Bare-knuckle boxing (also known as bare-knuckle or bare-knuckle fighting) is a full-contact

combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the opponent (''knock ...

based on punching without any form of padding on the hands. The sport as it is known today originated in 17th-century

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and, although similar, it differs from

street fighting Street fighting or street combat is hand-to-hand combat in public places between individuals or groups of people. The venue is usually a public place (e.g., a street), and the fight sometimes results in serious injury or even death. Some street ...

as it follows an accepted set of rules. The rules that provided the foundation for bare-knuckle boxing for much of the 18th and 19th centuries were the

London Prize Ring Rules The London Prize Ring Rules were a list of boxing rules published in 1838 and revised in 1853. These rules were based on those drafted by England's Jack Broughton in 1743 (known as the Broughton Rules) and governed the conduct of prizefighting ...

. By the late 19th century, professional boxing moved from bare-knuckle to using

boxing gloves Boxing gloves are cushioned gloves that fighters wear on their hands during boxing matches and practices. Unlike "fist-load weapons" (such as the ancient cestus) which were designed as a lethal weapon, modern boxing gloves are non-lethal, desig ...

. The last major world heavyweight championship held under bare-knuckle boxing rules happened in 1889 and was held by John L. Sullivan. The American ''

National Police Gazette The ''National Police Gazette'', commonly referred to as simply the ''Police Gazette'', is an American magazine founded in 1845. Under publisher Richard K. Fox, it became the forerunner of the men's magazine, men's lifestyle magazine, the illu ...

'' magazine was recognized as sanctioning the world championship titles. Bare-knuckle boxing has seen a resurgence in the 21st century with English promoters such as Bare Knuckle Boxing (BKB) in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

and Ultimate Bare Knuckle Boxing (UBKB) in

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, as well as American promoters

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship The Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) is an American bare-knuckle boxing promotion based in Philadelphia. The promotion was founded in April 2018, and is presided over by David Feldman. BKFC is the first promotion to hold an official st ...

(BKFC) in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and BYB Extreme (BYB) in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Early history

The sport as it is known today originated in

. 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 The Dukedom of Albemarle () has been created twice in the Peerage of England, each time ending in extinction. Additionally, the title was created a third time by James II in exile and a fourth time by his son the Old Pretender, in the Jacobit ...

, 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 James Figg (before 1700 – 8 December 1734; also spelt James Fig) was an English prizefighter and instructor in historical European martial arts. While Figg primarily fought with weapons including short swords, quarterstaffs, and cudgels, he ...

, 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 John "Jack" Broughton ( – 8 January 1789) was an English people, English Bare-knuckle boxing, bare-knuckle boxer. He was the first person to codify a set of boxing rules; prior to this the "rules" that existed were very loosely defined and t ...

, Elizabeth Wilkinson, Daniel Mendoza, Jem Belcher, Hen Pearce,

John Gully John Gully (21 August 1783 – 9 March 1863) was an English champion prizefighter who became a racehorse owner and, from 1832 to 1837, a Member of Parliament. Early life Gully was born at Wick, near Bath, the son of an innkeeper who beca ...

, Tom Cribb,

Tom Spring Tom Spring (born Thomas Winter) (22 February 1795 – 20 August 1851) was an English Bare-knuckle boxing, bare-knuckle fighter. He was champion of England from 1822 until his retirement in 1824. After his retirement he became landlord of ...

, Jem Ward, James Burke, William "Bendigo" Thompson,

Ben Caunt Ben Caunt (22 March 1815 – 10 September 1861) was a 19th-century English bare-knuckle boxer who became the heavyweight boxing champion known as the "Torkard Giant" and "Big Ben". Early life Caunt was born on 22 March 1815 in Hucknall Torkard ...

William Perry William Perry may refer to: Business * William H. Perry (businessman) (1832–1906), American businessman and entrepreneur * William Perry (Queensland businessman) (1835–1891), businessman and politician in Queensland, Australia Politics an ...

Tom Sayers Thomas Sayers (15 or 25 May 18268 November 1865) was an English Bare-knuckle boxing, bare-knuckle prize fighter. There were no formal weight divisions at the time, and although Sayers was only five feet eight inches tall and never weighed much ...

and

Jem Mace James "Jem" Mace (8 April 1831 – 30 November 1910) was an English boxing champion, primarily during the bare-knuckle era. He was born at Beeston, Norfolk, Beeston, Norfolk. Although nicknamed "The Gypsy", he denied Romani people, Romani eth ...

. 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 in Australia on December 3, 1855, when Smith gave in after 17 rounds. The bare-knuckle fighter

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 Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

became the first to legalize on March 20, 2018. Prior to that date, the chief sanctioning organization for bare-knuckle boxing was the magazine ''

'', 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.National Police Gazette, 16 Apr 2018, p.
/ref> Other noted champions were Tom Hyer, Yankee Sullivan, Nonpareil Dempsey,

Tom Sharkey Thomas "Sailor Tom" Sharkey (November 26, 1873 – April 17, 1953) was an Irish professional boxer who laid claim to the world heavyweight title by defeating Bob Fitzsimmons on December 2, 1896 in a highly controversial fight. Sharkey's recor ...

