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Established | 2009 |
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Location | Belfast, New York |
Coordinates | 42°20′36″N78°06′46″W / 42.343392°N 78.112682°W |
Type | Hall of Fame |
Founder | Scott Burt |
Owner | Scott Burt |
Website | bareknuckleboxinghalloffame |
The Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame is a museum and hall of fame in Belfast, New York, dedicated to the sport of bare-knuckle boxing. It is housed in barns that were once owned by the Greco-Roman wrestling champion and physical culture pioneer William Muldoon. The heavyweight boxing champion John L. Sullivan, who fought in both bare-knuckled and gloved boxing contests, trained in these barns under Muldoon's guidance for his championship bout against Jake Kilrain in 1889. [1] The barns were originally across Main Street from their current location, on the grounds of the Belfast Catholic Church. They were bought, moved, and restored by Scott Burt when the church became no longer interested in maintaining them. Burt opened the Hall of Fame in 2009, when it had its first induction class. [2]
The Hall of Fame houses plaques and memorabilia associated with bare-knuckle boxers that have been inducted to the Hall of Fame, as well as exhibits devoted to the general history of bare-knuckle boxing. Each year's induction class includes bare-knuckle boxers from the classic era, modern bare-knuckle boxers, and honorary inductees. Trainers, promoters and other significant figures in the sport are also upon occasion inducted. [3] [4]
The Hall of Fame also serves as a memorial to Sullivan's training camp with Muldoon, a number of relics of which have survived the lengthy period when the barns sat unused. These include his original work-out rings, a ceiling mount for Sullivan's heavy bag, the slatted area of flooring on which Sullivan stood for gravity showers after training, his original swing clubs and weights, and the "room of repose" in which Sullivan and Muldoon relaxed and discussed strategy in the evenings, which includes some of Muldoon's original furniture. [1] Sullivan and Muldoon's use of this training camp was documented by the celebrated reporter Nellie Bly, in an article she wrote for the New York World . [5]
The following are the inductees into the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame as of 6 April 2018: [2] [6] [7]
Original inductees are required to have boxed completely bare-fisted (with no wraps) at some point in their career. These include living fighters and those that fought as early as the 18th century.
These must have brought positive spotlight to upstate New York or done a considerable service to the sport of Bare-knuckle boxing. Honorary inductees are those that have not bare knuckle boxed, that is, those listed as a 'boxer' have boxed with gloves or wraps, and inductees associated with ice hockey are inducted for their contributions to the fighting aspects of the game (to date, both hockey-related honorary inductees have been associated with the Buffalo Sabres, who play 66 miles (106 km) from Belfast). The honorary inductees were included as an acknowledgement that bare-knuckle boxing ended as a mainstream sport over a century ago, and that the honorary inductee system allows notable figures that promoted activity similar to bare knuckle boxing, who might be more recognizable to modern audiences, to be included in the Hall. [8]
Year | Recipient |
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2014 | Mercedes Vazquez-Simmons |
2015 | Jack Emrick |
2016 | Bob Collins |
2017 | Gino Arilotta |
2018 | Bill Clancy |
Year | Team | Members |
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2018 | Team USA Jujitsu | Bryana Baer Mike Hanchett Charlie Love Desmond White Barry Broughton (coach) |
For the inaugural induction ceremony in 2009, former undisputed heavyweight champion Leon Spinks was a special guest.
