Bare-knuckle fighting makes its (legal) Boston debut
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Former UFC fighter Joe Lauzon will make his BKFC debut Saturday at Fenway Park. Photo: Steph Solis/Axios
Fenway Park will host the state's first legal bare-knuckle fighting tournament this weekend.
Why it matters: The bloody combat sport, which was illegal nationwide until 2018, has spread across over 30 states in the years since.
Flashback: Boston has a history with the sport as the hometown of boxer John L. Sullivan.
- Sullivan, "The Boston Strongboy," became the Bare Knuckle Boxing World Champion in 1889. (He and his rival, Jake Kilrain, were later arrested and jailed in Mississippi, per ESPN.)
- That was over a century before former professional boxer David Feldman embarked on a crusade to legalize the sport, drawing professional fighters across boxing, mixed martial arts, kickboxing and Muay Thai.
State of play: Now Feldman's Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship will make its Boston debut with "BKFC 92" at 6pm Saturday.
- The main event pits BKFC Featherweight World Champion "King" Kai Stewart of Great Falls, Montana, against Haverhill's own Harry "The Hitman" Gigliotti.
- For the co-feature, BKFC Women's Flyweight World Champion Christine Ferea will face Sofia Landi of Buenos Aires.
What they're saying: Feldman tells Axios the tournament took years of campaigning and changing perceptions.
- "Bar fights, street fights — that's what you think when you hear bare-knuckle fighting, but we were able to get some of the best combat sports athletes in the world," he says.
How it works: Bare-knuckle fighting is similar to boxing, except for the gloves.
- Fighters can tape their wrists and palms up to an inch from the knuckles to reduce the risk of breaking bones.
- The fighters have five two-minute rounds to take each other down with closed-fist punches.
- There's no kicking, elbowing, kneeing or grappling allowed, unlike in mixed martial arts.
Threat level: It's bloodier than other combat sports, but it's not necessarily more dangerous.
- Feldman says internal data suggests the league has fewer traumatic brain injuries, concussions and broken noses, hands and faces compared to boxing or MMA — mainly because fighters might not hit as hard as they might with a glove on.
- The Association of Ringside Physicians shared similar data with the BBC, but there's not enough data to reach any conclusion about the dangers at this point.
Zoom in: The lineup is packed with local heavy hitters.
- Former UFC star Joe Lauzon, who lives in Bridgewater, makes his BKFC debut against Stash Kuykendall in the welterweight division.
- Also making their BKFC debuts: Peabody native Charles Rosa (lightweight division), Southbridge boxer Robinson Perez (Ironweight division) and Boston MMA fighter James Murrin (featherweight).
- Springfield native Pat Casey will compete in the middleweight division.
- Plymouth's Peter Barrett will compete in a separate lightweight division right from Rosa.
What's next: If all goes well, Feldman says he wants to make the Fenway Park championship an annual event and add others in Massachusetts.