Bob Fitzsimmons Robert James Fitzsimmons (26 May 1863 – 22 October 1917) was a Cornish professional boxer who was the sport's first three-division world champion. He also achieved fame for beating "Gentleman Jim" Corbett (the man who beat John L. Sulliv ...

, and

John Morrissey John Morrissey (February 12, 1831 – May 1, 1878), also known as Old Smoke, was an Irish American politician, bare-knuckle boxing champion, and criminal. He became a bare-knuckle boxer, challenging and defeated "Yankee Sullivan", who w ...

Rules

Classical pugilism began to adopt rules by the mid-18th century to decrease cases of injuries and death, while also showcasing the sport as a respectable athletic endeavor. There were three rules that were adopted 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, as well as grabs and throws below the waist, were also forbidden. *

: 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.

Techniques

Early fighting had no written rules. There were no weight divisions or round limits and no referee, resulting in very chaotic fights. An early account of boxing was published in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

in 1713 by Sir Thomas Parkyns, 2nd Baronet, a landowner in Bunny, Nottinghamshire, who had practised the techniques he described. The article, a single page in his manual of wrestling and fencing, ''Progymnasmata: The inn-play, or Cornish-hugg wrestler'', described a system of headbutting, punching, eye-gouging, chokes, and hard throws that are not recognised in boxing today. Consequently, there were no round limits to fights. When a man could not come to scratch, he would be declared loser and the fight would be brought to a halt. Fights could also end if broken up beforehand by crowd riot, police interference or chicanery, or if both men were willing to accept that the contest was a draw. While fights could have enormous numbers of rounds, the rounds in practice could be quite short with fighters pretending to go down from minor blows to take advantage of the 30-second rest period. Even though the Broughton Rules attempted to make boxing more civilized, there were still many techniques in this era that are illegal in today's gloved boxing. However, there were also new revolutionary moves, still in-use today, that were formulated during that time. Grappling was allowed and many favored the use of cross-buttock throw and suplexes, although grabs below the waist were prohibited. Clinching, known as chancery, were also legal and in-use. Fibbing, where a boxer grabs hold of an opponent by the neck or hair before pummeling him multiple times, were allowed. The traditional bare-knuckle boxing stance was actually designed to combat against the use of grappling as well as block punching. Kicking was also allowed in boxing at that time, with William "Bendigo" Thompson being an expert in kicks during his fight with

, and the Lancanshire Navigator using purring kicks in his battle with Tom Cribb. Cribb vs Molineaux 1811

It was during classical pugilism where many famous boxing techniques were invented. Samuel Elias was the first to invent a punch that later became known as the

uppercut The uppercut (formerly known as the undercut) is a punch used in boxing that starts low and travels upwards vertically aiming at the opponent's chin or upper abdomen (so-called " solar plexus"). It is, along with the cross, one of the two main p ...

. Tom Spring popularized the use of the left hook and created a technique called the "Harlequin Step", where he would put himself just within reach of his opponent, then avoiding the instinctive punch while simultaneously delivering one himself; basically inventing the boxing

feint Feint, a French term that entered English via the discipline of swordsmanship and fencing, is a maneuver designed to distract or mislead. A feint is achieved by giving the impression that a certain maneuver will take place, while in fact another, ...

.Tom Spring IBHOF
Daniel Mendoza also popularized the outboxer-style of boxing.

Irish stand down

The "Irish stand down" is a type of traditional bare-knuckle fighting where the aspect of maneuvering around the ring is removed, leaving only the less nuanced aspects of punching and "taking" punches. This form of combat was popular in Irish-American ghettos in the late 19th century but was eclipsed in the community first by bare-knuckle boxing and then later by regulation boxing. The Irish stand down is also known as strap fighting or toe to toe.

Modern bare-knuckle boxing

After more than a century, bare-knuckle boxing returned legally to the UK in

Kettering Kettering is a market town, market and industrial town, industrial town in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, west of Cambridge, England, Cambridge, southwest of Peterborough, southeast of Leicester and north- ...

on 29 June 2015. The show was promoted by UBBAD, headed by Joe Smith-Brown and Jim Freeman. They discovered that, by law, fighters would have to wear hand wraps in order to compete in bare-knuckle 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 The Marquess of Queensberry Rules, also known as Queensberry Rules, are a set of generally accepted rules governing the sport of boxing. Drafted in London in 1865 and published in 1867, they were so named because the 9th Marquess of Queensberry ...

