Carson Rich
The Misconception of Bare Knuckle Boxing
Words by Carson Rich
Valor BareKnuckle 2 is heading to Jacksonville on Oct. 27 at the University of North Florida Center. Mark “The Hand Of” Godbeer will face off against Lavar “Big” Johnson in the latest event in the Valor Bare Knuckle series.
“Folio” spoke to legendary UFC Hall of Fame fighter Ken Shamrock, who also founded VBK, about Valor and any misconceptions that have been circulating around it.
Shamrock, who most fans of combat sports may also know as “The Most Dangerous Man in the World,” started Valor Bare Knuckle as a continuation of his passion for the sport. He also had intentions of doing something creative and different, something that could make an impact to expand the world of combat sports.
“Me, as a person, never wanted to do anything halfway. I always wanted to do it the best I could. Best I can and try to be the best,” Shamrock said. “So when I started promoting, I started taking things that I learned from my career, what the fans like, what the media likes, what the fighters like and try to put this vision together.”
Shamrock said he grew weary of seeing the same long, extended fights where fighters throw one or two punches only to wrap each other up to avoid counter attacks. Another issue is audiences have an obstructed view of the action due to the ropes and the elevated surface the ring sits on. Eliminating the ropes and lowering the ring allows for a better viewing experience, which is exactly what he was looking for. He wanted to build something more strategic with rules that could take away the less exciting parts of normal fights to add excitement and tension between the fighters and the fans, and that’s where Valor Bare Knuckle was born.
When asked why Jacksonville was chosen as the host for such an event, Shamrock said it was the perfect location due to the amount of traction and success that has come out of the Duval County area. He listed past accomplishments such as the Jaguars making the NFL playoffs this past season and the AEW with its recent rise in popularity, helping the city become a new hot spot for sports events in the north Florida. The general political views of the area were also mentioned, as it seemed like they matched up to what Valor Bare Knuckle is trying to do. Entertainment companies like Valor can sometimes receive backlash due to the brutality of the sport, but with Jacksonville’s recent history of hosting pro wrestling events and UFC Fight Night, it appears to be widely accepted by the public. Shamrock added that he never wants to push his own beliefs about the sport on anyone but, rather, help educate and diminish the misconceptions that many people often have about bare knuckle boxing.
These false assumptions usually include people saying that bare knuckle boxing is too dangerous or it causes more physical harm than if the fighters were wearing gloves to which Shamrock strongly disagrees. He argues that the gloves can cause more damage.
“For instance, your brain is in fluid inside your head, and it sits in there right? So if I was to tell you that I was going to hit you in the head with a pillow 30 times, and then I’m going to hit you with my fist 10 times. On the outside, I’m going to create a lot of damage with my fist. It’s going to break your bones. It’s going to cut you. It’s going to bleed. And you’re going to have that visual damage that people can see, and it’s just going to be gory. Well, they’re just going to go, ‘Look how brutal that is.’” he said. “But if you go back and look at an x-ray on how much damage was done to your brain, in that sense, the one with the pillow bounced the brain around in your head 30 times, which means it bruised that brain 30 times. Then with my punch, it was only 10 times creating visual cuts. Who got more damage long term? And that’s what you see these boxers, and I dare anybody to go up to a boxer who has had a 15-, 20-year career and talk to them. They slur. They have speech impediments. Most of them have brain damage.”
This analogy shows that Bare Knuckle is not just a more brutal version of traditional boxing, but instead it has some things that can make the sport safer. Shamrock acknowledges the sport does have its dangers but not to the degree people may think, which is why he tries to educate people about the sport.
Shamrock also noted the benefits that fans get when attending a bare knuckle fight, such as the elimination of the ropes. Most people will pay a substantial amount of money to sit close to the ring but are oftentimes disappointed when they have to view the action through the ropes. Valor Bare Knuckle makes it possible for audiences to feel like they have the best view of the fight, no matter where they sit.
“We hope that as we start to get Valor out there, that people will appreciate the vision and the hard work that the whole team has put into it to bring this event to the people,” Shamrock said.
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