BJJ-Blue
08-05-2011, 11:10 AM
"Bobby Gunn arrived in Arizona on Thursday, a day before he was set to take part in what is believed to be the first sanctioned bare-knuckle boxing match since 1889, when John L. Sullivan had his hand raised after foe Jake Kilrain's corner threw in the towel -- following 75 rounds of hand-to-hand combat.
The 37-year-old hitter, who goes by the nickname "The Celtic Warrior" when he gloves up under the Marquess of Queensberry rules, wasn't much worried that he would be thrown off by the gloveless fists of opponent Richard Stewart. Nor was he fretting that he might sustain an injury more severe than, say, the regulation busted nose that he had accumulated while amassing a 21-4-1 mark since turning pro in 1989. In fact, Gunn said he felt at ease because he had been fighting in events like this one since he was 13 years old.
"I grew up in this," Gunn told ESPN.com. "It's nothing new to me. It's such an honor to be in the footsteps of John L. Sullivan. And nobody will be arrested afterwards."
Presumably, Gunn is right. Promoter David Feldman, along with partner Len Hayko, will stage the show at the Fort McDowell Casino, a 40-square-mile reservation just outside Scottsdale, Ariz. The bare-knuckle match, along with some boxing and MMA fights that will round out the card, will be overseen by the Yavapai Nation, not the Arizona State Boxing Commission.
Feldman assured ESPN.com several times that all proper precautions would be taken to ensure that the fighters aren't hurt, and he insisted that Gunn and Stewart are less likely to be seriously hurt in a bare-knuckle fight than in a "regular" boxing match because, in a bare-knuckle tussle, a fighter is less likely to take a sustained beating.
"Safety is first," said Feldman, a former pro boxer who has tried for years to get the bare-knuckle event rolling but has been met with resistance from folks who cried barbarism. "With the gloves, people absorb more blows. But we're not going to let anyone get killed or let someone's eye fall out."
The promoter is trying to toe a line here, as he also believes that fight fans are looking for more in-your-face action -- more violence, less science, perhaps."
Source: (complete article)
http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/6835788/bringing-back-bygone-bareknuckle-era-boxing
The 37-year-old hitter, who goes by the nickname "The Celtic Warrior" when he gloves up under the Marquess of Queensberry rules, wasn't much worried that he would be thrown off by the gloveless fists of opponent Richard Stewart. Nor was he fretting that he might sustain an injury more severe than, say, the regulation busted nose that he had accumulated while amassing a 21-4-1 mark since turning pro in 1989. In fact, Gunn said he felt at ease because he had been fighting in events like this one since he was 13 years old.
"I grew up in this," Gunn told ESPN.com. "It's nothing new to me. It's such an honor to be in the footsteps of John L. Sullivan. And nobody will be arrested afterwards."
Presumably, Gunn is right. Promoter David Feldman, along with partner Len Hayko, will stage the show at the Fort McDowell Casino, a 40-square-mile reservation just outside Scottsdale, Ariz. The bare-knuckle match, along with some boxing and MMA fights that will round out the card, will be overseen by the Yavapai Nation, not the Arizona State Boxing Commission.
Feldman assured ESPN.com several times that all proper precautions would be taken to ensure that the fighters aren't hurt, and he insisted that Gunn and Stewart are less likely to be seriously hurt in a bare-knuckle fight than in a "regular" boxing match because, in a bare-knuckle tussle, a fighter is less likely to take a sustained beating.
"Safety is first," said Feldman, a former pro boxer who has tried for years to get the bare-knuckle event rolling but has been met with resistance from folks who cried barbarism. "With the gloves, people absorb more blows. But we're not going to let anyone get killed or let someone's eye fall out."
The promoter is trying to toe a line here, as he also believes that fight fans are looking for more in-your-face action -- more violence, less science, perhaps."
Source: (complete article)
http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/6835788/bringing-back-bygone-bareknuckle-era-boxing