. Most notably, there is an 18-second count on any knockdown in the BKB, although the BKFC and BYB Extreme use 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, both for non-title and title fights. In BKB and BYB Extreme, non-title fights are 5 rounds of 3 minutes while title fights are 7 rounds of 3 minutes. Female fights in both BKB and BYB Extreme are shortened to two-minute rounds. 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, punching in the clinch is prohibited and fights can range from 3 rounds of 3 minutes to 7 rounds of 3 minutes. In October 2021, BKFC Thailand (later renamed BKFC Asia) was established as the officially licensed branch of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) in Asia. It hosted its first event, titled '' BKFC Thailand 1: The Game Changer'' on December 18, 2021, at the Pattaya Exhibition And Convention Hall in

Pattaya Pattaya is a city in Eastern Thailand, the second-largest city in Chonburi province and the List of municipalities in Thailand, eighth-largest city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, and h ...

. BKFC Thailand became the first promotion to receive full licensing and sanctioning for bare-knuckle boxing in Thailand and Asia. On 26 February 2022, Swedish fighter Mathilda Wilson defeated English fighter (and late replacement) Taylor Reeves in the UK's first legal female bare-knuckle fight in the modern era. The bout was held in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

and was sanctioned and governed by the International Sport Kickboxing Association, with Wilson winning by first-round TKO to become the first Scandinavian woman ever to compete professionally in bare-knuckle boxing. In September 2022, it was announced that

had acquired the UK organisation Bare Fist Boxing Association (BFBA) to form Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship UK (BKFC UK). The move meant that BKFC would now regularly hold shows throughout the United Kingdom.

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship rules

# Fighters are permitted to wrap and tape the wrist, thumb, and mid-hand. No gauze or tape can be within of the knuckles. # Fighters will "toe the line". There are two lines, 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. # Punches are the only strike allowed and must be with a closed fist (no kicks, elbows, knees or grappling). # 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. # 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. # 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. # 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. # All fighters must wear a groin protector with a cup, a mouthpiece, trunks or boxing trunks, and boxing/wrestling shoes. # All fighters are expected to give 100% effort and behave with complete sportsmanship.

Current titleholders

Police Gazette

Bare Knuckle Boxing (BKB™)

BYB Extreme (BYB)

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC)

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship Asia (BKFC Asia)

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship UK (BKFC UK)

List of English Heavyweight Bare-Knuckle Boxing Champions

1719-1730 * Tom Pipes 1730-1734 * George Taylor (boxer) 1734-1736 *

1736-1750 * Jack Slack (boxer) 1750-1760 * William Stevens (boxer) 1760-1761 * George Meggs 1761-1762 * Tom Juchau 1765-1766 * William Darts 1766-1769 * Tom Lyons (boxer) 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 *

1807-1808 * Tom Cribb 1808-1822 *

1823-1824 * Tom Cannon 1824-1825 * Jem Ward 1825-1827 * Peter Crawley (boxer) 1827 * Jem Ward 1827-1832 * James Burke (boxer) 1833-1839 *

William Thompson (boxer) William Abednego Thompson (11 October 1811 – 23 August 1880), also known as Bendigo Thompson, was an English Bare-knuckle boxing, bare-knuckle boxer who won the heavyweight championship of England from James Burke on 12 February 1839. H ...

1839-1840 *

1840-1841 * Nick Ward (boxer) 1841 *

1841-1845 *

1845-1850 * William Perry (boxer)1850-1851 * Harry Broome 1851-1856 * Tom Paddock 1856-1858 *

1858-1860 * Sam Hurst 1860- 1861 *

1861-1862 * Tom King (boxer) 1862-1863 * Joe Wormald 1865 *

1866-1871

List of United States Heavyweight Bare-knuckle Boxing Champions

Tom Molineaux Thomas Molineaux (March 23, 1784 – August 4, 1818), sometimes spelled Molyneaux or Molyneux, was an American bare-knuckle boxer and possibly a former slave. He spent much of his career in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, ...

1810–1815 * Tom Hyer 1841–1851 *

1853–1859 * John Camel Heenan 1860–1863 * Joe Coburn 1863–1865 * Jimmy Elliott 1865–1870 * Mike McCoole 1870 *

Tom Allen (boxer) Tom Allen (23 April 1839 – 5 April 1903) was a British people, British bare-knuckle boxer who claimed the Heavyweight Championship from 1873, when he defeated Mike McCoole, until 1876, when he lost to Joe Goss. For much of his earlier career ...

1870 *

1870–1871 *

1873–1876 *

Joe Goss Joseph Goss (1838-1885) was an English bare knuckle boxer. He emigranted to the United States of America in 1867. After defeating Tom Allen in Boone County, Kentucky, he held the American and what many boxing historians now consider the World ...

1876–1880 *

Paddy Ryan Patrick Ryan (15 March 1851 – 14 December 1900) was an Irish American boxer, and became the bare-knuckle American heavyweight champion on 30 May 1880, after he won the title from Joe Goss. He retained the title until losing it to the excep ...

1880–1882 * John L. Sullivan 1882–1889

References

Sources and further reading

''The Outsiders – Exposing the Secretive World of Ireland's Travellers''
Chapters 4 and 5 () 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) {{martial arts * Free information website https://bareknuckleboxing.freeforums.net 1681 establishments in England Games and sports introduced in the 17th century Boxing Individual sports Boxing terminology et:Rusikavõitlus