{"id":300026,"date":"2023-12-09T10:54:07","date_gmt":"2023-12-09T10:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/?p=300026"},"modified":"2023-12-09T10:54:07","modified_gmt":"2023-12-09T10:54:07","slug":"inside-the-brutal-world-of-bare-knuckle-boxing-in-britain-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/boxing\/inside-the-brutal-world-of-bare-knuckle-boxing-in-britain-exclusive\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the brutal world of bare-knuckle boxing in Britain – EXCLUSIVE"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When you hear the words bare-knuckle boxing, what do you think? For many, it conjures up the image of two juiced-up bruisers knocking lumps out of each other in a run-down barn surrounded by roaming chickens. The sort of scene you\u2019d expect to see in Guy Ritchie\u2019s hit 2000 flick Snatch.\u00a0And for a time, this was the case. But that would all change in 2015 when two men, Jim Freeman and Joe Smith-Brown, embarked on an arduous journey to bring the sport back to the masses.<\/p>\n

You see, back in the 17th<\/sup>, 18th<\/sup> and much of the 19th<\/sup> century, pugilistic contests were fought with unbandaged fists. Like gloved boxers of today, these men were heralded as champions of the people and received widespread acclaim from politicians, royalty and academics of yesteryear.<\/p>\n

The rematch between bare-knuckle legends Tom Cribb and Tom Molineaux at Copthorne Gap,\u00a0Surrey in 1810 was attended by 15,000 spectators. Bare-knuckle boxing was a booming enterprise and among Britain\u2019s most popular sports.<\/p>\n

However, it would fall out of the limelight with the publication of the Marquess of Queensberry rules in 1867 which introduced the formalised code accepted in modern boxing. The new regulations insisted on gloves \u2013 but to protect the hands, not the brain \u2013 with reoccurring breaks and fractures often cutting a pugilist\u2019s career short.<\/p>\n

The gloved counterpart continued to grow and evolve into the 20th<\/sup> century, being introduced to the Olympics in 1904. Meanwhile, bare-knuckle boxing was pushed further and further underground, becoming the forgotten, unspoken side of the sport.<\/p>\n

Most of the bare-knuckle bouts in the 1900s were fought between travellers to settle family feuds although there were unregulated contests staged for entertainment as well. It was at one of these shows that Freeman and Smith-Brown met and began to devise a plan to breathe new life into the once-popular pastime.<\/p>\n

GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cWe met at a show down in Wales when it was still in hay bales,\u201d said Freeman. \u201cI was working the bar and Joe was helping promote the show with someone else. There was an expectation that there would be four hundred people there but in reality, about fifty turned up and me and Joe just got talking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said: \u2018Listen, I think I can offer a bit more and together we could take this sport places\u2019 and that\u2019s how it started really. We decided no haybales, put it in a ring and run it to a professional standard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith-Brown added: \u201cBack then bare-knuckle boxing was very much underground and surrounded by crooks. There was clearly an appetite for bare-knuckle, but it just needed to be moulded into something that could appeal to a more mainstream audience. We always knew it had potential and to be honest I always thought it would grow the way it has.\u201d<\/p>\n

Together they rebranded the sport under their new promotional banner BKBtm. The company became an almost instant success and was soon putting on shows across the country in renowned venues such as the Liverpool Echo Arena and their current home, The O2 Indigo.<\/p>\n