BARE-KNUCKLE BOXING

Chapter 1

Introduction to the Games

• Genesis of the games

Bare-knuckle boxing (also known as bare-knuckle, bare-knuckle fighting, prizefighting, fist

fight or fisticuffs) is the sport of boxing without the use of boxing gloves or other padding on the
participants' hands. The difference between street fighting and a bare-knuckle boxing match is that the
latter has an accepted set of rules, such as not striking a downed opponent.

The rules that provided the foundation for bare-knuckle boxing for much of the 18th and 19th centuries
were the London Prize Ring Rules.By the late 19th century, professional boxing moved from bare-
knuckle to using boxing gloves. The last major world heavyweight championship happened in 1889
and was held by John L. Sullivan. The American National Police Gazette magazine was recognized as
sanctioning the world championship titles.

Bare-knuckle boxing has seen a resurgence in the 21st century with the English promotion BKB (Bare
Knuckle Boxing) along with other UK promotions such as Warrington’s UBKB (Ultimate Bare
Knuckle Boxing) and Bare Fist Boxing Association (BFBA) & American promotion Bare Knuckle
Fighting Championship (BKFC) and (Back Yard Brawls) (BYB) based out of Miami Florida.
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• History and background of the game

The sport as it is known today originated in England.According to the boxing chronicle Pugilistica, the
first newspaper report of a boxing match in England dates from 1681, when the Protestant Mercury stated:
"Yesterday a match of boxing was performed before his Grace the Duke of Albemarle, between the duke’s
footman and a butcher.

The latter won the prize, as he hath done many before, being accounted, though but a little man, the best
at that exercise in England."The first bare-knuckle champion of England was James Figg, who claimed the
title in 1719 and held it until his retirement in 1730.

Before Jack Broughton, the first idea of current boxing originated from James Figg, who is viewed as the
organizer of cutting edge boxing.

In 1719, he set up a 'pugilistic foundation' and charged himself as 'a professional in the Noble Science of
Defense' to instruct boxers on the utilization of clench hands, sword, and quarterstaff. Noted champions
were Jack Broughton, Elizabeth Wilkinson, Daniel Mendoza, Jem Belcher, Hen Pearce, John Gully, Tom
Cribb, Tom Spring, Jem Ward, James Burke, William "Bendigo" Thompson, Ben Caunt, William Perry,
Tom Sayers and Jem Mace.

The record for the longest bare-knuckle fight is listed as 6 hours and 15 minutes for a match between James
Kelly and Jonathan Smith, fought near Fiery Creek, Victoria, Australia, on December 3, 1855, when Smith
gave in after 17 rounds. The bare-knuckle fighter Jem Mace is listed as having the longest professional
career of any fighter in history.

He fought for more than 35 years into his 60s, and recorded his last exhibition bout in 1909 at the age of
78.Professional bare-knuckle boxing was never legal under any federal or state laws in the United States
until Wyoming became the first to legalize on March 20, 2018.

Prior to that date, the chief sanctioning organization for bare-knuckle boxing was the magazine National
Police Gazette, which set up matches and issued championship belts throughout the 1880s.

The Police Gazette sanctioned what is considered the last major bare-knuckle heavyweight world
championship, between John L. Sullivan and Jake Kilrain on July 8, 1889, with Sullivan emerging as the
victor.Other noted champions were Tom Hyer, Yankee Sullivan, Nonpareil Dempsey, Tom Sharkey, Bob
Fitzsimmons and John Morrissey.

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• Popularity of the game

Bare-knuckle boxing was the most popular combat sport in the West for nearly two centuries, when it
was replaced by regular boxing at the end of the 19th century. During that long period, the longest ever
bare-knuckle match was held in Australia in 1855, when James Kelly faced Jonathan Smith.
Bareknuckle boxing returned after more than a century in Kettering, Northamptonshire, on June 29,
2015.
The show was promoted by UBBAD, headed by Joe Smith-Brown and Jim Freeman.
Smith-Brown and Freeman discovered that, by law, fighters would have to wear hand wraps in order
to compete in bareknuckle contests legally.
With the resurgence of bare-knuckle boxing in the 21st century, several modifications have been made
to classical rules that controlled historical bare-knuckle boxing.

