Nowadays, people have access to many different sports, and they can watch whatever they want on various devices. Traditional options like football and tennis have millions of fans worldwide that follow their go-to teams and players, but other sports, such as bare-knuckle boxing, are becoming even more popular.
The information that www.jaxkidsdirectory.com provides reveals that bare-knuckle boxing has become way more popular in the last couple of years. One of the reasons for this is the arrival of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, which David Feldman founded in 2018. “To be honest, bare knuckle boxing is not for everyone. This sport is extremely interesting to watch because of its primal nature, but some people may find it too disturbing. Having said that, the sport is slowly making its way to the online betting industry, so it’s no surprise there are loads of BKFC betting options”, said Kristiyan from NB.
Even though this sport has been around for many years, it has become much more popular in the last 3. One of the reasons for the sport’s growing popularity is the organizer’s decision to include fight cards with many big names from other sports, including the UFC. Ben Rothwell is a good example, but you may find a few other popular options.
Despite the sport’s growing popularity, a lot of people do not know about this sport’s existence and want to learn more. The good news is that we’ve been following the professional scene for a while now. That’s why it is time to share everything you need to know.
The first official bare-knuckle boxing event in the US was hosted by the BKFC in 2018, and it was the first one since 1889
As mentioned, bare-knuckle boxing is not new, especially in the USA. The first events are almost 150 years old at this point, but thanks to the BKFC, the sport has an official regulating body.
After it was created in 2018, the BKFC got the opportunity to hold the first-ever bare-knuckle boxing competition in 2018. The matches were played on a ring that’s known as “Squared Circle”, and as its name suggests, it has 4 rope rings in a circle.
The event from 2018 was special for many reasons, including the introduction of a bare-knuckle fight between women. Currently, there have been 56 events hosted by the BKFC, which means that the sport keeps getting bigger. No wonder a lot of people are becoming more interested in BKFC betting (we’ll discuss that in a bit).
BKFC Asia & The UK
After establishing the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship in the USA in 2018, the sport became a lot more popular. As a result, Nick Chapman decided to expand the business in Asia because of the market’s potential. Following the decision, the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship Thailand came into existence in late 2021.
As expected, there was a big event featuring many big names in the sport, including the likes of Sirimongkol Singmanasak. The 46-year-old is among the most famous professional bare-knuckle boxers in Thailand. Considering that this is the country of Muay Thai, the first-ever such event in Asia also included big names from this sport.
Following the organization’s success, the people behind it decided to rebrand from BKFC Thailand to BKFC Asia.
As for the UK, BKFC made its entrance into the market in late 2022. Considering the popularity of boxing in the UK and Europe, it’s a matter of time before bare-knuckle boxing becomes as popular as standard boxing. It is worth knowing that the sport became legal in 2015 when there was an event in Kettering.
The Squared Circle
As mentioned earlier, the bare-knuckle boxing ring is called “Square Circle”. Interestingly, the ring pays homage to traditional bare-knuckle boxing because it has two parallel scratch lines. Those are positioned three feet apart at the center and the right and are related to the rules regarding bare-knuckle fighting more than 150 years ago.
Once the round begins, the fighters must place the front foot on the specific scratch line. This is known as “Toe the Line” and is given to both fighters once the round begins.
Weight Classes in the BKFC
Even though bare-knuckle boxing has to be one of the most brutal sports, it has many different rules. One of them is related to the weight classes. Interestingly, there are 10 weight classes in the BKFC, but only the last two (Strawweight and Flyweight) are suitable for female fights. In fact, the Strawweight is only for female fighters.
Another exciting thing is that the Heavyweight division does not have an upper limit when it comes down to the fighter’s weight.
BKFC Records
Although the sport is not as popular as traditional boxing yet, bare-knuckle boxing has its share of pretty exciting records. For example, the Australian fighter Hector Lombard holds the record for being the oldest champion at 43 years and 8 months. This is extremely impressive, especially for a sport that is so dangerous. Regarding the youngest champion, this record goes to Francesco Ricchi, who achieved that at 28 years and 4 months.
Luis Palomino is an exciting name in bare-knuckle boxing because he holds 3 records. First, he has the record for the most consecutive title defenses (6) and the record for the most title fight wins (8). Lastly, Luis Palomino also has the record for the longest reigning champion (1227 days).
This record goes to the American fighter Chase Sherman regarding the shortest championship reign. The latter was a champion for only 98 days.
Death of a Boxer
Considering the nature of bare-knuckle boxing, it is no surprise that the sport has its fair share of controversy. Unfortunately, one of the situations resulted in the death of Justin Thornton. This happened in August 2021 when the player got a fatal spinal injury after making his debut in the BKFC.
Needless to say, this death caused serious backlash and criticism from a lot of people involved in combat sports. Interestingly, one of them was Dana White, the UFC president. As you can probably guess, he was unhappy with the situation and criticized BKFC’s rules.
There were hardly any rules in bare-knuckle boxing before
The fact that bare-knuckle boxing is a lot different than regular boxing shouldn’t be surprising. While the latter always had rules, this was not the case here because the sport was completely different than now.
Today, bare-knuckle boxing has strict rules and shorter rounds because the idea is to make it as “safe” as possible. However, if we read old books about this sport, we can see that things were not like that.
Many sources claim that there were hardly any rules for bare-knuckle boxing before. The match ended when one of the TWP fighters could no longer continue the fight. This usually happens when the person cannot stay on his feet.
Today, bare-knuckle boxing has a lot of different rules players must follow. For example, fighters can punch their way out of a clinch.
BKFC Betting
Whether you like bare-knuckle boxing or not, you can’t deny that this sport has a future in the online betting industry. One of the reasons why it was not offered by most bookmakers a few years ago was that the sport was mainly popular in the USA. However, now that most Americans can access online bookmakers, bare-knuckle boxing is a hot option.
Many things make BKFC betting interesting, but the option that stands out is the odds. No matter the category, event, or match you check, you will find competitive odds for both fighters. Unlike other sports, where only a few markets have good options, bare-knuckle boxing usually offers this for everything.
Of course, there is a reason for the high odds, and we can summarize it in one word – unpredictability. All sports are difficult to predict, but everything is possible when you bet on a fight where people punch with their bare hands.
Fighters earn a decent amount of money
No one likes getting punched in the face. That’s why it is no surprise that one of the big reasons why bare-knuckle boxing is so popular is because fighters earn a decent amount of money. The amounts are not as significant as in other, more established combat sports, such as the UFC.
There have been rumours about some fighters getting paid as much as $400K for their debut. We are talking about Paige Van Zant because she decided to make a move from the UFC to the BKFC.
Considering the league needs to grow in popularity, it is no surprise it is willing to pay fighters more money. It will be interesting to see what will happen once the BKFC becomes as big as the UFC. As you know, the latter is not famous for paying its fighters much money.
