The gloves are off, but can bare-knuckle boxing hit the mainstream?

13/09/2024 09:30

David Feldman touts bare-knuckle boxing as the world's fastest-growing combat sport. But can his six-year-old promotion manage to overcome its inherent brutality?

Bare-knuckle boxing is best described by its many contradictions. It has been touted as the world's fastest-growing combat sport and, simultaneously, an ancient practice whose origins have been lost to prehistory. It is bloody, yet arguably less harmful for the brain than its gloved counterpart. In terms of fan numbers, it remains a relative minnow in the world of professional sports, but is nevertheless doing impressive box-office numbers in the US, UK and elsewhere.

"It's humane enough to be mainstream, but it's borderline brutal," says David Feldman, founder and president of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC). Bare-knuckle boxing is exactly what it sounds like. Two fighters enter a ring without gloves and, over a series of two-minute rounds, attempt to punch the other athlete into unconsciousness. Winners in fights that don't end in knockouts are decided by judges. Most fighters do wear cloth wraps around the wrist and thumb to reduce the risk of injuring their own hands, but their fists' striking surfaces – their knuckles – remain completely free of protection. It makes for compelling spectator sport, even to this initially hesitant observer.