One punch could change your life, but I love the sport.
Bare-knuckle boxer Liam Rees knows the risks when he steps into the ring. The Welshman balances his carpentry day job with a sport so visibly brutal that it has long remained in the shadows of combat sports.
After losing his light-middleweight world title at Cardiff’s Vale Sport Arena, he slumped in a chair, bloodied. His wife Emma gently urged him to stop: “No more now, babe.” But for Rees, nothing matches the adrenaline rush.
“You’ve got so much adrenaline pumping through your body in that ring,” he says. “Some people think I’m crazy.”
At licensed bare-knuckle events, fighters face off on a surface half the size of a pro boxing ring, leaving no room to hide. The result? More cuts, bruises and knockouts — precisely the appeal for some fans.
The 31-year-old, who overcame substance-abuse issues, was introduced to the sport by a trainer at his boxing gym. He made his bare-knuckle debut in 2023 and became a two-time light-middleweight world champion in BKB. During training camps, he trains three times a day, five days a week, missing time with his two children on weekdays.
He doesn’t earn enough from the sport to quit carpentry. His goal is to leave “a legacy, just to prove to the city I’ve done something for them.”
Bare‑knuckle boxing is the oldest form of boxing but became associated with unlicensed fights on wasteground after The Marquess of Queensberry rules (which mandated gloves) were introduced in 1867. Over the past decade, however, licensed events have grown. According to BoxRec, there were only 21 licensed bare-knuckle bouts in 2015. Last year, that number surpassed 1,000 across 21 countries.
Rees fights for Bare Knuckle Boxing (BKB) promotions — one of two major international promotions hosting licensed bouts, alongside the US‑based Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC). Attendances at BKB venues are capped at 2,000, and BKB president David Tetreault says they generally sell out. Broadcast in more than 60 countries, BKB has partnerships with VICE TV and TalkSport.
As the sport grows, retired boxing world champions Lee Selby, Paulie Malignaggi and James DeGale have all crossed into bare‑knuckle boxing. However, Luke Griggs, chief executive of brain injury charity Headway, says he is “hugely concerned” about its rise and the “glamourisation of a sport that’s going to be taken out into the streets.”
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It was only in 2018 that the first sanctioned bare‑knuckle bout in 130 years took place in the US state of Wyoming. The US has seen the biggest growth, with at least 65 events in 2025. The UK is second, with 31 events last year.
Tetreault told BBC Sport that 90% of BKB bouts end in knockout or technical knockout, and claims the fast‑paced nature appeals especially to Gen Z and millennial fans — about 50% of their social media audience falls into those demographics.
When Malignaggi defeated Tyler Goodjohn by split decision in Leeds last October, the crowd included boxing luminaries such as Carl Froch, Josh Warrington and Natasha Jonas. Malignaggi says, “It’s a blood sport, people do have a blood thirst to watch this sport. It’s more action packed and I think the misconceptions are going to slowly go away once people watch it more.”
