Pugilism among Irish Travelers: cultural tradition and the fight bite injury

The extant medical literature lacks a discussion of the cultural tradition of bare-knuckle boxing among Irish Travelers, which is pertinent to traumatology given the possible medical complications of this practice. This cultural tradition is a risk factor for a potentially dangerous injury known as a "fight bite". Irish Travelers are individuals belonging to nomadic families who originated in Ireland several centuries ago, and bare-knuckle boxing is a means by which a male Irish Traveler upholds his family's honor, as shown in the 2011 documentary film, Knuckle. Rival families or clans may hold grudges against one another for decades, and in response to taunts from a rival clan, which are sometimes posted on video-sharing websites such as YouTube, male Irish Travelers compete with each other in bare-knuckle boxing matches to settle the score. A fight bite is a clenched fist injury that occurs when one person strikes another person's mouth or when a fist is bitten directly, and such an injury can inoculate the site of penetration with bacteria or other infectious agents found in the human mouth. However, in the case of bare-knuckle boxing matches among Irish Travelers, a fighter's fist is less likely to be bitten because the matches are overseen by referees.... Language: en