BKFC Signs Joshua, Ortiz as Bare Knuckle Goes Mainstream
Bare knuckle boxing spent more than a century in the underground after John L. Sullivan beat Jake Kilrain over 75 rounds in 1889. Wyoming changed that in 2018 when it became the first state to license a regulated bare knuckle event, and Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship staged the first legal card since the Sullivan era, according to a Boxing Insider report. Eight years later, the sport airs on mainstream platforms and signs former boxing world champions at a steady clip.
BKFC, the largest promotion in the sport, runs five two-minute rounds inside a circular four-rope ring. Fighters wrap the wrist for support but leave the knuckles uncovered. The Association of Boxing Commissions adopted unified bare knuckle rules capping bouts at six rounds and eighteen total minutes. Each round opens with both fighters toeing scratch lines at ring center, a nod to 19th-century Broughton Rules. Cuts and doctor stoppages are routine.
Former Champions Make The Jump
Paulie Malignaggi broke ground in 2019, two years into retirement from gloved boxing. Austin Trout made the template work, winning BKFC's welterweight title in his second bare knuckle outing after fighting Canelo Alvarez and both Charlo brothers in the traditional sport. He held the strap until this month when Ben Bonner stopped him at BKFC's Liberty Brawl card in Philadelphia. Victor Ortiz headlined BKB 56 in Los Angeles on July 18, sweeping the scorecards over five rounds against Dominic Salcido. "Glory be to God, he gave me the victory. It was a hard one but I enjoyed it," Ortiz said afterward, per the post-event report.
On the same card, former IBF junior lightweight titleholder JoJo Diaz knocked out Nate Williams with a first-round body shot, and former interim junior middleweight titleholder Alfredo Angulo stopped Rashad Bowens in two. The roster of former boxers who have taken bare knuckle fights now includes James DeGale, Jamel Herring, Lee Selby, Yuriorkis Gamboa and Lucas Browne.
New Jersey sanctioned its first bare knuckle event in October 2025 when BKFC 82 drew a crowd to Prudential Center in Newark. BKFC founder David Feldman told media the promotion is returning to the venue on October 17 for BKFC 95. "We're thrilled to return to Prudential Center, one of the premier sports and entertainment venues in the world with another tremendous event," Feldman said in the announcement. California has become an active market as well, with BKB selling out The Novo at L.A. Live for a card that featured three former boxing world champions in the Trigon on the same night.
More than 30 states have now hosted sanctioned bare knuckle events. BKFC, which counts Conor McGregor among its owners after he acquired a stake in 2024, broadcasts on DAZN and restricts its roster to established professionals from boxing, MMA, kickboxing and Muay Thai. BKFC 95 is set for Prudential Center on October 17.
Photo: Chamber of Fear / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Original reporting:
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