Page 70 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2019

SPORTS & OUTDOORS hard hitting
Jason Knight of Lucedale and Artem Lobov of Russia fought on April 16, 2019 in what many are calling the “Fight of the Decade.”
Biloxi is becoming a Major Player in Bare Knuckle Boxing
story by A.J. Giardina photos courtesy of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship
Mississippi, Wyoming and New Hampshire are the only states in the U.S. that have legalized professional bare knuckle fighting. It was previously banned for 125 years. The Mississippi Athletic Commission approved bare knuckle boxing in August of 2018. Since that time, the city of Biloxi has hosted three of the six bare knuckle boxing events in the United States.
Biloxi’s Ricky Derouen is a regional representative for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship President David Feldman, whose company headquarters is located
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Derouen said, “People have been watching regular boxing for a long time, and you could say it has gotten stale. You bring in something new and it’s exciting. You take the gloves off and it changes the whole prospective of combative sports.”
Derouen compares the excitement of bare knuckle boxing to that of a hockey game when the players take off the gloves and go knuckle-to- knuckle. “To me that was the most thrilling part of a hockey game,” Derouen said.
Bare knuckle boxing has a circular ring with a line in the center. They
call that “towing the line.” The referee brings both fighters out to the center of the ring, raises their hands, and they begin throwing punches. The fighters compete in five, two-minute rounds, unless a fighter is knocked out.
Derouen admits it’s a bloody combative boxing event. Fighters who survive the five rounds will display an array of facial cuts and swelling. “Some fans are going to criticize bare knuckle boxing calling it brutal and barbaric, while others love it and will come back for more,” stated Derouen.
On April 16 inside the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Jason Knight of Lucedale lost a bloody decision
to Artem Lobov of Russia in what many are calling the “Fight of the Decade.” “On a scale of 1 to 10,
the Knight-Lobov bout was rated a 9 and received social media hits world-wide,” said Derouen.
Bare knuckle fighting returns to the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on August 10. Ticket prices range from $42 to $250 ringside.
Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center www.mscoastcoliseum.com
70 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • July 2019
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