There is nothing unusual about couples getting together through work or a shared passion – except when that lifestyle happens to feature the brutal world of bare-knuckle fighting.
Meet Liam and Mathilda Wilson, who not only both fight but have done so on the same bill, as well as cornering for each other. It’s an unusual arrangement, but one they are proud of, and they’re keen to do it again.
This fighting duo are known in the combat sports world as the 'Bare-knuckle Couple'. Daily Star Sport caught up with both at the recent BKB 34 event at London’s O2, where Mathilda was involved in the only women’s match on the show.
READ MORE: 'Blood, gore, marriage proposals and Big Narstie – my night at bare-knuckle boxing'
READ MORE: 'I fled the war in Ukraine – now I'm a British bare-knuckle boxing champion'
“For my first two bare-knuckle fights, we fought in the same night, then been in each other’s corner,” says the Swedish fighter, who has a young son with her Scouser hubby.
“It’s a bit mad. In my first match, I stopped my opponent in the first round and I didn’t have a scratch. My second one, I could barely see out of my eye afterwards so I couldn’t really coach him but luckily we had a friend with us to help in case.
What do you think of the Wilsons' story? Tell us in the comments section below
“We want to fight soon again together. We’ll take one more with us [to be in the corner], but it is stressful still. It’s all about the preparation, you can’t say too many things [in the corner]. It’s more about the emotional support.”
Liam has won European bare-knuckle titles and competed in King of the Streets, the underground fight club which makes regular boxing look like a tea party. He wasn’t in action at BKB 34, but he intends to fight for the burgeoning promotion soon, preferably on the same bill as his wife.
“We like it that way,” he says. “A lot of people wouldn’t be able to do that because it’s stressful, with us both fighting and being in each other’s corner. But we love to do that and we want to carry on doing it.
“Mathilda always goes first because she wouldn’t be able to handle it if something happened to me. I’m a little bit more hardened in that way, so Mathilda will go first on the card and I’ll go second. We work well like that.”
The pair met in an MMA gym after Liam had moved to Sweden. Mathilda has dabbled in numerous martial arts, but bare-knuckle boxing is the one for her now. She says: “I’ve done a bit of everything, kickboxing, Thai boxing, gloved boxing.
“It [bareknuckle] is f***ing amazing, it’s just the best. As soon as I took my gloves off, I knew I’d never be able to put them back on again. You feel free, it’s the best feeling."
Her biggest issue is finding quality opponents given the shortage of female fighters in the bare-knuckle world. However, her fight with the impressive Lailane Mota, who was flown in from Brazil, showed BKB’s determination to grow the female scene.
“I’ve been struggling to get opponents and I’ve been waiting around. Since I’ve signed with BKB, I’m finally going to get regular fights,” she adds. “My opponent is from Brazil so they are putting money into the female scene. It’s hard to find girls in my weight division. My fight two years ago was the first one in England. Now I’m the first one in BKB.”
As for Liam, he didn’t take up combat sports until the age of 27 after numerous jobs, including a spell in the army and working as a holiday rep. He says he found a home in King of The Streets, where he has fought under the moniker of ‘English Wilf’, with his fights being viewed millions of times on YouTube.
“I’d just got into bare-knuckle and my family were telling me I was stupid for doing it,” he recalls. “I was flicking through Instagram and saw this King of the Streets thing. I applied for it but didn’t tell anyone. I just wanted to see if I still had something or was being stupid.
“I had my first fight and I was like ‘this is for me’. I just felt like that was the path I was supposed to be on. All the training I’ve done in the past was meant for King of the Streets.”
He is now looking forward to fights with BKB. He says: “I’ve had six fights in bare-knuckle and I’ve won two European titles. I think in the future I’m looking to come to BKB and finish off my career with Mathilda fighting in the same card.
“We’re the Bare-knuckle Couple, it’s what we do. There are people who try to name themselves the bare-knuckle couple of different parts of the country, but there’s only one. We’ll fight people for that name, no problem.”
Source: Read Full Article
