Upcoming Fight: Cub Hawkins at BKB 48: Night of Four Kings
Date: November 22, 2025
Location: Charles F. Dodge Center, Pembroke Pines, Florida
Broadcast: VICE, TalkSPORT, Telemundo Deportes Ahora

Barrie Jones represents something increasingly rare in bare knuckle boxing: a pure technician who relies on fundamentals rather than durability. His boxing skills stand out immediately when watching tape. Clean combinations, intelligent ring generalship, and shot selection that reflects years of experience. But bare knuckle demands more than technical proficiency. It requires conditioning that holds up when punches land harder and fights turn into wars. His memorable war with LT Nelson exposed both his elite boxing skills and the physical limitations that come with fighting at an advanced age.

• Style: Technical boxer, combination puncher
• Strengths: Ring IQ, boxing fundamentals, clean shot selection
• Weaknesses: Conditioning at advanced age, weight cut management
• Best Attribute: Ability to piece together combinations and control range when fresh
• Biggest Question: Can his body keep up with his mind?

The Technical Foundation

Jones approaches bare knuckle with a boxer’s mentality. He controls distance with his jab, sets up combinations methodically, and understands angles in ways most bare knuckle fighters never develop. Watch his movement when fresh and you see someone who learned the sport properly. His footwork creates the positions he needs to land clean shots. His head movement keeps him safe while he works. His shot selection shows patience and intelligence.

The ring IQ separates him from typical bare knuckle brawlers. Jones doesn’t just throw punches hoping they land. He pieces opponents up, building attacks that set up finishing sequences. Against technically limited fighters, he makes it look easy. Clean jab to establish range. Straight right down the middle when they reach. Hook to the body when they drop their hands. Then back out before they can counter.

His best moments come in the opening rounds when his body cooperates with his mind. The first round against LT Nelson demonstrated everything Jones does well. He boxed circles around a dangerous opponent, made him miss consistently, and landed clean combinations that should have discouraged continued pressure. For those three minutes, Jones looked like he belonged in a different class entirely.

The Physical Reality

Jones fights at an advanced age in a sport that doesn’t forgive physical decline. Bare knuckle demands conditioning that holds up when every punch requires maximum effort and accumulated damage builds faster than in gloved boxing. His technical skills remain sharp, but his body struggles to maintain the pace his mind wants to set.

The weight cut compounds the problem. Jones described feeling “dreamy” going into his first fight with Nelson, an admission that explains the conditioning collapse that followed. That floaty, disconnected sensation means the weight cut went wrong. Your body is depleted before the fight even starts. Your timing feels off. Your power isn’t there. And your gas tank empties exponentially faster than it should.

By the second round against Nelson, Jones looked like he’d fought five rounds instead of one. His combinations slowed. His movement became labored. His punches lost snap. Nelson walked through everything he threw, not because Jones’s shots lacked technical merit, but because they lacked the force that comes from a properly fueled body.

What Makes Jones Dangerous

The skill gap between Jones and most bare knuckle fighters shows up immediately. He understands boxing fundamentals that others never learned or forgot. His jab isn’t just a range-finder. It sets up everything else he does. His combinations flow naturally, one punch setting up the next. His defensive awareness keeps him safe while he works.

Against Nelson in their first meeting, Jones demonstrated exactly why technical boxing matters. Round one belonged entirely to him. He controlled range, landed clean shots, and made a dangerous opponent look outmatched. The ring IQ gap was obvious. Everything suggested Jones would cruise to a decision if he could maintain that pace.

His ability to piece opponents up comes from pattern recognition and experience. He sees openings before they fully develop. He anticipates reactions and capitalizes on defensive mistakes. When things stay technical and stable, Jones operates at a level most bare knuckle fighters can’t match.

The question has never been whether Jones possesses superior boxing skills. The question is whether his body can deliver those skills consistently over five three-minute rounds of bare knuckle fighting.

The Nelson Problem

LT Nelson represents Jones’s worst stylistic matchup. Nelson fights like someone who studied defensive movement but weaponized pressure instead of counters. He ducks, weaves, and bobs constantly, ending up in predictable positions but never stopping forward movement. His entire offensive game revolves around hooks thrown from awkward angles with long, lanky arms.

Nelson’s greatest skill is disruption. He turns boxing matches into fights. He drags technically superior opponents into deep water where skills matter less than willpower and durability. Against Jones, that strategy worked perfectly once the conditioning differential appeared.

The formula to beat Nelson exists on paper: keep throwing straight down the pipe, catch him on entries when his head movement ends in predictable spots. But Jones learned the hard way that theory breaks down when your opponent absorbs punishment that would stop normal fighters and keeps pressing forward anyway.

The First Fight: Lessons in Bare Knuckle Reality

Round one showed peak Barrie Jones. He boxed circles around Nelson, landing clean combinations and making a dangerous opponent miss badly. His jab controlled range. His straight right found the target repeatedly. His movement prevented Nelson from setting his feet to land those hooks. For three minutes, Jones demonstrated why boxing fundamentals matter even when the gloves come off.