Additionally, there are several changes from the Marquess of Queensberry Rules. Most notably, there
is an 18-second count on any knockdown in the BKB, although the BKFC uses the traditional 10-
count. In most modern bare-knuckle promotions, there is no three-knockdown rule and fighters cannot
be saved by the bell. Fights consists of 5 rounds of 2 minutes in BKFC and 7 rounds of 2 minutes in
BKB. One of the distinguishing characteristics of modern bare-knuckle boxing is the inclusion of
punching in the clinch, also known as "dirty boxing". In BKB™, the rules are essentially those of
gloved boxing but with the absence of gloves.

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Bare-knuckle boxing is not extremely popular today, but it is a rising phenomenon in the world of
combat sports. Some have compared it to MMA and the UFC; the sport and the organisation also
started very slowly, practically as an underground event for extreme fighters yet is today one of the
most popular and lucrative sports in the world.

Somme commentators describe the slowly rising popularity of bare-knuckle boxing the same as they
did the MMA’s, suggesting that in several years’ time, bare-knuckle boxing could become the next
MMA. When MMA started, it was a new discipline, relatively unknown to the world. It had a point
zero that was literally that and it developed through the decades to become legal around the world. But
people didn’t know what MMA was when it first arrived, but they do know what bare-knuckle boxing
is and they do know how serious it can be.

Bare-knuckle boxing has been around for more than 400 years and people have learned a lot about it
and its dangers, which is one of the reasons why it’s prohibited and considered illegal in most of the
world.
There are a few promotions in the United Kingdom and the United States, but a majority of states still
considers it to be illegal; the first state to legalise bare-knuckle boxing was Wisconsin, that did it in
2018.
A few other states have followed since. It is difficult to foresee how the story of bare-knuckle boxing
will end. On one hand, it’s slowly rising in the world of combat sports, but on the other – it is potentially
very dangerous. Due to its aggressive nature, bare-knuckle boxing is still illegal in practically every
place on Earth, with a few notable exceptions. One major concern when bare-knuckle boxing is its
controllability. The other is its brutality. We’ve already talked about the former (see above) and have
deduced that bare-knuckle boxing has its rules that have to be respected and that it, despite its limited
recognition, isn’t just another street brawl between two people. So, it is controllable… up to a degree,
but it really isn’t as chaotic as it might look.

The issue of safety is, we have to admit, a bit more complex. Namely, most modern martial arts and
combat sports have at least some form of protection. Taekwon do has a full set of armour, MMA has
very simplistic gloves, while boxing has the famous gloves. Bare-knuckle boxing, on the other hand,
had absolutely no protection and that was the goal.

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Chapter 2
Rules and regulations of the game
• Rules and Regulations
Classical Pugilism began to adopt rules by the mid 1700s to decrease cases of injuries and death, while
also showcasing the sport as a respectable athletic endeavor. There were three rules that was adopted
during that time until the acceptance of modern gloved boxing.

• Broughton Rules: The first set of rules devised by champion Jack Broughton in 1743. Under
Broughton’s rules, a round continued until a man went down; after 30 seconds he had to face his
opponent (square off), standing no more than a yard (about a metre) away, or be declared beaten. Hitting
a downed opponent was also forbidden.

• London Prize Ring Rules: A new set of rules initiated by the British Pugilists’ Protective Association
in 1838 and further revised in 1853. The new rules provided for a ring 24 feet (7.32 metres) square
bounded by two ropes. When a fighter went down, the round ended, and he was helped to his corner.
The next round would begin 30 seconds later, with each boxer required to reach, unaided, a mark in the
centre of the ring. If a fighter could not reach that mark by the end of 8 additional seconds, he was
declared the loser. Kicking, gouging, butting with the head, biting, and low blows were all declared
fouls.

