Delco promoter pushes bare-knuckle fight card in Wyoming

The first sanctioned and regulated bare-knuckle fight card in the United States since 1889 will unfold Saturday night in Wyoming.

The idea, which should come as little surprise, was hatched in Delaware County.

“I knew it was time for a change in combat sports,” said the promoter, David Feldman, of Havertown. “It was time to bring something back around and we just kept knocking on doors and finally somebody listened to me.”

Feldman, the brother of irrepressible fight pitchman Damon Feldman, has a long list of successfully promoted boxing cards, including several at Harrah’s in Chester and, recently, one involving Roy Jones Jr. in Wilmington, Del.

The so-trumpeted Bare Knuckle Fighting championship will be available on pay-per-view at bareknuckle.tv, with a fee of $29.99. Twelve fights are scheduled, including one involving women. All will be scheduled for five, two-minute rounds. The ring will be in the UFC style. Fighters are professional and will wear neither headgear nor gloves. Their hands will be taped. The action begins at 8 o’clock, Eastern Time.

Feldman presented a similar card in Arizona in 2011 at what he called “an Indian casino,” terming that event, “not legal or illegal,” adding, “We just did it.” The difference in Cheyanne Saturday is that the fights will be sanctioned, supervised and regulated by the Wyoming Combative Sports Commission. “Back when John L. Sullivan fought,” Feldman said, “it wasn’t regulated.”

Canadian bare-knuckle legend Bobby Gunn, who lost to Jones in a 2017 sanctioned boxing match in Wilmington, will headline a card including MMA notables Rick Rodriguez, Joe Riggs, Maurice Jackson, Eric Prindle, D.J. Linderman and Johnny Bedford. Eventually, Feldman expects bare-knuckle fighting to be legalized in other states.

“All my fighters have been around the block, are very experienced and have fought on the biggest stages in the world,” Feldman said.

By Saturday, they can add Cheyanne, Wyoming to that travel log.

“It took persistence,” Feldman said. “I got turned down by 28 states, but I just kept going. This is going to be a big deal.”