Then reality set in.

Nelson had no answers in the first round, but he had something Jones didn’t: a gas tank that held up under pressure. The low blow gave Nelson time to recover and regroup, but the real problem for Jones started before that. His body was already failing him.

By round two, the technical brilliance disappeared. Jones exhausted himself trying to maintain the pace his opening round required. Nelson walked through punches that should have hurt him, closed distance relentlessly, and started landing that beautiful weave-into-body-shot combination that changes fights. Jones couldn’t keep him off anymore, couldn’t maintain distance, couldn’t fight at his pace.

The “dreamy” feeling Jones described going into that fight explains everything. The weight cut went wrong. His body was depleted before the opening bell. And bare knuckle exposed that vulnerability faster and more brutally than gloved boxing would have.

The Cub Hawkins Matchup

Jones faces Cub Hawkins next, a fight that should play more to his strengths than the Nelson war did. Where Nelson brought relentless pressure and disruption that dragged Jones into deep water, Hawkins presents a more straightforward puzzle for a technical boxer to solve.

The skill gap favors Jones clearly. His boxing fundamentals, ring IQ, and combination work operate at a level Hawkins hasn’t shown in his fights. Jones controls distance with his jab, sets up combinations methodically, and understands angles in ways that let him piece up less technical opponents.

Hawkins doesn’t bring the same kind of relentless forward pressure that exposed Jones’s conditioning issues against Nelson. He’s a more measured fighter who won’t force the kind of grueling pace that drained Jones’s gas tank. That should allow Jones to work behind his jab, use his superior footwork to create angles, and box at a pace his body can sustain.

The question isn’t whether Jones possesses the tools to outbox Hawkins. He clearly does. The question is whether he manages the physical side better than he did against Nelson. If the weight cut goes smoothly and Jones fights conservatively early, his technical advantages should carry him to a decision win without the dramatic conditioning collapse that cost him against Nelson’s pressure.

Jones’s Path Against Hawkins

The blueprint for Jones against Hawkins is straightforward. Use his superior boxing fundamentals to control the fight from the opening bell:

Distance Control: Establish the jab early and keep Hawkins at range. Don’t let him get comfortable closing distance. Use footwork to create angles rather than standing directly in front of him.

Clean Combinations: Work behind the jab to set up his straight right and hooks. Jones’s combination work should be sharper and more polished than anything Hawkins brings. Touch and move rather than standing in the pocket trading.

Conservative Energy Management: Fight smart rounds without burning unnecessary energy early. The Nelson fight taught him what happens when conditioning fails. Against Hawkins, he doesn’t need to empty the tank trying to get a knockout. Box, score rounds, and let technical superiority carry him to a decision.

Ring Generalship: Control the pace and positioning. Make Hawkins fight Jones’s fight rather than getting drawn into brawls. Use the Trigon’s confined space to cut off angles and land clean shots when Hawkins tries to close distance.

Hawkins doesn’t present the stylistic nightmare that Nelson did. Jones should be able to box behind his jab, use his superior footwork and ring IQ, and win rounds without the kind of physical warfare that exposed his conditioning issues.

The Fighter vs The Sport

Barrie Jones represents a fascinating case study in bare knuckle boxing. His skills would dominate in a sport where conditioning wasn’t paramount. His ring IQ, technical fundamentals, and boxing ability stand well above most fighters competing without gloves. The Nelson fight proved both his elite technical skills and the physical limitations that come with fighting at an advanced age.

Against Cub Hawkins, Jones faces a more favorable stylistic matchup. Hawkins doesn’t bring the relentless disruption and pressure that exposed Jones’s conditioning vulnerabilities. The fight should stay more technical, playing directly into Jones’s strengths.

The age factor still matters. Weight management and conditioning remain concerns for any fighter competing at an advanced age in bare knuckle. But Hawkins doesn’t force the kind of grueling pace that drained Jones against Nelson. Jones should be able to control the fight’s tempo, work behind his jab, and box at a sustainable pace.

The Hawkins Fight Outlook

Jones holds clear advantages in boxing fundamentals, ring IQ, and technical execution. Hawkins hasn’t shown the kind of skills that would trouble a fighter with Jones’s experience and technical proficiency. The matchup favors Jones as long as he fights smart and manages his energy properly.

Expect Jones to establish his jab early, control distance, and piece Hawkins up with cleaner, more effective combinations. He doesn’t need to chase a knockout or fight at an unsustainable pace. Box conservatively, win rounds through superior technique, and let the decision take care of itself.

Projection: Barrie Jones

Jones should control this fight from the opening bell. His boxing fundamentals are too sharp, his ring IQ too high, and his technical execution too polished for Hawkins to overcome. As long as Jones manages the physical side better than he did against Nelson, his skills should carry him to a clear decision victory.

The Hawkins fight represents the kind of matchup where Jones’s technical brilliance shines without the physical warfare that exposes his limitations.

Follow AltBoxing for more bare-knuckle breakdowns from someone who knows what actually works when the gloves come off.