Bare knuckle boxing is a primitive, bloody relic of a sport known as a “noble art.”
The controversial sport of traditional glove boxing is both the oldest form of combat sport and a newly recognized sport in the UK.
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Vaillant Live Arena in Derbyshire will host the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) event on Saturday, the first of its kind to be held in the region.
Headway, a charity that supports people with brain injuries, has reiterated calls for the sport to be banned and condemned the show as “irresponsible”.
However, promoters, fighters and some medical professionals say the dangers faced in the ring need to be put into context.
Naked boxing matches make for gritty moments in movies — whether it’s Brad Pitt’s work in “Sneakers” and “Fight Club,” or the Disney+ series “1,000 Blows,” starring Stephen Graham.
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But BKFC UK chairman Andrew Bakewell said the sport was about more than the brutal depictions of unregulated fights or the underground wreckage that spawned such stories.
Asked about the safety of bare-knuckle boxing, Bakewell told BBC Radio Derby: “I think it’s a lack of knowledge.”
“People have heard about it and the stigma attached to it.”
Attitudes to the sport have shifted as the sport grows in popularity, with Irish MMA fighter Conor McGregor becoming a shareholder in BKFC and Olympic gold medalist and former two-time IBF super middleweight champion James DeGale competing in a bare-knuckle fight earlier this year.
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“A warrior can only take so much.”
The safety and dangers of bare-knuckle boxing have been hotly debated by critics and supporters alike. It’s a sport where bloody, burgundy scars are not only accepted but cherished for their raw appeal.
A 2021 study published in the journal Physicians & Sports Medicine (lead author was BKFC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Don Muzzi) stated that 2.8% of 282 bare-knuckle boxers studied experienced concussion symptoms after a match.
According to the Boxing Specific Injury Rates in the 21st Century survey published in 2023 and reported in The Guardian last year, the figure for boxers wearing gloves was as high as 12.3%.
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The study led by Dr. Muzy did find that the incidence of cuts (either facial lacerations or “superficial hand” injuries) was significantly higher in bare-knuckle boxing.
Dr. Louis Durkin, an emergency medicine specialist and president of the Boxing Ring Physicians Association, said “it’s significantly different in terms of safety” compared to boxing with gloves.
The blows delivered with bare hands are harder and more painful, but the boxer has much less time in the ring to receive those blows, with fights typically consisting of five two-minute rounds.
By comparison, when Jamie “TKV” Teshkova beat Fraser Clark to win the British heavyweight title in Derby two weeks ago, it was a 12-round contest that lasted 36 minutes.
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“Another characteristic of bare-knuckle boxing is that only a few fights actually go to the end, so not only are the overall fights shorter, but the five rounds only last an average of 2.7 rounds,” Dr. Durkin said. He has worked in the field of boxing medicine for more than twenty years and has participated in approximately 30 bare-knuckle boxing matches in recent years.
“That’s mostly because there’s only so much a fighter can take.
“Once a boxer wins, usually they just take a knee and the fight is over, unlike a true knockout, or in traditional boxing, it doesn’t exactly elicit a pain response, so you can take more shots.”
“Don’t cut corners on safety”, but is it “irresponsible”?
Bare Knuckle Boxing, which describes itself as “the fastest growing combat sport”, has emerged from the shadows to host regulated and legal events in parts of the United States and many parts of the world, with the first BKFC event set to take place in the UK in 2022 at London’s Wembley Stadium.
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It wasn’t until 2018 that the first sanctioned boxing match in Wyoming, USA, took place in 130 years.
Events at Britain’s BKFC, such as Saturday’s event in Derby, fall under the purview of the International Sports Karate and Taekwondo Association (ISKA), the global body that regulates most mixed martial arts (MMA) events in Europe.
The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC), which regulates glove sports, is not involved.
Headway chief executive Luke Griggs said the Brain Injury Association, which he represents, has called for all forms of boxing to be banned, but added that legalizing and promoting bare-knuckle boxing was “irresponsible” and “particularly concerning”.
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Griggs told BBC East Midlands Today: “Headway’s position on all forms of boxing has always been clear and we believe the risks are too great. It is too obvious that all forms of boxing should be banned.”
“It is particularly concerning that bare-knuckle boxing is coming to the fore and growing in popularity. It is extremely dangerous and we do not believe this type of activity should be sanctioned.
“Irresponsible is a very good word. There are a lot of questions that need to be asked about these fights being sanctioned, these fights being allowed to go ahead, being promoted.”
Bakewell, who is BKFC’s figurehead in the UK, said his aim as a promoter and the desire of those involved in the sanctioned bare-knuckle fighting sport is for the sport to be seen as “the top end of professional combat sports”.
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He added that the fight was “played accordingly” and athlete safety was paramount – with each boxer undergoing pre- and post-fight medical checks, while three doctors, two paramedics and two manned ambulances were on hand on fight night.
“We’re not taking any shortcuts in production or health care,” Bakewell said.
“We have high expectations for the warriors, but we also want to take care of the warriors.”
“It seems cruel, but it’s fun”
Luke Brassfield will face BKFC debutant Liam Hutchinson in Derby County’s undercard on Saturday [BBC]
Luke Brassfield, a 38-year-old middleweight from Long Eaton in Derbyshire, will make his BKFC debut on Saturday but already has previous experience as a bare-knuckle boxer.
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He took up boxing 18 years ago while serving in the British Army and first became an amateur boxer before becoming a professional boxer.
It was his struggles with mental health that prompted him to compete in his first bare-knuckle fight, as he was looking for a way to quickly get back into the ring.
That fight was over with one punch.
Brasfield said he did not consider himself “a violent person” and insisted that bare-knuckle fighting and the professional glove boxing matches he had along the way were a physical release that helped get through difficult times.
“I wanted to get on a big platform and spread the word about mental health and positivity and let people know they might be at rock bottom, but there’s a way out and that going up is beautiful,” he said.
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“I’ve never really been into boxing, but now that I’m at a bare-knuckle age and I have the strength, maturity, boxing IQ and skill, I believe I can go very far.
“I’ve been boxing with gloves on all these years and now they’re taking them off. It opens up a new market for me.
“I haven’t taken a punch with my bare hands yet, but I’ve taken so many punches in boxing that you can feel your knuckles through the gloves.
“The look on someone’s face when you fight without gloves, not as much protection, more swelling and cuts, that’s the brutal part of the game. But it also makes it fun.”