Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships, a Philadelphia-based company attempting to revive a glove-less form of boxing, is seeking to hold its next slate of fights in New Hampshire this summer.
State Boxing and Wrestling Commission Chairman Bobby Stephen says Bare Knuckle FC’s promoter Dave Feldman reached out seeking permission to stage an event on June 22, with eyes on using the Whittemore Center on the campus of UNH in Durham.
“It’s an exciting event,” says Stephen.
(Editor's note: we highly recommend listening to this story.)
In bare knuckle boxing, two contestants enter the ring, ‘toe the line,’ then it’s knuckles up for two-minute rounds. Blood, cuts and lost teeth are part of the show.
The gore can be so off-putting for some that most states prohibit bare knuckle boxing matches. But in 2008, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch signed a lawapproving "fighting sports" such as Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA. That bill appears to have also opened the door for bare knuckle events, as long as they receive approval from the Boxing and Wrestling Commission.
If Bare Knuckle FC’s application gets the green light, New Hampshire would join Wyoming and Mississippi, which have also recently hostedBare Knuckle events.
“Any fighting sports, that is well viewed by us, the Commission” says Stephen, who has served on the body for more than four decades. “And we have trained officials watching out to make sure no one gets hurt.”
Injuries are part of the fun for some competitors.
“It’s not even a question that I’m going to win the fight. It’s about how bad I can hurt this guy,” Paulie Malignaggi, a former champion boxer who is transitioning to bare knuckle and plans to headline the New Hampshire event, told the MMA Hour radio program.
He’s already begun trash talking his likely opponent Artem Lobov.
“For me, if I don’t hurt him to a degree that there is something permanent there, it’s not a win for me,” boasts Malignaggi.
In the late 19th century, most boxers began wearing padded gloves, sending bare knuckle into the fringes of sports culture. The sport remains popular in communities in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
There have been attempts in previous years to revive bare knuckle in the U.S., including in 2013 when BKB Championship Fighting brought a series of fights to the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom. Some critics argued it wasn’t real bare knuckle, however, because the fighters wore modified gloves with the padding removed over the knuckles.
There are still traditional gloved boxing matches in New Hampshire, including a slate of fights planned for the end of May in Windham. That event is promoted by Peter Czymbor with Boston Boxing Promotions, who says bare knuckle may draw people in simply because of the shock value.
“I’m sure that there will be some people interested in it,” says Czymbor. “I’m just not sure how long they will stay interested in it.”
That interest, if the event does happen, will be measured not just in ticket sales, but also in Pay Per View television revenues. For $29.99, you can bring the blood right into your living room.
