Malignaggi, of course, is not the issue here. Far from it. He, like all retired fighters, will always be led towards the places he knows best and will always want to test the limits of both his body and brain, as is his right. But the others, those who choose to watch this stuff, have a choice; that is, plentiful options. In the realm of combat sports alone, they have professional boxing, they have kickboxing, they have mixed martial arts, they have wrestling, and they even now have the grim spectacle of two people slapping each other repeatedly – thanks, Dana! Bare knuckle boxing, for its part, does nothing to improve on or advance combat sports, nor does it offer an indication of some sort of evolution. Instead, and quite unashamedly, it seems to mark a regression, much like Power Slap. It takes us back in time; back to a time when, in combat sports terms, we were even less civilised and discerning than we are today.
