BARE KNUCKLE: Undefeated Champion’s Life Story And Sport To Be Focus Of A New Feature Film
Rolling Stone
The underground bare-knuckle fight world just earned its latest prospects toward the big screen.
Folks keen on the more than two century-old sport and through its underground auspices may be familiar with currently undefeated bare-knucle boxin champ Bobby Gunn. The sport itself took shape away from the public eye as gloved boxing became more practical in the early 1900s and recent years have seen the sport become a bit more prolific through folks like Gunn who still frequented the pursuit of a professional career off and on since 1989.
I don’t follow the sport, personally, save for what I already know and have seen from viral video but I gather that it’s interesting ground to cover for anyone looking to observe this and turn Gunn’s story into something the world can familiarize itself with through another medium. Well…as of late, it’s ground currently being covered in author Strayton Bonner’s forthcoming 2018 non-fiction book, Bare Knuckle, for which the screen rights have now been acquired by LD Entertainment and Entertainment 360.
Tony Tost is scripting the feature-length film in which we are introduced to Gunn’s nomadic family tribe, the Travelers, among the various brawlers and promoters within the bareknuckle boxing field as they fight to proliferate the sport into the mainstream from its criminal underbelly. LD, whose Mickey Liddell, Pete Shilaimon, and Jennifer Monroe are producing with 360’s own Guymon Casady and Ben Forkner, is fully financing the film.
“When 360 brought us this true-life sports story about fighting for the American dream, it hit me on a visceral level that reminded me of the adrenaline-filled cinematic worlds of The Fast And The Furious and Fight Club,” Liddell said via Deadline.
A director and cast yet to be attached, and for what its worth, if bareknuckle boxing is something you have an opinion on in some valuable capacity, you’re more than welcome to share it below in the comment thread or on our Facebook page, or even Twitter.