Billy hopes to become a champion at 38.
08:18, 25 Jan 2026Updated 08:20, 25 Jan 2026
Billy Burton has vowed to return to the ring(Image: REACH PLC/Callum Moffat)
A bare knuckle boxing grandad from Portobello has vowed to make a triumphant return to the ring.
At 38, Billy Burton is battered and broken, his hands have been smashed to pieces through colliding his bare knuckles with the skulls and flesh of his opponents. The landscaper is a father of five and grandfather of two who has built a career through violence.
But Billy doesn’t like to be seen through the lens of aggression. He admits he takes no joy in hurting others.
Born in Falkirk, he moved to Exeter at six months old, he remained in the south west until he was 16, and after failing to get into the army, he travelled back north to settle in Edinburgh. Billy claims he had never officially trained as a boxer but after being bullied throughout his childhood, he developed a chin and a monster right hand.
Billy started a family young – his eldest son is aged 19, his twin daughters, 18, were followed by a seven-year-old son and more recently an 18-month-old daughter. After becoming a father, he was in and out of work as a landscaper, struggling to provide.
But through a chance Facebook message at the age of 24 from a renowned East End gangster, Dave Courtney, he was invited to a bare knuckle boxing event at Castle Camelot, Plumstead.
“I got into it when a guy from London found me on Facebook and said I looked hard,” he said. “He messaged me out of the blue and asked if I wanted a fight.
Billy feels he has unfinished business in the bare knuckle boxing world(Image: REACH PLC/Callum Moffat)
“At first I thought it would be in a car park like you see in the travellers videos. But when I got down there it was at Dave Courtney’s Camelot Castle in Plumstead.
“They made a ring out of hay bales in his garden and there were only 50 people there. After being introduced to everyone I got asked whether I would take part in a bare knuckle boxing event in the North of England.
“I thought why not. It would be my first ever fight in a ring, I’d only ever had scraps after a few beers on the street.
“I didn’t have any boxing training, the extent of it was shadow boxing in the mirror but I agreed to it after I’d had a few drinks. I told my mates and family about it the next day and they all thought I was mental but that spurred me on.
“I was around 26 and I fought a guy called Alex Salmond, he was billed as the hardest man in Carlisle. He was a scaffolder by trade and kept telling me before the fight I’d get knocked out in round two.
“So I promised myself then I’d knock him out in the second. When I got down to Newcastle for the fight I forgot my mouth guard and had to borrow another bloke’s.
“The first punch I threw was a jab that broke his nose. And true to my word, I floored him in the second.
“I felt weirdly calm. I’ve honestly been more intimidated by women shouting at me than when I step in the ring.
“Even though it was a violent environment, I went into it with respect. I don’t want to hurt people but if someone is coming to embarrass me, I can’t have that, and if it happens then so be it.
“I’m not a violent guy, I’m happy. I don’t want to be seen as aggressive. But from a young age I knew I could hit so I might as well do something with it. Fighting for me is all love, it’s never personal but when someone calls me out and tries to embarrass me, I’m not having it, I’m coming for them.”
‘I’m not a violent guy, I’m happy'(Image: REACH PLC/Callum Moffat)
Billy’s stock grew with his strong debut showing but his next challenge was to come outside of the ring when his daughter, Shania, was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of seven. The earth shattering news came two weeks before his next bout against a powerful Welsh brawler two stone heavier than him.
“My second time in the ring was against Christan Evans, a Welsh fighter with over 30 fights,” he said. “He was two stone heavier than me but I felt confident I could beat him.
“Two weeks before the fight my daughter was diagnosed with cancer. We were in and out of hospital so I couldn’t train.
“My partner and I were out of work at the time though and I knew I needed money so I travelled down for the fight. I said no matter what just make sure I get back home to my daughter afterwards.
“I made about £400 off the promoter but others at the event raised £600 for my family. No one expected me to come down as they all knew about my circumstances.
“Stupidly I didn’t have a groin protector on at all as I’d forgotten it and after an accidental low blow the fight was stopped. My testicle ballooned for the next three weeks, I couldn’t even sit down on the toilet but I did it all for my daughter.
“I joke I had a kick in the balls two weeks before the fight, only to suffer a punch to them during it.”
Billy takes pride in the fact in over 10 bare knuckle boxing and over 26 gloved boxing fights – he is still yet to be knocked out. He fought in fights promoted by the UK’s ‘scariest debt collector’ Shaun Smith under BKB organisation, narrowly missing out on two Scottish titles. He later tasted success winning gloved belts in several SimplyMatched categories.
‘[The sport] has gone mainstream now and I want my reward'(Image: REACH PLC/Callum Moffat)
Despite being 38, and with an admittedly broken body, he feels he has unfinished business in the bare knuckle boxing world. Billy had to take a step back from the sport due to personal reasons, and he wants one last bite at the cherry to have an opportunity to cash in on the sport he helped grow.
The bare knuckle scene has shot to notoriety with Connor McGregor’s BKFC and Darren Till’s Gorilla Promotions throwing millions into putting the sport on the map. Billy describes bare knuckle fighting as a young man’s game but he feels he is in the best shape of his life and ready to make a return later this year.
“It has gone mainstream now and I want my reward,” he said. “I was there in the beginning and sadly had to miss out for a number of reasons from being injured to having to sort my life out outside the ring.
“I’m gutted I’m not there at the top. I’ve invested a lot in the sport and come close to titles but lost out due to breaking my hands.
“I was six seconds away from a bare knuckle boxing title but the ref stopped it. It is why I moved into gloved fighting. I had to let my hands recover but now I feel great and in the best shape of my life.
“It is becoming a young man’s game – you cannot be old with scar tissues and injuries. You need to be fresh which is how I started but now I’m broken.
“But I was late in starting, so I still have mileage in the tank. I always said I’d retire when my body failed me or someone knocks me out.
“I’ve long had a fascination with being knocked out and I funnily enough want to go out that way. It’s how my own journey started with knocking someone else out.
“But I’ll do everything to make sure that doesn’t happen. I still reckon I can beat these guys coming up, I just need my shot.”
Billy has built a career alongside his landscaping in the bare knuckle and gloved boxing world, fighting, promoting, training and acting as a corner man. He believes the community has allowed him to grow as a person and to focus on helping others with their careers in the space but the bare knuckle world is not something he encourages entering.
“I don’t get excited about hurting a guy and I have no fear about getting hurt,” he said. “I’m wired differently, I watch all the fights before I step in the ring, I like to get in the mindset I’m just a fan stepping up.
“It keeps me nice and calm. I can’t be separated from it all cooped up.
“I would not advise getting into the bare knuckle game now, the fighters are all top level. I’d advise just joining a gym to get fit, learning how to defend yourself and build friendships.”
You can follow Billy through his TikTok here.