• Marquess of Queensberry Rules: Another set of rules that was codified by John Graham Chambers of
the Amateur Athletic Club and patronized by John Sholto Douglas, the 9th marquess of Queensberry,
in 1867. The new rules added restrictions that continued in boxing to the modern day, such as fighters
having to wear padded gloves, a round being consisted of three minutes of fighting followed by a minute
of rest, wrestling becoming illegal, and any fighter who went down had to get up unaided within 10
seconds. If a fighter was unable to get up, he was declared knocked out, and the fight was over. During
this period the introduction of the first weight divisions also took place.

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Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship Rules

1. Fighters are permitted to wrap and tape the wrist, thumb, and mid-hand. No gauze or tape can be
within 1 inch (25 mm) of the knuckles.

2. Fighters will “toe the line”. There are two lines, 3 feet (91 cm) apart, in the center of the ring where
the fighters will start each round. The front foot will be on the line, and the referee will instruct the
fighters to “knuckle up”, which indicates the beginning of the bout/round.

3. Punches are the only strike allowed and must be with a closed fist (no kicks, elbows, knees or
grappling).

4. In the clinch, the fighter may punch his way out with the open hand. If there is a three-second lull in
action while clinching, the referee will break the fighters.

5. A fighter who is knocked down will have 10 seconds to return to his feet, or the referee will stop the
fight. It is not permitted to hit a downed fighter. Any fighter who does will be disqualified, and the
purse will be withheld. While a fighter is downed, the other fighter will be instructed to report to a
neutral space.

6. If a fighter is cut and the blood is impairing a fighter’s vision, the referee may call a timeout to give
the cutman 30 seconds to stop the bleeding. If the blood cannot be controlled and the blood inhibits the
fighter’s vision, the referee will stop the fight and award victory to the other fighter.

7. Fights are two minutes per round and each bout will be 3 or 5 rounds in length. In BKB can be 3, 5
or 7.

8. Attire: All fighters must have a groin protector with a cup, a mouthpiece, trunks or boxing trunks,
and boxing/wrestling shoes.

9. All fighters are expected to give 100% effort and behave with complete sportsmanship.

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• Achievers of the game

Weight class Holder

World

Heavyweight / +16 st (224 lb; 102 kg) Jody Miekle

Cruiserweight / 16 st (224 lb; 102 kg) Mickey Parker

Light Heavyweight / 15 st (210 lb; 95 kg) vacant

Super Middleweight / 14.5 st (203 lb;

vacant
92 kg)

Middleweight / 14 st (196 lb; 89 kg) Anthony Holmes

Super Welterweight / 13.5 st (189 lb;

Daniel Lerwell
86 kg)

Welterweight / 13 st (182 lb; 83 kg) vacant

Lightweight / 12.5 st (175 lb; 79 kg) Barrie Jones

Featherweight / 12 st (168 lb; 76 kg) Jimmy Sweeney

Bantamweight / 11.5 st (161 lb; 73 kg) Barrie Jones

Flyweight / 11 st (154 lb; 70 kg) Dan Chapman

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British

Heavyweight Daniel Podmore

Cruiserweight vacant

Light Heavyweight vacant

Super Middleweight vacant

Middleweight vacant

Super Welterweight vacant

Welterweight vacant

Lightweight James Connelly

Featherweight vacant

Bantamweight Sean George

Flyweight Craig Morgan

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Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC)

Weight class Holder

BKFC

Heavyweight / 265 lb (120 kg; 19 st) Arnold Adams

Cruiserweight / 205 lb (93 kg; 15 st) Héctor Lombard

Light Heavyweight / 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st) Lorenzo Hunt

Middleweight / 175 lb (79 kg; 13 st) Thiago Alves

Welterweight / 165 lb (75 kg; 12 st) Elvin Brito

Lightweight / 155 lb (70 kg; 11 st) Luis Palomino

Bantamweight / 135 lb (61 kg; 10 st) Johnny Bedford

Women's Flyweight / 125 lb (57 kg; 9 st) Christine Ferea

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Police Gazette

World Heavyweight Arnold Adams

World Light Heavyweight Lorenzo Hunt

World Middleweight Barrie Jones

World Welterweight Elvin Brito

World Lightweight Luis Palomino

World Bantamweight Johnny Bedford

World Women's Featherweight Patricia Juarez

World Flyweight Women's Christine Ferea

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List of English Heavyweight Bare-Knuckle Boxing Champions

