Betting on Bare-Knuckle Boxing

Bare-knuckle boxing is something that has recently entered mainstream sports media, due to US-based leagues popping up in the past few years, and running televised events. However, the roots of this sport can be traced back to 17th-century England, as in 1681, the Protestant Mercury newspaper reported on a bare-knuckle match, the first medium on record to do so.

Hardcore boxing fans probably know of John Sullivan, a person many would call the world’s first combat sports superstar. He made his name as a bare-knuckle champion fighting under the London Prize Ring Rules before becoming boxing’s first heavyweight gloved champion. He is the person most associated with bare-knuckle fighting of yore. Today, this rising sport has no central star, although many may argue that this honor should fall on Mike Perry, the former UFC welterweight, who is now the face of Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship, or BKFC, the most renowned bare-knuckle boxing organization in the US and the world.

Despite public perception and the sport getting so much traction post-2020, we should point out that sanctioned bare-knuckle boxing matches have happened long before the third decade of the 21st century started. In 2021, Canada’s Bobby Gunn won the Lineal Heavyweight Bare-Knuckle World Title after competing in the first sanctioned bare-knuckle contest since 1999. There is even a Bare-Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame, founded in 2009, located in Belfast, New York. So, the sport is not something that sprung out of nowhere. It is just not as niche as it once was, and we just saw that BetUS, one of the oldest online sportsbooks established in 1994, has a page dedicated to it, which prompted us to write this article. We should add that high-profile BKFC fights get listed at many of our other reviewed crypto betting sites but under the combat section. They do not get their own.

How is Bare-Knuckle Boxing Different from the Traditional Form

First, we have to get this out of the way so that those not educated on this sport think that many of the same principles applied to assessing boxing contests also apply to bare-knuckle, which is a different discipline with its own nuances.

It must be understood by non-boxing fans that boxers wear gloves primarily to protect their hands from breaking, and to prevent cuts to their opponents which may end a fight prematurely. Hence, in bare-knuckle, the contests feature shorter rounds, and usually do not feature as much activity, due to the dangers of injury.

Boxers translating over to this sport typically do not do as well as predicted, as it demands a different skill set. An example of this is former IBF junior welterweight champion Paul Malignaggi, losing to former UFC journeyman Artem Lobov.

Durability and adaptability are prime attributes for success in this sport, which has unpredictable outcomes due to its dynamic nature and the factors involved that can lead to a contest’s end.

Top Bare-Knuckle Boxing Leagues You Can Bet On

There are multiple bare-knuckle boxing organizations based in different countries, but the reality is that most of the events many of these run are super low-profile. Hence, their contests will not get offered for online wagering at any notable Internet sportsbooks.

The two main ones whose events will likely get featured by web bookies are the Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship and Bare-Knuckle Boxing. The first is partly owned by UFC superstar Conor McGregor, who is the leading promoter of the sport, paying the most money to fighters and garnering the most interest. The second, BKB, is owned by the BYB Extreme Fighting Series, a Miami-based collective founded by Mike Vazquez, a former NASCAR team owner, and ex-MMA fighter Dhafir Harris. BKB’s headquarters are in the UK, where it runs most of its shows.

What Betting Markets are Available in Bare-Knuckle Boxing

They are the standard ones given for traditional boxing. Thus, you can make moneyline/winner wagers in these contests, which is the simplest form of gambling one can do on bare-knuckle boxing fights. Then comes round betting, trying to predict what round a contest will end in. You also have a method of victory: will the fight conclude in a KO or technical knockout, or will the two combatants go to a decision?

Some sportsbooks allow betting on the type of decision the three judges sitting ringside will render in a boxing match, but we doubt any bookie currently allows this for bare-knuckle. Moreover, we doubt that you will see anything other than a match winner for contests from this sport at any online bookmaker. We say this because props and things like methods of victory rarely got offered for UFC fights, let alone bare-knuckle ones.

Will Betting on Bare-Knuckle Boxing Gain More Traction

According to the president of BKFC, David Feldman, the sport is borderline brutal but humane enough to be mainstream. It has gotten loads of steam in the past few years, and we are sure that if any popular MMA fighter or boxing star makes the transition into bare-knuckle while they are reasonably not too far past their prime, this will greatly help the sport get legitimized. So far, it was primarily notable fighters who have for sure seen better days make the jump over to bare-knuckle boxing, with most of these not faring too well, and martial artists in their late 40s like Houston Alexander finding success in it, which has somewhat hurt its legitimacy.

Still, if someone like Conor McGregor makes his bare-knuckle debut, regardless of at what stage in his career he is, that will send shockwaves through the combat sports world, and bookmakers worldwide will open up their betting pages to such an event.

Nevertheless, one problem with this sport is that it gets advertised as brutal and exciting, but on account of the high possibility of hand breakage, and this occurring fairly frequently, many fights are uneventful and very dull. Another thing that hurts it right now and is stopping its growth is the fact that there are few high-profile fights per year and even events that draw sizable interest. We will see if that will change in 2025. We are not super hopeful, and we think that the state of wagering on bare-knuckle boxing contests will remain essentially unchanged throughout 2025 and probably much of 2026 until a mega fight comes along, at least probably in BKFC.

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