mo4ch:>The gloves are off: Understanding the brutal world of bareknuckle boxing | Mo4ch News

Bareknuckle boxing has emerged from the shadows to become one of the most talked-about combat sports of 2019, but why now? And is there room for it in the already jam-packed fight calendar?Since its inception three centuries ago, organized bareknuckle boxing has had an enduring influence on the combat sports landscape. England's James Figg was crowned as the first ever bareknuckle champion in 1719, and was credited with an 11-year period of dominance before eventually retiring as a champion. But with the introduction of the Marquess of Queensberry Rules in 1867, which mandated the introduction of gloves, the rules set began to slowly diverge into the system of the 'traditional boxing' that we see today.Traditional boxing (as we understand it now), and more recently mixed martial arts, have become the two most dominant codes of full-contact fighting sports, but bareknuckle boxing, or BKB as its fans call it, is once again stepping from the shadows back into the public arena…