“YOU never know, I could hit him on the button and my world could change . . .”
So said Dorian Darch ahead of his fight with Anthony Joshua in February 2014. His world didn’t change that night at the O2 Arena.
Joshua stopped him in two rounds and exactly 11 years on – Saturday, February 1, 2025 – Darch has his next fight. These days, the Welshman fights without gloves and Joshua would approve.
Asked to name his second favourite sport, Joshua answered: “Bareknuckle.”
Darch has been fighting bareknuckle for around four years and at 40 years old, his motivation remains the same.
“I enjoy fighting,” said Darch, who’s sold around 150 tickets for his fight against Gaz Slator in Cardiff on Saturday night.
“I’ve got a good job and don’t need the money, but fighting keeps me off the beer. I was drinking 15 cans a night during lockdown and my missus said I had to sort myself out.
“She kept on about it so I said: ‘I will have to start fighting again.’ She presumed I meant gloved boxing and she didn’t talk to me for a few days after she realised I was doing bareknuckle – but she’s OK with it now.”
One of Darch’s losses in the bareknuckle ring was inflicted by another ex-gloved pro, Jody Meikle.
The self-styled ‘One Man Riot’ beat Darch on cuts.
Darch shrugged, “a fight’s a fight” when asked to compare gloved and bareknuckle boxing, but he added: “You do get more cuts in bareknuckle.”
The cut he suffered in his last fight went viral. Darch was ruled out after his left ear was sliced in half.
He said: “I didn’t realise what had happened when the referee stopped the fight. I looked down and saw my chest covered in blood, but didn’t know where it had come from.
“I didn’t feel a thing and I could have carried on fighting.”
Early in his pro gloved career, Darch described his style as: “I just bore in. I will take one to land one.”
He bowed out with a 12-12-1 record – and a point to prove.
“After I won my fist six fights I realised I was only going to be a journeyman,” he said. “When you realise that, you lose motivation. I used to train to keep myself safe and collect the money.
“Those last few results make it look like I’m rubbish, but I was getting a phone call on Wednesday evening and then fighting on Saturday night. I wasn’t going to the gym either.
“I want to win again now. I want to prove I can fight.”
