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After telling friends and family I was off to a bare-knuckle boxing show, I was usually asked ‘is that legal?’.
But it very much is legal these days, and it’s big business as a thriving combat sport. I wasn’t going to a campsite surrounded by hay bales, gangsters and travellers, which the old stereotype of the sport would have you believe.
I was actually off to the O2 in London to watch the latest show put on by BKB, the leading bare-knuckle boxing promotion in the UK. The sport isn’t yet big enough for the main arena, but almost 3,000 fans piled into the more intimate Indigo for BKB 34 and a night of brutality, romance and even a celebrity appearance.
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Having interviewed a few fighters for Daily Star Sport and got to know BKB co-owner Jim Freeman over the last few months, I had some idea of what to expect. But I genuinely didn’t know how I’d feel about watching bone-on-bone violence at close quarters.
You see I’m a little squeamish, to such an extent I can’t even get through an episode of Casualty without wincing and I avoid images of footballers’ grotesque leg injuries like the plague. And it genuinely is bone on bone. The fighters have light wrapping around their wrists and thumbs, and that’s it.
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The wraps are administered by Sammy Morris, who kindly gave me a tour of the impressive set-up, which compares favourably with top boxing shows. She allowed me to observe the wraps being applied and interview the fighters while she was doing so.
Sammy, also a cut woman, is just one of numerous medics on site, along with doctors and paramedics. As a trained mental health worker, she also acts as a councillor to fighters, helping to keep them calm before fights, especially the bare-knuckle newbies, of which there were several on the card.
As I’d already discovered in my previous interviews, bare-knuckle boxing has an abundance of characters with fascinating and often troubled life stories. The first fighter I spoke to was combat sports veteran Dom Wilkinson, who happily told me of the occasion he had his remaining teeth removed by pliers just before an MMA fight so he didn't have to worry about a gum shield.
At 41, Wilkinson is no spring chicken but he insisted he’d be happy to fight on for years if his body allows. Unfortunately, his fight was brief as he was taken out by the impressive Tony Meehan, a former pit fighter, inside a minute of the first bout of the night.
Thankfully, the subsequent bouts lasted a good deal longer and there was some thrilling action. Ukrainian Danylo Hrebeniuk provided one of the feel-good moments of the night by winning the vacant British super-welterweight title on his BKB debut after superbly stopping Matty Moore. Hrebeniuk fled the war in his homeland, where he fought in several combat sports, last year. He is a name to watch out for.
The crowd revelled in the action – and the interval entertainment provided by Matt Kirkby, who belted out Sweet Caroline and Don’t Look Back in Anger. Aside from one idiot who tried to invade the ring after one of the early fights (he was quickly carted off by security), the crowd was superb with not a hint of trouble. It wasn’t male-dominated either, with plenty of women and even couples on date nights too.
Speaking of the fairer sex, BKB hosted one of its first female bouts as impressive Brazilian Lailanne Mota outpointed Swede Mathilda Wilson, who is one half of the ‘bare-knuckle couple’. Her husband, Liam Wilson, has made a name for himself fighting in underground fighting. If you’ve not seen him just search ‘English Wilf’ on YouTube. It’s wild!
Unlike gloved boxing, BKB prides itself on genuine 50/50 bouts (fighters who want to pick and choose opponents to protect their records need not apply), and there were some corking battles which could have gone either way. Former Matchroom boxer George Hillyard took some almighty punishment against Filipino fighter Rolando Gabriel Dy, an MMA superstar in his homeland. After stopping Hillyard, he yelled “give me a belt” and then called out BKB’s pound-for-pound top man, Barrie Jones.
The pace of the smaller-weight classes in particular was astonishing. With two-minute rounds and three or five-round bouts, there’s no hanging about. Naturally, there were some worrying-looking injuries to hands and faces, and perhaps a few broken bones.
But, for the most part, they were superficial wounds that heal in a matter of days and weeks. Those within bare-knuckle fighting argue the sport is actually safer than gloved boxing – where unseen head trauma from long fights can cause more severe damage – and it’s a fair point.
The sport also had a number of celebrity supporters. Frank Bruno is said to be a fan having attended several BKB shows. And during BKB 34 none other than rapper Big Narstie popped up at ringside, prompting a flurry of selfie requests, including one from this reporter. He was invited to join Lee Spencer for his post-fight interview after he had impressively stopped Patrick Nash. Narstie told the audience he was full of respect for any fighter who steps foot in a BKB ring.
Amid the brutality, we even had some romance as Martin Reffell got down on one knee to propose to girlfriend after taking out Reece Murray in the first round (she said yes!). As for me, the show exceeded my expectations. I didn’t find the bone-on-bone stuff too disturbing and most of the fights were of very high quality with relentless action.
At one point, while trying to take a video, I missed a winning punch in one of the finishes of the night. It’s blink-and-you-miss-it stuff. There was also an abundance of respect between fighters, which was heart-warming amid the brutality.
So if you’re fed up of the politics of gloved boxing and its non-fights, give bare-knuckle a try. You won’t be disappointed.
- Boxing
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