‘Canadian Assassin’ looks to make mark in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship
Hurt hands are nothing new to Devin Gibson. It comes with the territory for a bare-knuckle fighter.
“Fourth and fifth round, it’s just really tough to want to punch the head,” said the 28-year-old from Sarnia, Ont., known as The Canadian Assassin.
Gibson (2-0-0) takes on American Albert Inclan (0-1-0) on Friday at BKFC 35 in Myrtle Beach, S.C. While the five-foot-six Gibson normally competes at the flyweight nontitle weight of 126 pounds — cutting down from around 145 pounds — the fight will be contested at a catchweight of 130 pounds after Inclan failed to make weight.
Gibson and welterweight Jake Young of London, Ont., are currently the only Canadians among the some 220 fighters under contract to the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, which boasts 11 weight classes (nine for men and two for women).
Gibson says there is only a handful of other bare-knuckle fighters in Canada, citing Young, Jonny (El Toro) Tello, Jade (Evil Smile) Masson-Wong and Donny Wonch — with fighting abroad the only current option.
BKFC has attracted fighters from other combat sports including UFC veterans Mike (Platinum) Perry, Ben Rothwell, John (The Magician) Dodson, Greg (Prince of War) Hardy and Alan (The Talent) Belcher, as well as Muay Thai stars Sombat (Buakaw) Banchamek and Suphachai (Saenchai) Saepong.
Luis (Baboon) Palomino currently tops the BKFC pound-for-pound rankings. The 42-year-old Peruvian-American, who has a 26-17-0 record as a mixed martial arts fighter, holds the BKFC lightweight and welterweight titles with an 8-0-0 bare-knuckle record.
Fights are contested in a ring with five two-minute rounds, shorter than boxing and MMA whose rounds last three and five minutes, respectively. But, even with shorter rounds, the sport takes its toll.
“That’s why I go down to the body so much,” Gibson said.
It worked last time out against American Kody (The Black Rose) Murray at BKFC New York 2 in March 2022 in Salamanca, N.Y.
The Canadian showed superior speed and power, flooring Murray in the third round before stopping him in the fourth with a flurry of body punches, prompting the referee to step in at 1:22 of the round.
Gibson, who has escaped breaking his hands in BKFC action to date, has focused on “knuckle conditioning,” forgoing gloves when he does punching bag or pad work.
“We’re hoping that translates into allowing me to freely box how I want to box the entire fight.”
Cuts are also par for the course in bare-knuckle fighting.
Of the 13 fights on the BKFC’s last U.S. card — BKFC 34 held Dec. 3 in Hollywood, Fla. — only two went the distance with seven knockouts. Two other bouts were stopped due to eye issues with a knee injury and cut halting two others.
A study presented at the 2020 Association of Ringside Physicians annual conference suggested, while bare-knuckle fighters suffered more facial cuts, their concussion rate was lower than that in gloved boxing and MMA. Surprisingly, the data also revealed the hand fracture rate was lower in bare-knuckle bouts than in boxing or MMA.
But American heavyweight Justin Thornton died after a 19-second knockout at BKFC 20 on Aug. 20, 2021, in Biloxi, Miss. Thornton fell to the canvas, face first, and was taken out of the ring on a stretcher.
A month later, his partner said in a social media post the 38-year-old fighter was paralyzed, on a ventilator and fighting infection from a spinal cord injury. Thornton died some six weeks after the knockout.
His death prompted the Association of Boxing Commission’s medical committee to issue a statement expressing concern that bareknuckle competitors, usually older and at the tail end of their career after competing in other combat sports, may be at “higher risks for acute and chronic injuries.”
BKFC says only “established professionals” in boxing, MMA, kickboxing or Muay Thai are allowed to compete, with refs and judges also required to have “extensive professional combat sports experience.”
All fights are held under “the auspices and control of an athletic commission.”
Fighters are permitted to wrap and tape the wrist, thumb, and midhand, but no gauze or tape can be within 2.5 centimetres of the knuckles. Punches are the only strike allowed. In a clinch, a fighter can “punch his way out with the open hand” but the referee steps in if there is a three-second lull in action while clinching.