Bare-knuckle boxing has clawed its way from dark underbelly to the mainstream

Telegraph

21-04-2025

It was raucous, rowdy, and historic belts were on the line. Nine of 11 bouts, which included two world-title contests, ended in knockouts. But there were no gloves.
Bare Knuckle Boxing (known as BKB) has gone from being the dark underbelly of the fighting scene to a legitimate sport with the sell-out event at Vale Sports Centre in Cardiff on Saturday night being the organisation's 40th event.
There was a time when the tags of 'gory' and 'barbaric' were used for this ancient form of hand-to-hand combat, once associated more with smoky backrooms within insalubrious venues.
Not any more, however, insists BKB, who hold the moniker of being the oldest bare-knuckle boxing league, harking back to the Victorian-era world champion John L Sullivan. Nonetheless, it is still blood and guts and fury with a 90 per cent stoppage ratio in the smallest combat arena in the world – a triangular 'Trigon' – and unrelenting action.
The four-hour show is almost half the length of traditional boxing or mixed-martial-arts cards. Saturday's show in Cardiff was over by 9.30pm. Indeed, a shorter night's entertainment is something promoter Eddie Hearn has advocated recently for regular boxing events.
There is no time to breathe, as the fights come thick, fast and often very bloody, with cuts common. Brutal as the fights are, there is a very nuanced skill set to bare-knuckle boxing, and the comportment between fighters before and after bouts – which range between 15 and 18 minutes – could only be described as gentlemanly. Women compete in the league, too.
The boxers on Saturday night's card included an eclectic mix of characters: a former biker-gang member, who said he had escaped 'jail and death' through fighting; Ash Williams, a Commonwealth Games medallist for Wales, still serving with the Welsh Regiment; gym owners, businessmen, and fighters from other martial-arts disciplines.
POV: You're ringside the moment the champion Liam 'Rocky' Rees completes his maiden title defence. 👀 #BKB40 #BKB #BareKnuckle pic.twitter.com/Q9bPHaRRPl
— BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing (@bkbbareknuckle) April 20, 2025
Bridgerweight Dorian Darch, who was victorious over Tony Barratt inside a minute, formerly fought Anthony Joshua, Daniel Dubois and Hughie Fury as a heavyweight in gloved boxing.
'I was made for this; I wish it had been around years ago in this form,' Darch told Telegraph Sport.
'The narrative arc of many of the fighters' lives, the speed and pacing of the events, and the thrilling fights make the public want to follow the fighters,' Mike Vasquez, a wealthy American business entrepreneur who set up the NASCAR franchise in Mexico and leads the BKB company, added.
Last year, after several years organising bare-knuckle events in the US, Vasquez bought out his British counterpart. The two organisations had been working side by side, sharing talent and ideas, for several years. On the UK side, Joe Smith, a successful self-made businessman, and his head of operations Jim Freeman, have stayed with the company, having set the wheels in motion almost a decade ago.
'We know the landscape has changed, and fight fans love fast action,' explained Smith. 'I grew up in an era of Benn, Eubank and Collins, and I loved boxing, but it has changed. BKB brings a different appeal, and our stance is that we were always looking to make 50/50 fights.'
Greg Bloom, a US attorney and a strategic instigator for the company, completes a quartet of the fight company's leaders. Bloom, with three decades in the fight industry, working contractually with many names in boxing and the UFC, was interviewed on the Jim White and Simon Jordan show on Talksport last week, and claimed that 'bare knuckle will be as big as boxing in two years'. Quite an assertion, which Bloom reiterated to Telegraph Sport after the thrilling show in Cardiff.
'Look how the fighters performed; and how entertained the fans were. We are building from the bottom up, and it grows month on month,' he explained. The UK/USA alliance will see 16 events this year, eight in the UK; eight in the United States, for the roster of almost 200 fighters.
Last night in the co-main and main events, fans witnessed Emil Markic, a Croatian who has fought elite contenders in gloved boxing's cruiserweight division – including former world champion Tomasz Adamek, the UK's Callum Johnson, and current no 5 WBC contender Brandon Glanton – losing a brutal 18-minute battle with Birmingham's Dan Podmore, the incumbent bridgerweight (225lb) champion.
In the main event, local hero Liam Rees retained the super-welterweight crown against Martin 'The Rebel' Refell, who had his wife in his corner. The quartet all displayed heart, resilience and at times, guts beyond belief. What was also clear, speaking to the fighters on the card, is the transformation they have undergone through their involvement in this most visceral of sports.
Fighters are liberated from their mental-health issues, and if the knuckles are bared, so indeed are the souls. Sitting talking with the fighters is often like filming a gritty, real-life documentary. One of the competitors told me that he had been close to committing suicide two years ago. 'Fighting and boxing has been my salvation,' he explained. 'I have found God, I'm a family man and I'm on the straight and narrow.'
This narrative is repeated over and again, with the fighters' stories and replete fighting skills now broadcast to more than 30 countries. The past two events have been on Talksport in the UK, Vice television is the broadcast partner in the US, and a Hispanic TV deal is about to be inked.
Indeed, there is also a rival fight league, BareKnuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), with former MMA star Conor McGregor having bought a controlling stake in the company. There are signs that he may even have a fight in the future.
Scott Burt, BKB's fight historian, runs the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame just outside Buffalo, New York, and oversees the original barns where Sullivan trained under William Muldoon, the famous 'physical culturist' who also trained President Roosevelt and Harry Houdini.
Sullivan was the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing and the last heavyweight champion of the bare-knuckle variety under the London Prize Ring Rules. The Police Gazette belts presented to the fighters in Cardiff come from the same lineage, which delivers a huge dose of history and authenticity.
The belts had been on the shelf for a century. Burt, a former teacher, sees his role as being given a 30-year project to educate the world on the previous Police Gazette belts. 'When I opened up the barns [which had been owned by the local church] it was all still there, including the shackles Muldoon tied Sullivan to to stop him drinking.'
Fascinating history, which brings us to the modern day, and the drive to take BKB to the mainstream sports landscape. Smith explained: 'Myself and Jim [Freeman] were driven genuinely by the excitement 10 years ago. We were bored of jab, jab boxing. We want thrilling fights. That's what we have at BKB.' Freeman added: 'People want action – and have changed the way they consume things.'
Similarly, Vasquez honed his love of boxing watching Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Ray Leonard and Roberto Durán. 'The 'Four Kings' thrilled us. Then the [Floyd] Mayweather era took that away. This could be the No 1 combat sport purely because of the times we are living in; people want to be entertained. And our fighters are built to do that.' It was certainly the case in Cardiff on Saturday night.