Tickets are moving fast for the fight night on Saturday
BARE-KNUCKLE boxer Craig ‘Rocky’ Morgan is bringing “brutal” hybrid boxing to genteel Penarth this weekend as he hosts Welsh Combat Series 2 at the Vale Sports Arena.
The event, which is expected to be attended by more than 1,000 spectators, will be the second hybrid boxing show in Wales after Morgan’s inaugural card back in October at the Neath Sports Arena.
Hybrid boxing has the same rules as traditional gloved boxing except that bouts are fought in four-ounce MMA gloves, rather than 10-12 ounce boxing gloves, lending to an unforgiving and faster-paced contest.
Morgan, who is the current BKB British bare-knuckle boxing champion, set up Welsh Combat Series with close friend Shaun Seery as a way of filling a gap in the market.
“Hybrid boxing is the closest thing to bare-knuckle boxing that you can get, it is absolutely brutal, and people love it, so it made complete sense that we would bring it to Wales,” said Morgan.
“Our first show was unbelievably popular and we’re expecting a really big crowd to be joining us again on fight night.
“Expect plenty of blood and violence.”
The Bridgend man has made a career out of that very style of fighting.
After 80 amateur boxing bouts and three professional outings, Morgan decided to ditch the gloves and fight bare-knuckle.
Since starting his new career he has gone 5-0 in the sport and recently won the prestigious BKB British flyweight title in a one-sided beating of Lewis Gallant back in September 2021.
Now, Morgan hopes to use his experience as a fighter to propel his own career as a promoter.
The card
This Saturday’s card has 17 fights from various disciplines including kickboxing, boxing and hybrid boxing.
The main event is for the Welsh hybrid boxing championship which will be contested between Craig Griffiths and David Larkin.
Griffiths, a railway maintenance worker from Rhondda Valley, is donating his entire purse to charity.
“Every time I fight, I raise money for cancer charities,” said Griffiths.
“For this fight, I am donating my entire purse to the Velindre Cancer Centre – it is just my way of giving back.
“Before all this, I used to box as a child then I was knocked over by a motorbike and doctors told me I could never fight again, so just being able to go out there and put on a show is a blessing.
“I have got a lot riding on this fight, and I am going to teach this man a lesson on Saturday.”
His opponent, Larkin, also from Rhondda Valley, is an electrician by trade who has ambitions of joining Morgan at Britain’s leading bare-knuckle boxing company, BKB.
“My main goal is to fight at the O2 Arena with BKB like Morgan has,” said Larkin.
“With Griffiths having so much experience in bare-knuckle I think he’s the perfect opponent to get me moving in the right direction towards achieving that.
“I am planning on making a statement, I don’t see him lasting five rounds.”
- For tickets and further information, be sure to head over to the Welsh Combat Series Facebook page.
