Buckley battles bare knucle – European Games medal winner joins BKB

Regan Buckley has managed to raise eyebrows once again.

The talented puncher with plenty of shock previous and a reputation for doing things his own way is at it again, confirming he will enter the world of BARE KNUCKLE boxing.

‘Rego’ last weekend revealed he will make his bare knuckle debut on an Ultimate BKB card in Manchester on May 14.

Speaking online the St Teresa’s graduate said: “The next venture. Keep an eye out folks, on May 14th in Manchester for the first one.
Training camp in full swing.”

Those who follow the Bray fighter online will have got excited seeing ‘news’ teasers posted by Buckley over the last couple of weeks. However, those outside of his loyal fan base will be a little saddened to hear the ‘news’ does not surround a return to more traditional boxing, but is instead bare knucle related.

Buckley was a popular figure within the game and a fighter many felt had a solid future before his retirement at just 22 years of age.

After impressing early as a pro and notching up a domestic win over Carl McDonald in just his second fight, Buckley decided to get the vest out of the draw and returned to the amateur ranks.

It looked like a wise decision as ‘The Rocket’ won his first National Elite Championships at flyweight in 2019.

Winning a medal at the European Games then made Buckley, who is also an under-22 and Intermediate champion, a viable Olympic option.

However, defeat in the second National Elite Championships of the year – Buckley lost to Jude Gallagher who has now moved to featherweight – opened the door for the then injured Rio Olympian Brendan Irvine, which led to Buckley calling it a day citing a lack of funding, aswell a lack of confidence he could fight his way into the High Performance’s Olympic plans.

There was always hope he may return in some guise but true to form he shocks again as he enters the world of bare knuckle.