You Can’t Look Away From Bare-Knuckle Boxing

For two decades, American boxer Austin Trout did the obvious: He fought with his gloves on. He wore them in 206 amateur fights, and they adorned his fists as he reached the top of the light middleweight division in his pro career.

From Gloves to Bare Knuckles

Then, in 2023, Trout fought with his gloves off. And no, it’s not because he transitioned to MMA. In fact, the man known as “No Doubt” made a pivot to a sport that predates modern boxing or mixed martial arts as we know it. 

Ever heard of bare-knuckle boxing?

It’s exactly how it sounds: a slugfest where there’s no leather or foam to shelter a fighter’s bones. Only gauze and tape are wrapped around the hands, and the knuckles are fully exposed.

As far back as the English prizefighters of the 17th and 18th centuries, bare-knuckle boxing has captivated crowds with unadulterated fisticuffs. Something just hits different when you can see and hear exposed knuckles making contact with a jawline. 

It’s jarring, it’s violent, and it’s instinctive. Like we were all born to fend for ourselves using nothing but the ingenuity of our fists.

Pro boxing, of course, has yanked the spotlight away for 200 years and counting. Then MMA evolved into what it is, and now these two industries are constantly trying to one-up each other. Still, through the Floyd Mayweathers and Conor McGregors of it all, bare-knuckle boxing has picked itself up from the mat and lived to fight another day.

BKFC’s Unlikely Rise

In 2018, the promotion known as Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) was launched. As villainous as McGregor has been on and off camera, the UFC superstar deserves credit for helping BKFC get off the ground through his support as a part owner. No one, however, is more responsible for BKFC’s unlikely surge than founder David Feldman.

“I’ve asked people, do you know what an omoplata is?” Feldman told Forbes in 2024. “No. But do they know what a bare-knuckle punch is? Yes.”

Thanks in large part to the perseverance of Feldman, a Temple University product who had a brief pro boxing career, BKFC has grown from a fledgling startup into a promotion reportedly valued at around $400 million, reflecting its rapid rise in the combat sports landscape. After staging a 2018 event at a hockey rink in Wyoming, BKFC has legitimately gone global: This July, they’ll go from the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia to venues in Naples, Italy and Montevideo, Uruguay.

Trout’s move from championship boxing to BKFC also raises another question: just how dangerous is bare-knuckle fighting compared to traditional boxing?

As promotions like BKFC propel the popularity of the sport, one has to ask: Does bare-knuckle fighting inflict more pain than professional boxing? According to a 2021 study, 2.8% of the bare-knuckle fighter respondents were seen to have sustained concussions with symptoms after a bout. Meanwhile, that number has reached as high as 12.3% in gloved boxing.

If these stats are to be believed, you’re better off fighting a bare-knuckled bout if you want to steer clear of symptomatic concussions. Not so fast, though: The lead author of the 2021 study was none other than Dr. Don Muzzi, chief medical officer of the BKFC.

No matter what you think of bare-knuckle fighting (I imagine that it’s somewhere between “purest form of hand-to-hand combat” and “unnecessary bloodshed on pay-per-view”), none of us can deny that this sport has a promising future. Getting picked up by distribution outlets like DAZN is certainly helpful, as is the financial flexibility to book former WBA champions like Trout.

Austin Trout’s Next Test

Mr. No Doubt, in fact, is headlining BKFC’s Philadelphia card this weekend. Before the fireworks go off on the Fourth of July, Trout defends his BKFC Lightweight Championship against the UK’s Ben Bonner (5-2-0). In the birthplace of U.S. independence, Trout (5-0-0) faces an Englishman with so much on the line: his title, his undefeated streak, and his country’s honor.

Centuries ago, the forces of America and Britain fought with guns and ships as a young nation sought sovereignty. In a matter of days, an up-and-coming promotion will rekindle the war, this time with a flurry of furious knuckles. For Trout, Bonner, and a surging generation of fighters, the gloves will always be off.

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