As Louis ‘the Razor’ Robinson and Dom ‘the Juggernaut’ Sorby stare each other down on the stage, in the pit below, the 300-strong crowd is going berserk.
For one of these two monstrous men – each weighing over 17 stone – is about to become the first ever British heavyweight ‘slap fighting’ champion.
The Master of Ceremonies, Mike ‘Mad Dog’ Angus – in a purple suit and bejewelled shoes – instructs the fighters to take their places either side of an old oil barrel.
And then it happens. One slap. One brutal, perfect strike from the Razor – and the Juggernaut is on the floor, his eyes rolling like greased marbles, knocked out with the first strike of the the first round.
Total silence. And then, in the blink of an eye, the arena erupts. Pint glasses fly into the air and the metal barriers collapse beneath the weight of the advancing mob.
Slap fighter Scott Midgeley is slapped by Blaire Whatman. Last week, Liverpool’s Box Park, a 21,000 sq ft ‘dining and events space’, hosted the inaugural British Heavyweight Slap Fight Championship
Fred Kelly visits the first UK heavy weight slap fight championships in Liverpool with a 300-strong crowd
Louis The Razor Robinson celebrates his slap with Fred to win the British heavy weight championship
The Razor, grinning from ear to ear, holds his arms aloft, while paramedics rush to the aid of the Juggernaut, who lies on the matted floor, oblivious to his rival’s triumph.
Moments later, the Razor wraps the gold-plated title belt around his waist, looks up to the heavens and lets out a roar that seems to rise from the very bowels of the earth.
Last week, Liverpool’s Box Park, a 21,000 sq ft ‘dining and events space’, hosted the inaugural British Heavyweight Slap Fight Championship, a landmark moment for a brutal new form of combat that is quickly becoming a mainstream – and deeply worrying – sport in the UK.
Like so many new trends, it is an import from the US where slap fighting has been big news ever since former the former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger and internet personality Logan Paul (once the world’s highest paid YouTuber) jointly hosted a contest in 2022.
Disturbingly, graphic videos of the sport now rack up tens of millions of views on YouTube, and there are fears that teenage boys will stage copycat bouts of their own.
22-year-old George The Wobbler Watson has his fight stopped early with Dan because of a bad facial injury
Louis The Razor Robinson (28) knocks down Dominic The Juggernaut Sorby to win the heavy weight championship and celebrates with fans
Luke Griggs, CEO of leading UK brain injury charity Headway, agrees, describing face-slapping as ‘an incredibly dangerous craze which should never be classified as a sport’
And that could make it a serious public health issue because Chris Nowinski, CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, calls it as ‘one of the stupidest things you can do’.
Luke Griggs, CEO of leading UK brain injury charity Headway, agrees, describing face-slapping as ‘an incredibly dangerous craze which should never be classified as a sport’.
Mr Griggs fears that the growing popularity of face-slapping in the UK – largely prompted by viral videos of fighters being knocked out – will lead to reckless imitation by children and young teenagers, whose brains are yet to fully develop.
‘It’s ludicrous to suggest that this is not extremely dangerous to every participant who takes part,’ Griggs argues. ‘Every time you’re struck in the head, your brain rattles inside your skull causing injury, the results of which can be devastating and last a lifetime.’
He adds: ‘I genuinely believe that this is something the government needs to intervene on as a public health issue. It is irresponsible to portray slap fighting as anything less than an incredibly dangerous fad.’
So just what is drawing so many people to a sport whose sheer savagery makes heavyweight boxing look like tiddlywinks?
The rules vary depending on the jurisdiction but are fundamentally simple. Fighters – known as ‘hitters’ rather than ‘slappers’ – take it in turns to strike one another across the cheek with the palm of their hand as hard as they can over eight rounds.
The striker must keep both feet on the ground, avoid ‘clubbing’ (striking with the heel of the palm) and mustn’t strike their opponents jaw, temple or ear. For their part, the ‘defender’ must not flinch or block the strike by either raising their shoulders or ducking their chin.
Much like boxing, the ultimate aim is to knock out your opponent. In the absence of a KO, the victor is determined by a points system that rewards the ‘damage and effectiveness’ of a strike, as well as for the ‘reaction and recovery’ of the defender.
Combatants are obliged to wear a mouthguard and place cotton buds in their ears but are allowed no further protective equipment. Nor may they apply any ‘balms, lotions or oils’ aside from regulation chalk.
Ahead of the Saturday night title showdown, the Mail spoke with Louis ‘the Razor’ Robinson as he went through his final pre-fight preparations.
Fans go wild as Louis The Razor Robinson knocks down The Juggernaut to win the championship
22-year-old George The Wobbler Watson (right) slaps Dan One Shot Mitchell during their fight
‘It might just be a slap, but it feels like a punch,’ The Razor warned, rotating his wrists, ominously: ‘It certainly hurts as much.’