• James Figg 1719-1730

• Tom Pipes 1730-1734
• George Taylor 1734-1736
• Jack Broughton 1736-1750
• Jack Slack 1750-1760
• William Stevens 1760-1761
• George Meggs 1761-1762
• Tom Juchau 1765-1766
• William Darts 1766-1769
• Tom Lyons 1769
• Willam Darts 1769-1771
• Peter Corcoran 1771-1776
• Harry Sellers 1776-1779
• Duggan Fearns 1779
• Tom Johnson 1787-1791
• Benjamin Brain 1791-1794
• Daniel Mendoza 1794-1795
• John Jackson 1795-1796
• Thomas Owen 1796-1797
• Jack Bartholomew 1797-1800
• Jem Belcher 1800-1805
• Hen Pearce 1805-1807
• John Gully 1807-1808
• Tom Cribb 1808-1822
• Tom Spring 1823-1824
• Tom Cannon 1824-1825
• Jem Ward 1825-1827
• Peter Crawley (boxer) 1827

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• Jem Ward 1827-1832

• James Burke (boxer) 1833-1839
• William Thompson (boxer) 1839-1840
• Ben Caunt 1840-1841
• Nick Ward (boxer) 1841
• Ben Caunt1841-1845
• William Thompson (boxer) 1845-1850
• William Perry (boxer)1850-1851
• Harry Broome 1851-1856
• Tom Paddock 1856-1858
• Tom Sayers 1858-1860
• Sam Hurst 1860- 1861
• Jem Mace 1861-1862
• Tom King (boxer) 1862-1863
• Joe Wormald 1865
• Jem Mace 1866-1871

List of United States Heavyweight Bare-knuckle Boxing Champions

• Tom Molineaux 1810-1815

• Tom Hyer 1841-1851
• John Morrissey 1853-1859
• John Camel Heenan 1860-1863
• Joe Coburn 1863-1865
• Jimmy Elliott 1865-1870
• Mike McCoole 1870
• Tom Allen (boxer) 1870
• Jem Mace 1870-1871
• Tom Allen (boxer) 1873-1876
• Joe Goss 1876-1880
• Paddy Ryan 1880-1882
• John L. Sullivan 1882-1889

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• Future of the game

Is There a Future in Bare Knuckle Boxing? What is it?

Bare Knuckle Boxing is essentially what you think it is. Two fighters enter a circular ring with ropes and
turnbuckles. Under the supervision of a referee, the athletes engage in a boxing match without wearing gloves.
As is the case with professional boxing, the rules forbid striking a downed opponent. You’ll also notice that
fighters are able to tape their wrists. The tape helps prevent injuries to the wrists and the hands while also
allowing for the knuckles to remain exposed for combat. Though the first legal, sanctioned and state-regulated
bare-knuckle event in U.S. history took place less than a year ago, publicly ticketed events in the U.S. took
place as early as the 90s. Boxing aficionados know, however, that BKB is truly an ancient competition.

Brutal. Bloody. Violent. Do these terms sound familiar? For anybody who was around when the UFC began
to take shape, this all may seem like déjà vu. But there’s a newly revived combat sport on the launch pad and
it’s working towards lift-off. They call it Bare Knuckle Boxing (BKB). Suddenly, BKB is making headlines
and taking over conversations in the combat sports community. The sport seems to be drawing people in, but
many onlookers are standing back and watching with trepidation. MMA fans seem divided on the issue by
two main schools of thought.

The first group of fans are watching BKB for the novelty. They’re following known MMA commodities (i.e
Chris Leben, Artem Lobov, Johny Hendricks, etc.) over to the show, and so far, they’re enjoying it. The others
are distancing themselves. They don’t view BKB as a legitimate sport. The bloody-haymaker-tornadoes that
seem to be summoning casual fan-interest are also being pointed to as reason to discredit the sport.

