Third WBKB bare-knuckle event aims for first female fight

WBKBIII is scheduled for Saturday, August 31 in Whitehaven.

It follows the success of two previous shows in the last year.

Organisers say they intend the latest event to be the biggest and best yet as they look to make WBKB one of the top bare-knuckle platforms in the UK.

An all-female fight is part of the aim to expand things further.

“That would be a first for the WBKB,” said Ross Allan, from the In The Red Korner podcast, who is part of the organising team.

“We’ve got one fighter lined up, and we just need to find an opponent.

“That’s not an easy task – even the BKFC struggle with that in the UK – but it would open up a whole new doorway.”

The event, to be held at the Copeland Stadium, will feature fights involving bare-knuckle boxers from Cumbria and across the UK.

At least two titles will be on the line in west Cumbria, with local favourite Grant Hocking taking on current WBKB British cruiserweight champion Corey Harrison.

WBKB has so far held two successful events in west Cumbria (Image: Lee Macaulay)

That will be the joint main event along with the battle for the European welterweight belt between Jack Dugdale and Vidmantas Cerneckis.

Further fights will be announced in due course, while Carlisle’s BKFC champion Danny Christie will again be the guest referee.

Allan, who is helping organise the event along with Peter Gilmour and Kevin and Kelly Thompson, will be MC.

He said the plan is to continue growing the WBKB event and staging top shows both in Cumbria and beyond.

“It really has been a success story so far,” said Allan. “We want to get bigger and better with every event that we put on.

“We have big plans of becoming one of the main shows in the UK.

“Our long-term plan is to grow and be able to take the show around the UK.

“How we maintain [the success] is basically by putting on a great event for everyone to enjoy and want to come back to.

“It’s also about how we look after the fighters, and the aftercare we give them too. It’s not just a case of ‘You’ve fought on the show and that’s it’ – we’re almost creating a community that makes the fighters want to come back and perform for the Cumbrian crowd.”

WBKB’s second event earlier this year saw Maryport’s Bartek Kanabey win his second title and earn a chance on the elite BKFC scene, where he chalked up victory at Milton Keynes.

Kanabey, nicknamed ‘the Polish Plough’, has his latest BKFC fight at Newcastle next Saturday, June 8, against Jack Culshaw in a lightweight bout – on the same night former light-heavyweight champion Christie begins his quest for glory in the middleweight division against Jimmy Millar.

“We’re very proud of Bartek, and he's going to be at the event in August as well showing his support,” added Allan.

“It's great to show that there's a clear pathway from the WBKB to the BKFC.

“We would never stop anyone from wanting to fight on the biggest bare knuckle platform in the world. We want to elevate the fighters, not restrict them.

“With the connections that we've got with the likes of Andrew Bakewell, the BKFC UK president, we’re keeping an open line of communication to become a bit of a feeder company for the BKFC.

“If someone's got something but they've maybe not had the necessary experience he's going to pass them down to us and then we can give them the platform.

“We can also help the fighters grow their social media platforms because it's about selling tickets on the big shows as well.”

While not a sport to everyone's taste, bare-knuckle boxing has undeniably enjoyed a resurgence in recent years with the elite BKFC shows attracting a growing audience.

“It’s one of the oldest sports in the world, but it's almost one of the newest combat sports in the world too, in the rejuvenation of it,” added Allan.

“It's captivated a lot of people because it's violence in its purest and rawest form. It's just two men or two women battling it out.

The event's MC Ross Allan, from the In The Red Korner podcast (Image: Ray Paterson - Mondo Ghecko Photography)

“But the respect levels between them both…they share something special in the ring. I always say it's almost like art that they create in there, and I think that's one of the things that's really grabbed people – the respect between them all.

“Many of these guys and girls also have a real background and story to tell. Conor McGregor getting involved has really brought eyes over to the sport as well.

“It's a professionally-run sport. It's not just a case of two guys in a car park any more. These lads are putting in the hard work and dedication of training camps, learning the art and the skill of bare-knuckle boxing.

“All you've got to do is watch one bare-knuckle fight and you'll see the reason why it's exciting – you’re on the edge of your seat, it draws you in, it makes you want to watch.”

Allan said WBKBIII has already attracted two major sponsors in Cloud Competitions and Bounty Competitions, and said sponsorship packages remain available.

“I want to thank everyone that has shown support in the past by coming to the shows,” he added.

“Anyone that's sponsored the events in the past as well, they're the ones that have really helped us push us on to be bigger and better.”

Tickets for WBKBIII are available for pre-sale now via WBKBIII’s social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram or by calling 07568729822.