MICHAEL Lobby has revealed his reasons for ditching his boxing gloves to fight bare-knuckle ahead of the next chapter in his ring career.

The Berinsfield fighter had his last professional gloved fight seven years ago, and at 35-years-old, he’s decided to take up bare-knuckle fighting.

Bare-knuckle boxing has surged in popularity in recent years, with Lobby set to make his debut for Bare Knuckle Boxing at the The O2 Arena in London on Sunday, April 10.

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“There will be 3,000 people there and the last show had 2.7 million views around the world,” Lobby said

“That is a massive platform. Good pro gloved fighters can fight for years and never get to fight on that sort of stage.

“If I went back to gloved boxing now, it would be two or three years before I got to fight on a show like this. Bare Knuckle Boxing put on big shows.

“I’m looking to get this one out of the way, push on and get the British title.”

On his bare-knuckle debut, Lobby – who trains at South Moreton Boxing Club – has been matched with a fighter he may have seen on television before.

Ellis Lacy bid for stardom on The X Factor several years ago and will have more than 30,000 Twitter followers cheering him on against Lobby.

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“I watch the Saturday night shows with my family, so I probably watched him,” said Lobby.

“I don’t remember him, but the chances are I watched him.

“I know he’s had a few kickboxing fights and he’s had a few knockouts, but I won’t really know what he’s made of until I’m in there with him.”

Lobby, who used to fight under the name Michael Lobb, said in May 2020, that bare-knuckle fighting had given him ‘the drive to get off the sofa and back down the gym’.

He said: “I didn’t have the hunger to go back to professional boxing.

“This has given me the drive to get off the sofa and back down the gym.

”My missus isn’t bothered as long as I’m positive and happy – but friends think I’m crazy to do this.

“They’ve been saying ‘aren’t you scared of getting hit?’. But I’ve been taking punches all my life.

“I know I’m tough enough. There are talented fighters in bare-knuckle now.

“You won’t get away with just going in there and swinging.

“I know there will be times when I have to stand and trade toe to toe, but I’ve got the skills and experience to size them up, control the pace and then take them out.”