IT’S the sport that’s too tough for Nigel Benn. ‘The Dark Destroyer’ is one of Britain’s most exciting post-war fighters, remembered for his rivalry with Chris Eubank and savage battles with Gerald McClellan and Iran Barkley.
But he watches bareknuckle boxing through his fingers. Kevin Greenwood is a pal of the former two-weight world champion. They are both from Ilford, and Greenwood says his career switch has stunned Benn.
The 42-year-old said: “I put on a lot of weight a while ago and Nigel was telling me: ‘You need to start training.’ I got back in the gym and got rid of three or four stones.
“I was told about bareknuckle boxing, and within a day of talking to them, I was matched up.
“I was sending Nigel updates in the build-up to the fight, and afterwards I sent him a video and he sent me a message saying: ‘You’re mad.’
“He thinks I’m off my head to do this. His advice to me was: ‘Be careful.’ He knows how hard boxing is when you wear gloves and this is bareknuckle.”
Greenwood, whose 6-9 pro career peaked with a points loss to Tom Baker for the vacant Southern Area super-middleweight title a decade ago, is something of a cult hero in bareknuckle after having memorable wars with Lawrence Tarcey and Brad Scott.
Robin Reid, the former Olympic bronze medallist and WBC super-middleweight champion, was ringside for the draw with Scott in 2023 and said the five-round fight had “everything…blood, guts, courage. It has to be one of the fights of the year.”
Greenwood makes his US debut in Denver on Saturday night.
He’s matched with Julian Fernandez and expects a harder fight than any of his gloved battles.
Greenwood said: “Five two-minute rounds in bareknuckle was harder than eight three-minute rounds with gloves, and we are fighting over five three-minute rounds now.
“Five rounds in bareknuckle is brutal. Your hands, your face, everything hurts afterwards.
“It really hurts and if I could sing or dance I would do that instead, but this is the only thing I’ve ever been any good at.”
