The family man-who’s bare knuckle a boxing star

MEET Christian – he’s from the South Wales Valleys, loves his family, and also enjoys bare-knuckle fights.

He is a fighter operating in what is described as an “ancient blood sport” that “exists on the edge of the law”.

He featured in the Channel 4 programme, Bare Knuckle Fight Club, which was due to air last night, which looked into the underground world of bareknuckle fighting, where men from all walks of life square up against each other in bloody battles.

It is described as “the ultimate test for any man”, where one dig can ruin your face.

Spattered blood, smashed teeth and broken noses are expected by the men who compete in bare knuckle bouts.

It is an underground world which only has one rule: “Fight until you can’t carry on.”

And Christian “Fat Boy” Evans, 29, from Blackwood, loves it.

“I just love f ****** blood splattering in my face, f ****** popping people’s noses, hitting the f*** out of people, just love fighting, to be honest,” he says. “Best feeling ever, honest to God. “My partner Gemma, she prefers me fighting, because if I’m not fighting I am a nuisance.

“The day I pack it in might be the day I have my divorce.”

Dad Christian, who works at a metal scrap yard, has been fighting for 10 years after starting off in amateur boxing. He says friends call him Empty Head.

Footage showed him at home in the South Wales Valleys, with his partner Gemma.

He said: “This is where I grew up, in the Valleys. Can’t get much better than this.

“There’s not a lot to do around these mining villages.

“We haven’t got Bowlplex(es) or cinemas. All we can do is play football, rugby or fight.”

Gemma has seen every one of his bareknuckle fights. “I like the violence”, she admits. “I can’t take my eyes off it. I don’t know whether it’s because it’s so rough, a bit gruesome, I don’t know.

“Although he might be hurting, he never shows it and he will never give up.

“It’s definitely helped our relationship – 110%. If he didn’t have this bare-knuckle fighting, you’d always find him either in the betting office or you’d find him in a pub.

“He’s coming back to that person that I fell in love with all them years ago.”

Another fighter featured is Shaun Smith, an ex-enforcer from Liverpool, who has done jail time and has been working as an unregistered debt collector to make ends meet.

He said of the sport: “I don’t want it in the shadows, I want it in the limelight. I want to pass on what I’ve learnt from my violent life.”