy, the unanimous decision appears justified, suggesting Floyd wasn’t genuinely robbed.