Jimmy Sweeney is the most decorated fighter in bare-knuckle boxing history.
The Irish cult hero left a lasting legacy of destruction during his 33-fight (29-4) reign at the top of the sport.
Sweeney, a six-time four-division world champion, is one of the driving forces behind bare-knuckle boxing's resurgence from the underground over the past decade.
Bare-knuckle boxing was unsanctioned until promoters Jim Freeman and Joe Smith-Brown professionalized the sport in 2015 under the banner BKBtm.
It is now one of the fastest growing martial arts in the world, with shows held all over the world at famous venues such as the O2 Arena and Madison Square Garden.
When the “Celtic Warrior” got involved in bare-knuckle ten years ago, the sport was full of what he described as “brawlers” and “local tough guys.”
Most of the early matches resembled pub brawls, but the arrival of Sweeney, an experienced amateur pugilist, prompted BKBtm's promoters to draft a higher-level opponent to match him. I was forced to.
“Before me, this sport was more or less a sport of brawlers and local strongmen, but I brought a bit of skill to it,” he told talkSPORT.com.
“If you look at my entire career, I've been used as the guy to go against every American, mixed martial artist, professional boxer.
“Because of my style and what I bring to the sport, a lot of people took notice because I'm more of a technical fighter than a brawler.
“I revolutionized the game and the way it's fought. Now it's bare-knuckle boxing with an emphasis on boxing.”
Former UFC stars Cody McKenzie, Shawnee Carter, Melvin Guillard and Colin Fletcher were brought in to give Sweeney a tough test, only to be easily defeated by the bare-knuckle icon. was.
Meanwhile, former boxing world title challenger Edgar Puerta and Olympian Jean Carlos Prada are also among the long list of illustrious names he has defeated.
Sweeney's seemingly impenetrable defense has drawn comparisons to Floyd Mayweather, and like the boxing legend, he too has come out relatively unscathed in such a dangerous profession thanks to his uncanny ability to dodge punches. I've enjoyed my career.
“Bare-knuckle boxing is a brutal sport, so other than a broken hand and an eye injury from the Barry Jones fight, I didn't have too many injuries, so I was lucky in that respect,” Sweeney continued.
“I don't get injured very often. I'm always a defensive player and in a sport like this the goal is to get hit and not get hit. That's the secret to my success.”
Sweeney didn't have to take the sport too seriously at first, as he could easily defeat his opponents.
In his early years, he hardly trained and loved to drink, even on match days.
It wasn't until the level of competition started to improve that he became the fighter he is today.
Sweeney recalled one of the most notorious criminals before the game. [Sligo, Ireland]they held a boxing event and asked me to be a judge.
“So I went down on Friday and was going to fight in Coventry the next day so I was definitely not going to drink.
“But as soon as someone asked if I wanted a drink, I said, 'Please bring me a bottle of Bud (Budweiser).' Before I knew it, I was drinking endless bottles of Bud to judge the game.” Then we went to a house party and did all kinds of things.
“Then one of my friends said, “Jimmy, aren't you fighting tonight?'' I said “No, not until next week,'' and then he showed me a poster saying he was the one fighting. That's what I realized.
“So I rushed home and hopped on a plane to England. By that time, my friends back home had just woken up and saw me fighting. I showed up drunk and went into battle. I won and knocked him out in 10 seconds. I went back to beer.”
Sweeney's mindset completely changed when he lost his first-ever bare-knuckle fight to Ultimate Fighter contestant Julian 'Let Me Bang' Lane in 2017.
Up until that point, Sweeney had seemed virtually invincible, winning all 18 of his bare-knuckle fights. However, Lane upset the apple cart by dropping Sweeney twice on his way to winning by majority decision.
“The Julian Lane game changed everything for me, I'm glad I did it,” he added.
“That was one of the worst moments of my life. It was November and my dad passed away in September. So I went on a hard drinking and drug binge for seven weeks. I dropped a few times and won the fight, but nothing.'' This guy should have hit me.
“This was a wake-up call and made me realize that I needed to train properly. And in the rematch, I came in there and completely destroyed him with one hand. In the end, I also completely destroyed him. I stopped drinking and my health improved.”
After avenging his loss to Lane, Sweeney went on a six-fight winning streak before losing to rising prospect Ricardo Franco.
Once again, Sweeney recovered and had his hand raised, but soon after, he was dethroned by former glove-wearing pro Barry Jones with back-to-back losses.
The Irishman is now nearing the twilight of his career and admits there is not much left to achieve in the sport.
But the 39-year-old is still capable of putting on a show and will produce another golden moment when he defends his welterweight world title against James Connelly at BKB 37 in Wolverhampton this weekend. I hope that.
“On paper, James is a very tough opponent,” Sweeney said. “He is a world champion at the following weights and has been in this game for a long time.
“You never know what's going to happen in this bare-knuckle match. It could be an easy night, it could be a tough night.
“We've been training for a tough night, but we're hoping for an easy night.”
