All-Fight Record

Fighter	W	L
James Quinn McDonagh	11	0

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses.

Report

“King of the Travellers” is a Bare Knuckle Boxing Fight among Irish Travellers, that is no longer sanctioned, but has been taking place since the early 1700s, and as a form of Boxing started in Ireland. It is no longer sanctioned anywhere except a few American States.

James Quinn McDonagh was born in 1967 and is a modern Bare Knuckle Boxing Champion. Unlike Street Fights, “King of the Travellers” is arranged months in advance, with rules, giving fighters plenty of chance to train.

McDonagh, who had a documentary made of him, won all 11 boouts he fought in.

Travellers, also known as Indigineous Irish these days, or “Gypsies”, sometimes still use bare knuckle boxing fights to settle differences, and after being involved in one fight where a fighter was killed, McDonagh became embroiled in a feud.

He started as a trained boxer before taking his skills to Bare Knuckle Boxing.

References

Websites

[1] Scrap Digest (2016) Meet Ireland’s Bare Knuckle Boxing Champion ‘King of the Travellers” [Internet] Available from: https://www.scrapdigest.com/meet-irelands-bare-knuckle-boxing-champion-king-travellers/6888/ [Accessed 20 July 2020]

Images

[2] Scrap Digest (2016) James Quinn McDonagh is a modern bare knuckle boxing legend… [Internet] Available from: https://cdn.scrapdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/epuoptdq8y3dwvo4dyvg1.webp [Accessed 20 July 2020]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Niall Brennan.

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 10 July 2020

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.