From 2011-2013 there was a breakfast in honour of a particular person each year, in 2011 this was Jack Green, Buffalo Ring 44 President. In 2012 the breakfast was in honour of Jeff Mengel, who had trained the fighter Jimmy Holmes in the barns in Belfast, New York. The 2013 breakfast was in honour of Zeke Wilson, author of the book The Eighth Round, combatant of prejudice in boxing and a noted boxer himself. [2]
With the introduction of modern day sanctioned bare knuckle boxing events both inside and outside of the United States, the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame, in conjunction with the National Police Gazette, currently recognizes several individuals as World and American Bare Knuckle Boxing champions. The following individuals are recognized as the current champions. [9]
Division | Champion |
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Heavyweight World Champion | ![]() |
Heavyweight American Champion | ![]() |
Lightweight American Champion | ![]() |
Women's Featherweight World Champion | ![]() |
Women's Featherweight American Champion | ![]() |
No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() promoted to undisputed champion | N/A | February, 2016 | |
No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() def. Sam Shewmaker | Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 3 Biloxi, Mississippi | October 20, 2018 | |
2 | ![]() | Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 7 Biloxi, Mississippi | August 10, 2019 |
No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() def. Reggie Barnett Jr. | Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 6 Tampa, Florida | June 22, 2019 | |
No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() promoted to undisputed champion | N/A | June 5, 2018 | 1. def. Britain Hart at BKFC 2 on Aug 25, 2018 |
No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() def. Britain Hart | Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 5 Biloxi, Mississippi | April 6, 2019 | |
2 | ![]() | Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 7 Biloxi, Mississippi | August 10, 2019 |
The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots created through screened public nominations by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The IBHOF started as a 1980's initiative by Ed Brophy and other locals to honor Canastota's world boxing champions, Carmen Basilio and Basilio's nephew, Billy Backus; the village of Canastota inaugurated the new museum in 1989 which showcases boxing's rich history. It is visited by boxing fans from all over the world.
Bare-knuckle boxing is a full-contact combat sport based on punching without any form of padding on the hands. The sport as it is known today originated in 17th-century England and differs from street fighting as it follows an accepted set of rules.
Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing.
Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above 115 lb (52.2 kg) and up to 118 lb (53.5 kg). In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between 53 and 55 kilograms. In MMA, bantamweight is 126–135 lb (57.2–61.2 kg).
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term welterweight was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the opponents. If used, welterweight is typically between lightweight and middleweight.
John Lawrence Sullivan, known simply as John L. among his admirers, and dubbed the "Boston Strong Boy" by the press, was an American boxer. He is recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing, de facto reigning from February 7, 1882, to September 7, 1892. He is also generally recognized as the last heavyweight champion of bare-knuckle boxing under the London Prize Ring Rules, being a cultural icon of the late 19th century America, arguably the first boxing superstar and one of the world's highest-paid athletes of his era. Newspapers' coverage of his career, with the latest accounts of his championship fights often appearing in the headlines, and as cover stories, gave birth to sports journalism in the United States and set the pattern internationally for covering boxing events in media, and photodocumenting the prizefights.
Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Cruiserweight, also referred to as junior heavyweight, is a weight class in professional boxing between light heavyweight and heavyweight. Before the advent of the current cruiserweight class, "light heavyweight" and "cruiserweight" were sometimes used interchangeably in the United Kingdom.
William Muldoon was an American Greco-Roman Wrestling champion, a physical culturist, and the first chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission. He once wrestled a match that lasted over seven hours.
John Joseph Killion, more commonly known as Jake Kilrain, was a famous American bare-knuckle fighter and glove boxer of the 1880s.
Jem Smith was a bare-knuckle prize fighter and heavyweight champion of England in the late 19th century and into the early 20th century. In 2010 he was inducted into the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame.
George Godfrey, nicknamed Old Chocolate by the press of the day in the last stage of his long career, was a Black Canadian heavyweight boxer who held the distinction of being World 'Colored' Heavyweight Champion during his career. Godfrey was inducted into the PEI Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.
Bec Rawlings is an Australian mixed martial artist and bare-knuckle boxer, who currently competes in the flyweight division.
The Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) is an American bare-knuckle boxing promotion based in Philadelphia. The promotion was founded in April 2018, and is presided over by David Feldman, Bobby Gun, and Danny Provenzano.
The year 2018 is the 1st year in the history of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, a bare-knuckle fighting promotion based in Philadelphia. The season started with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 1: The Beginning. BKFC is available on PPV all over the world and on FITE TV.
BYB Extreme Fighting Series (BYB) is a bare knuckle fighting organization founded in 2015 by former MMA fighter Dhafir ("Dada 5000") Harris and former NASCAR team owner Mike Vazquez whose HRT Motorsports was NASCAR's first Hispanic team. Harris rose to fame from his staging of backyard bare knuckle fights which went viral online and subsequently became the subject of the Billy Corben documentary, Dawg Fight. BYB is an abbreviation of "Back Yard Brawl," a nod to the company's origins. BYB's fights are held in it patented "Trigon" ring or cage, which it touts as the smallest fighting surface in combat sports.