Bare Knuckle

Bobby Gunn, 73–0 Undefeated. A Dad. A Dream. A Fight Like You’ve Never Seen.

By: Stayton Bonner

Narrated by: Ari Fliakos

Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Father. Fighter. Champion. Outlaw.

Hailed as an “exhilarating debut” by Publishers Weekly, Bare Knuckle by former Rolling Stone editor Stayton Bonner (nominated for the Dan Jenkins Medal of Excellence in Sportswriting) takes listeners into a previously unknown world: the underground circuit of illegal bare-knuckle fighting.

Bare Knuckle is the remarkable true tale of Bobby Gunn, the 73–0 undisputed champion of bare-knuckle boxing.

An inspiring underdog story that comes across like a real-life Rocky.

Bobby Gunn has been fighting for his existence since a childhood spent living under the hand of his volatile father, and would do anything to give his seven-year-old daughter a better life—including betting on himself in the underground world of bare-knuckle boxing.

In 1984, Gunn was an eleven-year-old boxer in Ontario when his father woke him in the middle of the night to fight grown men in motel parking lots for money, his old man pocketing the cash. From there, Gunn traveled to Las Vegas, Tijuana, and beyond, competing in ringed matches as well as in biker bars and mobster dens on the side, brawling to make ends meet.

But it was only with the birth of his daughter—and his desire to help her avoid his fate—that Gunn entered the big-time world of underground Russian-mob matches of up to $50,000 a night in New York City, hoping to finally raise his family above the fray.

Former Rolling Stone editor Stayton Bonner travels the underground for years with Gunn, the world champion of bare-knuckle boxing with a 73-0 record, shining a light on a secret circuit that’s never before been revealed. Along the way, we explore the fascinating history of this first sport in America, Gunn’s Irish Traveler community—a sect of religious fighters best known through Brad Pitt’s depiction in Snatch—as well as his part in the improbable rise of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, the first legal revival of the sport.

Bare Knuckle, a tale of triumph, loss, and a father’s love for his family, is a heartbreaking but ultimately inspiring story that will have you rooting until the end.

©2024 Stayton Bonner (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing

Equally interesting and heartbreaking

I listened to an interview with Bobby Gunn, a bare-knuckle fighter and Stayton Bonner the writer of the biography, on the Jordan Harbinger Podcast. When they started discussing Gunn's life, an Irish traveler who is 73-0 undefeated in bare-knuckle underground boxing, I was hooked and had to read the book.

Bare Knuckle is equally interesting and heartbreaking since Gunn is a sweet, kind man but was raised to be a beast. I wondered how life would have turned out if he had been raised with a bit more kindness and received more education.

I recommend this book to anyone... it's fascinating.

Same story over and over

If this was a 30 minute read you would have captured all the interesting information about the protagonist. Moreover at the ending you are left with a tremendous letdown.