Is this the future of combat sports?

I don’t think so.

At the moment, it seems to be the home of retired MMA fighters and boxers. There isn’t any full-time bare-
knuckle boxers that I know of, except the infamous Kimbo Slice – who would have been amazing at this
format (RIP).So at the moment, it is a circus attraction. I think they are going to have problems growing beyond
that, because of the image it naturally portrays. Lest we forget, MMA was once bare knuckle too when it was
called No Holds Barred fighting (NHB). But once NHB started getting popular, enemies attacked from all
sides and made the sport evolve into MMA, the more “respectable” form of fighting to mainstream viewers.

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I have no issues with bare knuckle boxing or NHB fighting for that matter. I enjoy the purism of the
contest.However, there are reasons why gloves started being used. Primarily, to protect your hands from being
broken. David “Tank” Abbott was the first to wear gloves in the UFC, being he was once the scariest puncher
in the UFC (a seasoned street fighter), he knew the risks of punching bare handed.So I suspect bare knuckle
boxers are going to suffer more hand injuries. Gloves also have the bonus of reducing the likelihood of cuts,
so without them, a lot of more facial damage will occur (see photo above). Those two factors alone are going
to affect a fighters health significantly.

Furthermore, I don’t believe bare knuckle boxing will be “safer” in terms of brain trauma and CTE. The
argument was that because the likelihood of breaking your hand hitting someone bare knuckle in the head
increases, people may tend to pull back on the power to avoid hurting themselves (whether conscious or
subconsciously).

I’m not sure if that is valid though. In a training situation, sure. I know I rarely use gloves when hitting the
bags or pads for that reason. I want to work on form more and making a proper fist and hitting with the proper
area. As a result, I don’t throw punches as hard, because hitting a heavy bag bare knuckle full force
(particularly a stiff bag) can hurt without proper strength and technique.

But that is in training, where we are thinking and more methodical. In an actual fight, pain thresholds are way
higher and often ignored. If you watched that fight with Artem and Knight, it’s pretty hard to imagine they
were pulling back on their punches, lol. Those two are warriors, and I believe they didn’t think twice about
any damage they were sustaining.So I think that particular argument for less brain damage on bare knuckle
fighting is not a strong one. I could be wrong, but I would guess it is going to be similar if not worse than
MMA.

Why? It is using boxing 10 counts, which allows fighters to sustain multiple knock outs and continue fighting
(which is one of the reasons MMA fares better than boxing for CTE).Plus, defense for bare knuckle boxing is
even harder than MMA. The hands are moving faster (no gloves slowing them down, which might increase
the power slightly), and less shielding – so people will be hit more. Plus, the rounds are 2 minutes long,
meaning action is more intense with no ground or clinch work to slow the pace down. So the fights tend to be
more intense fire fights.For these reasons, I believe it is going to be harder for this to grow beyond a spectacle.
Serious athletes aren’t going to want to take the additional risk, especially if the pay outs are lower than top
MMA or boxing promotions. Perhaps that can change if enough money gets pumped into it, but I wouldn’t
bet on it.

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Chapter 3

Learning Experience

Bare-knuckle boxing is a great combat sport with a set of some exceptional techniques which include throws,
punching, arm locks, chokes, and some grappling techniques. Bare-knuckle boxing was modified into the
modern era sports boxing with the elimination of dangerous and life-threatening techniques.

Bare-knuckle boxing, otherwise known as fisticuffs, is a popular combat sport that is the original form of
boxing involving regulated competition between two fighters with their bare hands. Bare-knuckle fighters
compete without any hand padding, hand wraps, or boxing gloves. In 1867, the Marquess of Queensberry rules
introduced the use of boxing gloves which cause bare-knuckle to fall out of fashion. If not for the new
promotions in the United Kingdom and the United States, the sport wouldn’t have gained its comeback to the
mainstream.

