Longtime
readers of The Boxing Truth® are likely familiar
with the coverage this observer has provided over the years of the various
forms of Bareknuckle Boxing that have emerged. Over the last year, several
promotions have surfaced devoted to presenting Bareknuckle Boxing in its purist
form in a modernized presentation. Some of these promotions have included the
Bareknuckle Boxing promotion out of the United Kingdom or (BKB) for short, not
to be confused with the now defunct BKB branded promotion that was owned by
United States satellite television provider DirecTV, Bareknuckle FC that
regularly stages cards in the state of Wyoming, the World Bareknuckle Fighting
Federation (WBKFF), which staged one card also in Wyoming, and finally the Bareknuckle
Fighting Championship (BKFC). Like the Bareknuckle FC and WBKFF, the BKFC began
in Wyoming, but over the promotion’s seven events have expanded to include
Mississippi, Mexico, and Florida.
The
BKFC also broke from it’s established model as a pay-per-view attraction with
its most recent event earlier this month by streaming the event for free on
both digital combat sports network Fite TV and the BKFC’s official YouTube
page. Although as this observer has stated in the past, Bareknuckle Boxing
provides further opportunities for boxers and other combat sports athletes, a
question I have found asking myself is whether or not the sport of Boxing in
Bareknuckle form is expanding too quickly?
It
is important to remember that up until recently, many states in the United
States had an outright ban on bareknuckle combat. While DirecTV’s version of
BKB initially began as a gloved-form of Bareknuckle Boxing, it quickly evolved
from that to a form of Boxing that included the “BKB Pit” ring with no ropes
but adapted the use of standard Boxing gloves. Even though adapting standard
Boxing gloves appeared to clear significant hurdles in terms of licensing,
sanctioning, and regulation as the last two BKB branded events were held in Las
Vegas, NV, the promotion has not staged a card since 2015 and there have been
no announcements of further events.
With
DirecTV’s brand of BKB having essentially disappeared from the combat sports
scene, the other promotions have emerged by presenting Boxing in a pure
Bareknuckle format. No special knuckle-exposed gloves, just hand wraps over
knuckles. Despite the success promotions like BKB in the United Kingdom,
Bareknuckle FC, and the BKFC have had in a short period of time, the hurdles
that initially stood in the way of DirecTV’s version of BKB as well as what
stood in the way of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) for several years in
terms of sanctioning and regulation remain ever present.
A
new Bareknuckle Boxing promotion will join the fray in September as MMA legend
Ken Shamrock will debut his Valor Bareknuckle promotion in its inaugural card
in the state of North Dakota that will be televised on a pay-per-view basis on
both the cable/satellite medium as well as the digital streaming medium via
Fite TV on September 21st. On one hand a new Bareknuckle promotion entering the
fray will provide further options for combat athletes, but on the other hand, some
might question whether further expansion for the sport will be good in the
long-term.
For
the sport of MMA, expansion was a relatively slow process with only a handful
of notable promotions worldwide, which included the sport’s inception into the
United States in the early 1990’s. This was due to the sport initially being
presented as a form of no-holds barred combat, which raised the ire of several
politicians and thus created a significant roadblock in terms of regulation and
sanctioning that took the sport several years to overcome. Though one could
make the argument that the struggles that the sport of MMA faced in its early
years actually helped the resurgence of Bareknuckle Boxing in a way as by the
time the sport began to resurface, MMA had become almost universally sanctioned
around the world and this may have led to some state athletic commissions being
more open to regulating Bareknuckle Boxing, the question remains as to whether
more strict athletic commissions and regulatory boards will be willing to open
their doors to the sport.
Some
may wonder why that would be a potential obstacle after the evolution of MMA
that saw it’s initial no-holds barred format evolve to it’s current form of the
use of gloves and weight classes. We should remember why Bareknuckle Boxing was
eventually banned in terms of being an organized sport and why Boxing adapted
the Marquess of
Queensberry rules
that include Boxing gloves. While yours truly was obviously not around in those
times, as a Boxing historian, I have always been led to believe that the
adoption of Boxing gloves primarily had to do with an overall concern for the
safety of fighters. It is also worth noting that the scheduled distances of
fights prior to the introduction of gloves were significantly greater than what
one sees in the sport today where fights were at times scheduled for distances
of twenty rounds or more.
Although
obviously not every fight that occurred involved such a grueling test of one’s
endurance, the effects from an accumulation of punishment sustained in Bareknuckle
combat, which resulted in varying injuries that unfortunately included death
was something that the sport dealt with. Even today with all the improvements
not only in the sport in terms of shorter distances of fights and greater
medical knowledge and screening, Boxing and other forms of combat sports do
have to deal with the possibility of fighters suffering severe injuries that can
at times unfortunately lead to death.
As
most knowledgeable Boxing fans know, the sport was recently hit with two
separate tragedies that resulted in the deaths of two boxers as a result of
injuries sustained in the ring. Jr. Welterweights Maxim Dadashev and Hugo Santillan
each passed away days apart after competing in bouts in July. Although these
tragedies did not occur in bouts that were sanctioned under Bareknuckle rules and
occurred under the traditional
professional Boxing format, the potential for similar circumstances does exist
due to no gloves being used in those Bareknuckle bouts and the potential of
such could stand in the way of further licensing and regulation clearances
among more strict state athletic commissions and regulatory boards around the
world.
While
the subject of what can make Boxing as a whole and by extension all combat
sports safer for the athletes that compete in it is one yours truly plans to
discuss in the near future, the resurgence of Bareknuckle Boxing does have a
few aspects that I do believe help its case in terms of seeking further
clearances to stage cards. Firstly, though Bareknuckle Boxing is a form of
professional Boxing, its format differs from the traditional form most are
familiar with. Most of the Bareknuckle Boxing promotions use a two minute round
format and tend to schedule fights for shorter round distances than the
traditional form. Although knockouts under the Bareknuckle format can obviously
be brutal, the knockouts tend to come suddenly and do not necessarily occur as
a result of an accumulation of punishment over the course of a long fight. What
also works in its favor is bouts tend to be stopped appropriately once it is
apparent that a fighter is in danger and has had enough.
Whether
or not those factors will eventually lead to the Bareknuckle form of the sport
being sanctioned and regulated in states such as New York and Nevada remains to
be seen. While the fact that several different Bareknuckle promotions have began
and will begin operating is a good thing from the standpoint of it opening up
further opportunities for athletes across all combat sports disciplines, I do
fear however, that by so many promotions/groups emerging in such a short period
of time that it will create an over saturation in terms of Bareknuckle events
being staged in a calendar year, which could result in it being difficult to grow
their respective audiences, but also and more importantly may do more harm than
good when it comes to what should be the goal of every Bareknuckle Boxing
promotion, to achieve universal licensing and regulation across the board. An
achievement that frankly took the sport of MMA too long to accomplish.
“And
That’s The Boxing Truth.”
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