The Razor is just 28 years old but already has a fearsome reputation within the sport having defeated some of the biggest names in British slap fighting, including the night’s match official, 15 stone 9 pound, man-mountain Niki ‘The Anvil’ Anderson, 32
‘As a kid, I had a party trick where I’d just let people hit me,’ the Razor continued. ‘So when I saw slap fighting on social media a few years ago, I just thought, let’s do it.
‘You’ve got to train your jaw and your neck. I tap my jaw bones with a piece of wood to strengthen them. I’ve been working on my footwork, too. It’s a bit like tennis. They work on their serve, I work on my slap.’
As the UK’s first heavyweight title holder, the Razor’s dedication has certainly paid off. ‘I’ll always be the first person to hold the British belt,’ said the full-time lift engineer from Manchester, beaming with pride. ‘But like any combat sport, this is only for a certain breed.’
And following Saturday night’s one-blow final, you have to wonder whether Dom ‘the Juggernaut’ Sorby has got the right stuff.
Slap fighters Scott Midgeley (right) and Blaire Whatman go into battle in Liverpool
Louis The Razor Robinson knocks down Dominic The Juggernaut Sorby with his one and onlly slap to win the championship
Even before the fight, the Juggernaut admitted to the Mail: ‘I’m expecting it to be quite painful.’
But that’s not to say the Juggernaut, a cinema attendant by day, was unprepared. ‘I’ve got a friend in America, Ryan Phillips, who is world heavyweight champion and he’s given me some tips,’ he said. ‘My wife, Amy, is really supportive, because she can see how passionate I am about it. And it’s not cheap. There’s the cost of protein powder and gym memberships – and then there’s the time I’m sacrificing when I need to be making money for my five children.’
While the promoters are tight-lipped about the size of the purse, an anonymous source revealed to the Mail that fighters were paid between £500 and £1,000 each for taking part.
Standing under six feet tall and with an almost inaudibly quiet voice, the Juggernaut doesn’t seem like a natural fighter.
‘I’m a pacifist!’ he admits, laughing jovially at my observation. ‘But it’s better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war. It’s good to have that side to you.’
Considering the Juggernaut’s first-round knockout, one might assume he wasn’t ready for the headline bout. But match referee Niki Anderson assured me he’d turned down 15 other fighters who’d asked to take part, deeming them, in his own words, ‘not the right kind of crazy’ for professional competition.
Competitive face slapping is thought to have started over a decade ago at tattooist trade shows around America, with crowds delighting in the savage displays of machismo. It also quickly gained traction in Russia, making its formal bow there at the Siberian Power Show in 2019.
By 2023, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) CEO, Dana White, cornered the US face-slapping market with Power Slap, originally a cable network TV show and now a hugely successful fight promotion company licensed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Louis The Razor Robinson celebrates his win
Fans go wild as Louis The Razor Robinson defeats his opponent
Power Slap’s YouTube channel has since wracked up a monumental 1.5 billion views for its 1,200 slapping videos.
But its rise has been mired in controversy. Power Slap CEO White was widely criticised after footage emerged of him slapping his own wife at a New Year’s Eve party last year.
More recently, Nevada State Athletic Commission’s former Chair, Stephen Cloobeck, said he regretted sanctioning face slapping licenses due to the risks posed to fighters.
And only last month, neurologists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine published the first major health study into face slapping – and the results were damning.
Out of 78 fights studied – featuring 333 slaps – a terrifying 80 per cent of contestants were found to exhibit behaviours consistent with concussion. Symptoms observed in the fighters included: amnesia, difficulty standing, vomiting, vacant stares and even impact-induced seizures.
But no warning could be starker than the death of Polish slap fighter Artur ‘Waluś’ Walczak in 2021. The 46-year-old Polish strongman – who tipped the scales at a gargantuan 146kg (23 stone) and who held the world record for the quickest 50m dash while carrying two 150kg weights (with a time of 18.93 seconds) – was knocked out in a slap fight in Wroclaw and suffered a bleed on the brain. He died a few weeks later from multiple organ failure linked to the head injury.
Yet the phenomenon has only grown in popularity over the past year, with promoters hoping to emulate Power Slap’s success popping up around the world, such as SlapFIGHT UK, the body which hosted last weeks title bout.
As Dom ‘the Juggernaut’ Sorby sat slumped on the floor, torches being flashed into his eyes by concerned paramedics, it was difficult not to reflect on just how dangerous this fledgling sport can be.
For the sight of the Juggernaut being brought to a juddering halt was preceded by an equally shocking incident in one of the nights undercard fights.
George ‘the Wobbler’ Wilson, 22, lost out to Dan ‘One Shot’ Mitchell after medical staff stopped the fight due to a three-inch cut opening up under the Wobbler’s left eye – beneath it there was a crimson bruise twice that length.
It’s difficult to predict quite how big slap fighting will become in the UK and whether it can rival other combat sports. But if its knockout success in Liverpool is anything to go by, Louis ‘the Razor’ Robinson may be the first British heavyweight champion, but he certainly won’t be the last.