Professor Chuck Marbry
POST FIGHT EXAMS AS WELL
Each contestant will be given a post-fight examination, in which a Physician will determine if a contestant needs further medical care or supervision. If further care or supervision is warranted, the contestant will be provided transportation to the nearest hospital. No Contest shall take place and be started unless there is an ambulance, together with emergency equipment, including but not limited to a portable resuscitator with oxygen and a qualified operator on site.
THE SCORING OF “BARE-KNUCKLE BOXING”
Fights shall be scored on the volume and effectiveness of the punches. It will not be just the volume of punches, but the punches that have the most effect. A standing eight count will be used. There will not be a three knock-down rule. All participants will use a mouth guard and a cup with a groin protector.
DIFFERENT RULES WHEN IT COMES TO “CUTS”
If a participant is cut where the referee thinks the cut is obstructing the vision (of the cut fighter), the referee may call a time-out when there ia a lull in the action. The cut fighter will be given one minute for his cut man to attempt to control the bleeding. If at the end of that time, the referee deems the fighter is unable to continue, the fight will be stopped and awarded to the opponent.
IN THE EVENT OF A KNOCKDOWN
In the event of a knockdown, the man standing must go to the furthest neutral corner and remain there until the referee instructs the fighters to continue. If a fighter is knocked down and is able to continue, the two fighters must start back at the line (scratch). There will be no hitting of a knocked down opponent, if a contestant is hit while down, this can result in an automatic disqualification.
RULE CHANGE ON GUYS IN THE CORNER
All fighters are allowed to have three people in the corner, two seconds are allowed in the ring or on the ring apron at one time. There must be a cut man included as one of the seconds. Each corner will assign one second as the “Chief Second.”
UNDER & OVER WHEN IT COMES TO AGE
No person under the age of 18 will be permitted to compete in Bare Knuckle Boxing. All contestants 36 years of age and older may be subject to further (and more extensive) medical testing.
DO YOU WRAP HANDS IN “BARE-KNUCKLE” BOXING?
Fighters will fight with bare knuckles. The contestant may wrap their hand and wrist, leaving the knuckles bare. The contestant may use 10 yards of gauze on the hand and wrist only. The contestant may use 1 or2 inch wide by 10 yards of trainers tape. All gauze and tape must be below the bottom of the knuckle.
NO WRASSLIN’, NO FOREARM, NO HEAD BUTTING
“Bare Knuckle Boxing” is a standing fight, and the fighters use their fists only. Unlike the BKB of yesteryear, there is no wrestling, throwing, kicking, biting, or other shenanigans. The bout itself will be contested in either a regular four sided boxing ring, or a six-sided ring. In either case, the ring canvas will have two lines on it, each four feet long and four feet apart. In the old days, there was one line, called “scratch”, but these two lines will serve as the starting point for the fighters.
READ THIS ON WHAT GLOVES ARE FOR
And for those who think that bare knuckle boxing is still a step toward barbarism, in a 2007 article in The Independent (UK), sports historian Nicholas Hobbes explains that gloves were introduced to make competitions bloodier and briefer. Gloves distribute a blow, but they also add weight to a punch, making it more destructive:
WHY THEY GOT AROUND TO GLOVES
The Marquess of Queensberry rules took off not because society viewed the new sport as more civilised than the old, but because fights conducted under the new guidelines attracted more spectators. Audiences wanted to see repeated blows to the head and dramatic knockouts. By contrast, the last bare-knuckle heavyweight contest in the US in 1897 dragged on into the 75th round. Since gloves spread the impact of a blow, the recipient of a punch is less likely to be blinded, have their teeth knocked out or their jaw broken. However, gloves do not lessen the force applied to the brain as it rattles inside the skull from a heavy blow. In fact, they make matters worse by adding 10oz to the weight of the fist.
AGAIN, FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
A full-force punch to the head is comparable to being hit with a 12lb padded wooden mallet travelling at 20 mph. As the bare-knuckle campaigner Dr Alan J Ryan pointed out: “In 100 years of bare-knuckle fighting in the United States, which terminated around 1897 with a John L Sullivan’s heavyweight championship fight, there wasn’t a single ring fatality.” Today, there are three or four every year in the US, and around 15-20 % of professional fighters suffer some form of permanent brain damage during their career.
So, there you have it.
Professor Chuck Marbry