“Bare-knuckle isn’t for” James DeGale after BKFC 81 main event win
James DeGale emerged victorious in his bare-knuckle debut at BKFC 81, but the future of the decorated boxer in the world of gloveless combat seems uncertain. The former super middleweight world champion and Olympian bested Matt Floyd on Saturday, September 27th in a fight that saw four-point deductions dealt-out.
This was described as a bit of a dirty fight in the eyes of some onlookers at the AO Arena in Manchester, England. In fact, Floyd landed a fairly blatant headbutt at the end of the opening round, which provided reasonable cause for the referee to deal out a disqualification if he felt so inclined.
This was not the only headbutting controversy to happen in combat sports over the weekend, and while DeGale-Floyd did not devolve into the two teams brawling, there was some semblance of team members crowding the ring. While tensions were palpable, things were subdued, and the fight continued on.
Floyd was deducted two points for that particular egregious foul, but the fight would ultimately go the distance, and DeGale got the nod from the assigned judges on their scorecards, authoring a unanimous decision victory.
BKFC gets DeGale’s respect, but gloved boxing “will always be his standard”
In the immediate aftermath of the bout, during his post-fight interview, DeGale stated [via Talk Sport],
“It’s bare-knuckle boxing, it is boxing, but it’s highly different. The holding and punching, it’s crazy. Crazy stuff! But do you know what? I’m 1-0 in bare-knuckle and that’s all that matters motherf*. JD’s second coming. He was tough, he was game, but in a boxing fight, he doesn’t last two rounds.”
The British boxer left the door open to return to Queensberry Rules competition after this recent BKFC foray marked the snapping of a six-year streak on the sidelines for DeGale. The last time the 39-year-old competed prior to BKFC 81 was in a losing effort on points as DeGale took a decision loss to Chris Eubank Jr. during their 2019 meeting.
In a post-fight statement offered up on behalf of DeGale as the dust settled a bit more from his bare-knuckle boxing endeavour, the statement reads as follows,
“Thank you all so much for the support for James. He got the win but came out battered and bruised after a brutal fight with some dirty tactics. The Manchester crowd’s energy was incredible and gave him a real lift. BKFC ran a great event and we respect them, but bare-knuckle isn’t for him. Boxing’s discipline and respect will always be his standard.”
