From Fan-Man crashing Holyfield’s contest with Bowe to a boxer wrestling an octopus, boxing has seen more than its fair share of bizarre moments, and perhaps this latest one tops them all.
Tony ‘Two-Ton’ Galento boxed an octopus to promote a fight, Joe Louis avoided ‘Kid Violent’ after he wrestled an alligator, Evander Holyfield beat Riddick Bowe after a man parachuted into the ring, Tony Wilson’s mother entered the ring and beat Steve McCarthy with her heels.
These are just some of the many crazy occurrences in the sport of boxing, and though most of these were many years ago, one man has created another moment of chaos as he dared to do something nobody has ever done before.
Russian daredevil dons the gloves atop a hot-air balloon mid-flight
A daredevil by the username of name Sergey Boytcov embarked on a monumental stunt as he became the first man, alongside his opponent, to box on top of an in-flight hot-air balloon with no parachutes or safety precautions.
In a caption to Sergey’s original post, which has been translated, Sergey wrote: “My Team, who wrote history ❤️ […] A fight without parachutes on the dome of a balloon changed the consciousness of people who did not even believe that such a thing was possible. We did it.”
One fan commented: “Combat sports, never stop with your gimmicks keep getting goofier pls”
Whilst another wrote: “I’ve boxed in the back of a pick up truck on a rainy day in Mexico, but this is just absurd.”
This marks just another strange venue for boxing as Turki Alalshikh teases an event at Alcatraz Prison.
Russian sport pairs boxing with ice-skating
Though Sergey became the first to ever box on a hot-air balloon, Russia is known for its strange innovations in combat sports, from MMA fights with multiple people versus one other, to a bizarre new sport, which pairs striking with ice-skating.
Things get even more strange, though, as the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships have now announced they will host a new league for sanctioned hockey fights on the ice, complete with MMA gloves and timed rounds.
Fans have displayed concerns over this, with one saying: “It also seems very risky due to the injury risks of skates. I’m intrigued to see how it pans out.”