In the first organized bare-knuckle boxing match since 1889, Bobby Gunn knocked out Richard Stewart to win the vacant heavyweight bare-knuckle championship – a title last held by John L. Sullivan. On Friday night, history was made.
Stewart grimaced at a right hook to the body at the end of Rnd. 2, but he came out aggressively in Rnd. 3, backing Gunn into the ropes. Gunn tied up, and then threw hard body shots until landing a short left hook to the jaw that sent Stewart to the canvas. As he struggled to get to his feet, he stumbled and went down again. He narrowly beat the count and the fight continued.
Gunn threw a few more body punches punctuated with a right to the temple that sent Stewart down again. The referee called a halt to the fight at 54 seconds of Rnd. 3.
While many might have envisioned a brawl resembling a bloody, back-alley street fight, the event was well organized and the fight was technically executed.
On Monday, Gunn talked about some of the technical aspects of the sport.
“You see, Lorne, here’s the deal; When you’re doing bare-knuckle boxing, you’ve only got a 3-1/2-inch gap, the eyes, the nose… You can’t go below the top lip because if you go to the bottom lip you’ll tear your hand open on his teeth. If you go an inch above the eyebrows, you can shatter your hand on his hard forehead. It’s a very technical sport. That’s what people do not realize.”
Although there will be those who will balk at the idea of watching two men go at it with bare knuckles, in reality, the sport appears less brutal than modern MMA fighting.
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