Chance
06-02-2018, 09:46 AM
From ABC News (https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/bare-knuckle-boxing-bygone-era-comeback-55591504):
In 1889, the great John L. Sullivan, the Boston Strong Boy, beat Jake Kilrain in 75 rounds — yes, 75 — in what the International Boxing Hall of Fame has called the "last significant bare-knuckle bout in boxing."
Since then, about the only gloves-off fighting many people have witnessed has consisted of barroom brawls.
But on Saturday night, 10 bouts of bare-knuckle boxing, including one involving female fighters, will take place at the Cheyenne Ice and Events Center.
The event, available on pay-per-view, is being promoted as the first legal, regulated and sanctioned bare-knuckle fight event in U.S. history. Back in Sullivan's day, there were no sanctioning bodies and few if any regulations.
"I think it's what the public wants to see. The public is begging for something new," promoter David Feldman said, noting that it has been 25 years since the advent of UFC mixed martial arts. "We're hopefully leading the way to a new era in combat sports."
The boxers will be allowed wraps around their thumbs and wrists but will not wear any protection over their knuckles the way fighters normally do in traditional boxing, MMA or other combat sports where padded gloves of various thickness are used.
Each bout is scheduled for five, 2-minute rounds, fought in a ring with rounded ropes instead of the traditional square.
Bare-knuckle regulations are otherwise similar to those of glove boxing, in that opponents can only throw punches and there's a standing eight count and a three-knockdown rule.
"But when you're in a clinch, you can hit with the open hand. You can pull the back of their neck into punches," Feldman said. "So it gives a little bit more excitement in the clinches."
....
Some authorities on boxing have argued that padded gloves made the sport more dangerous by allowing fighters to hit their opponents in the head more often with less risk of hurting their hands.
....
Board chairman Bryan Pedersen said the board received no opposition and saw the event as an opportunity to provide better safety than is afforded at unregulated bare-knuckle fights. Ringside doctors, for instance, are required at state-sanctioned bouts.
The board reviewed research that indicated bare-knuckle boxing would be safer than other combat sports, especially when it comes to concussions, Pedersen said.
"If you look at what we already regulate in the state of Wyoming — we regulate kickboxing and MMA, right?" he said. "In those two, you could take an elbow to the head, a knee to the head or a shin kick to the head. And go out in your yard and punch a basketball and kick a basketball and see what goes farther."
Big difference in fighting styles. From MMA Junkie (https://mmajunkie.com/2018/06/bare-knuckle-fighting-championship-preparation-ricco-rodriguez-bec-rawlings):
Former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez was telling his old friend Chris Lytle about this weird thing he’d agreed to do. It was a bare-knuckle boxing event, he explained, sanctioned by a state commission, with rounds and rules and refs and judges, but no actual gloves.
“He asked me how I was training and I said, ‘Eh, you know, just doing some boxing sparring in the gym,’” Rodriguez told MMAjunkie. “He was the one who told me, ‘No, you can’t train like that. Because a lot of the stuff that you can do with gloves on aren’t going to work in bare knuckle.’”
....
Consider the differences between boxing and MMA striking techniques.
Even in those two sports, the disparity in glove sizes forces some changes in style and approach. While you might be able to cover up and hide fairly well behind the defensive shell of eight- or 10-ounce boxing gloves, a pair of four-ounce MMA gloves don’t provide nearly as much shelter.
Smaller gloves make for smaller shields, but also for leaner weapons, ones that can more easily slip through gaps in your defense.
Then there’s the increased risk of injury to the puncher rather than the punchee. Hit someone high on the skull with a pair of boxing gloves and you may feel it, but so will they. Do the same with your bare fists and it might be the last punch you throw for weeks.
Anyone watching?
In 1889, the great John L. Sullivan, the Boston Strong Boy, beat Jake Kilrain in 75 rounds — yes, 75 — in what the International Boxing Hall of Fame has called the "last significant bare-knuckle bout in boxing."
Since then, about the only gloves-off fighting many people have witnessed has consisted of barroom brawls.
But on Saturday night, 10 bouts of bare-knuckle boxing, including one involving female fighters, will take place at the Cheyenne Ice and Events Center.
The event, available on pay-per-view, is being promoted as the first legal, regulated and sanctioned bare-knuckle fight event in U.S. history. Back in Sullivan's day, there were no sanctioning bodies and few if any regulations.
"I think it's what the public wants to see. The public is begging for something new," promoter David Feldman said, noting that it has been 25 years since the advent of UFC mixed martial arts. "We're hopefully leading the way to a new era in combat sports."
The boxers will be allowed wraps around their thumbs and wrists but will not wear any protection over their knuckles the way fighters normally do in traditional boxing, MMA or other combat sports where padded gloves of various thickness are used.
Each bout is scheduled for five, 2-minute rounds, fought in a ring with rounded ropes instead of the traditional square.
Bare-knuckle regulations are otherwise similar to those of glove boxing, in that opponents can only throw punches and there's a standing eight count and a three-knockdown rule.
"But when you're in a clinch, you can hit with the open hand. You can pull the back of their neck into punches," Feldman said. "So it gives a little bit more excitement in the clinches."
....
Some authorities on boxing have argued that padded gloves made the sport more dangerous by allowing fighters to hit their opponents in the head more often with less risk of hurting their hands.
....
Board chairman Bryan Pedersen said the board received no opposition and saw the event as an opportunity to provide better safety than is afforded at unregulated bare-knuckle fights. Ringside doctors, for instance, are required at state-sanctioned bouts.
The board reviewed research that indicated bare-knuckle boxing would be safer than other combat sports, especially when it comes to concussions, Pedersen said.
"If you look at what we already regulate in the state of Wyoming — we regulate kickboxing and MMA, right?" he said. "In those two, you could take an elbow to the head, a knee to the head or a shin kick to the head. And go out in your yard and punch a basketball and kick a basketball and see what goes farther."
Big difference in fighting styles. From MMA Junkie (https://mmajunkie.com/2018/06/bare-knuckle-fighting-championship-preparation-ricco-rodriguez-bec-rawlings):
Former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez was telling his old friend Chris Lytle about this weird thing he’d agreed to do. It was a bare-knuckle boxing event, he explained, sanctioned by a state commission, with rounds and rules and refs and judges, but no actual gloves.
“He asked me how I was training and I said, ‘Eh, you know, just doing some boxing sparring in the gym,’” Rodriguez told MMAjunkie. “He was the one who told me, ‘No, you can’t train like that. Because a lot of the stuff that you can do with gloves on aren’t going to work in bare knuckle.’”
....
Consider the differences between boxing and MMA striking techniques.
Even in those two sports, the disparity in glove sizes forces some changes in style and approach. While you might be able to cover up and hide fairly well behind the defensive shell of eight- or 10-ounce boxing gloves, a pair of four-ounce MMA gloves don’t provide nearly as much shelter.
Smaller gloves make for smaller shields, but also for leaner weapons, ones that can more easily slip through gaps in your defense.
Then there’s the increased risk of injury to the puncher rather than the punchee. Hit someone high on the skull with a pair of boxing gloves and you may feel it, but so will they. Do the same with your bare fists and it might be the last punch you throw for weeks.
Anyone watching?