Back then, the only thing that differentiates this sport from normal street fighting was the inclusion of rules
and regulations which stop fighters from striking a downed opponent. For the record, James Figg was the first
champion of bare-knuckle boxing. He won the title in 1719 and remained an undefeated champion until he
retired in 1730.

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Chapter 4

Conclusion

Conclusion Bare Knuckle Boxing is more dangerous due to the exposed finger bones One argument is that
Bare Knuckle Boxing is more dangerous compared to boxing with gloves because your knuckles and fingers
are physically harder than a boxing glove.

A bare-knuckle boxing match is generally fought until one fighter either knocks down their opponent or forces
them to touch the ground with anything but their feet. It’s a part of Boxing sport. Bare-knuckle boxing, or
prizefighting, is a traditional form of boxing where the fighter removes their gloves before they engage.

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Bibliography

References

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2. Mastro, Tim (August 13, 2011), "Fistful of Danger", The News Journal
3. Ollhoff, Jim (2008). Martial Arts Around the Globe (The World of Martial Arts). Abdo Group. pp. 20-
21. ISBN 1604532815
4. Miles, Henry Downes (1906). Pugilistica: the history of British boxing containing lives of the most
celebrated pugilists. Edinburgh: J. Grant. pp. vii.
5. The Bare-Knuckle Champions of England, retrieved April 17, 2009
6. "The Victoria Ring", Bell's Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, December 22, 1855
7. "Synonyms Thesaurus with Definitions and Antonyms". trivia-library.com.
8. James B. Roberts, Alexander G. Skutt, The Boxing Register: International Boxing Hall of Fame Official
Record Book
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ISBN 978-0415429320
11. "tumblr_lx13m7QVfb1qa5yan.jpg". Tumblr. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
12. "The 'Cross-Buttocks' Throw: A forgotten throw of Karate, Boxing & Taekwondo". Ian Abernathy.
Retrieved April 13, 2010.
13. Chill, Adam. Bare-Knuckle Britons and Fighting Irish: Boxing, Race, Religion and Nationality in the
18th and 19th Centuries. McFarland & Company (August 29, 2017) p. 20. ISBN 978-1476663302
14. "A Fighter Abroad". Philipps, Brian. February 2, 2012.
15. The Pugilist: Nick Diaz, Daniel Mendoza and the Sweet Science of Bruising
16. "Bendigo". Seaver, Timothy. November 24, 2015.
17. Miles, Henry Downes. Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing Containing Lives of the Most
Celebrated Pugilists; Full Reports of Their Battles From Contemporary ... of the Principal Patrons of
the Prize Ring. 1906. p. 849.
18. Tacoma News Tribune (Tacoma, WA, USA) Jan. 1, 1924
19. Tom Spring IBHOF Archived 17 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine
20. "Daniel Mendoza". Retrieved 7 July 2019.
21. "The Man Who Birthed Modern Boxing". The Huddle. Retrieved 7 July 2019.

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22. "What are the bare-knuckle fighting championship rules". mmamicks.com. 29 October 2020. Retrieved
2021-07-17.

Sources and Further reading

• The Outsiders – Exposing the Secretive World of Ireland's Travellers Chapters 4 and 5 (ISBN 978-1-
903582-67-1) by Eamon Dillon, published Nov 2006 by Merlin Publishing
• David Snowdon, Writing the Prizefight: Pierce Egan's Boxiana World (2013)
• Interview with bare knuckle boxer from the 1950s
• Near the KNUCKLE; 3,000 fans turn up at skydome to witness a night of bloody battles. - Free Online
Library (thefreelibrary.com)
• Inside The World Of Bareknuckle Boxing (boxing-social.com)
• Bare-knuckle boxing staged at O2 Arena for first time - BBC News
• BoxRec: Barrie Jones
• The brutal life of Wales' bare-knuckle boxing world champion who saw his Olympic dream crushed -
Wales Online
• Can bare-knuckle boxing, stripped of its seediness and danger, go mainstream? (espn.com)

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