Michael ‘Real Deal’ Ferry is the real heavyweight hard man.
The 25 year-old from Wallsend on Tyneside is the king of the bareknuckle ring.
Fighters wear only bandages when they slug it out in bloody fights and though boxing bosses want the sport banned, bareknuckle boxing is flourishing.
Ferry won the world title last year with a first-round knock-out and tickets for his third defence in Coventry on Saturday, September 24 are selling fast.
The promoters expect a 1,500 sell out.
“We started off fighting in barns, now we’re fighting in front of crowds of 1,500 and there are plans for bigger shows,” said Ferry, who stands 6ft 1ins tall and tips the scales at around 16 1/2 stones.
“We hope to be as big as MMA one day and I just have to keep winning to be a part of it.
“People like blood and guts and when they come to see bareknuckle boxing, they always see a war.”
That suits Ferry, a father of two daughters who says his profession is “bareknuckle fighting.”
He said: “I did some unlicensed boxing, was asked to have a go at bareknuckle and it suited me.
“You need to have that killer instinct to be a bareknuckle boxer. You need to go in there and get the job done – and not take too many punches. They hurt 10 times as much without the gloves on.
“You need a lot of balls to be a bareknuckle fighter.
“I’ve seen tough, experienced boxers fall apart when they take the gloves off.
“When you take the gloves off, it really hurts. It even hurts when you land punches, but I’m lucky. My hands are strong.”
The worst injury Ferry says he’s suffered is when his left eye was swollen shut during his last world-title defence.
Despite the injury, Ferry kept his belt with a knock out – his 10th straight knock out – and his next fight looks likely to end early as well.
He’s matched with Mark De Mori, the Aussie blasted out in a round by David Haye earlier this year.
The record books show De Mori can punch himself and though Ferry is confident he will win, he isn’t quite as keen on matches with Fury, Joshua or Haye.
“If they took the gloves off, they would be deadly,” he said.