Connor Tierney is one of the most polite, upbeat and funny individuals you could meet. He’s a proud father of three and has been a successful quantity surveyor for a number of years. Here’s the twist in the tale – he’s a bare-knuckle boxing champion.
Brummie’s favourite fighting son explained his route into combat. “I was eight years old when I got into amateur boxing. I used to watch it as a kid, but the main reason was because my dad loved boxing. He had a couple of amateur boxing matches and I used to love watching him train as a kid. Upstairs, we used to have an old army rucksack, stuffed with old clothes and that was our punchbag.
“My first boxing club was a cellar under an old pub called The Raven, which has since been knocked down. I started training there at eight, had my first amateur fight when I was 11 and then stopped when I was about 15 or 16.
I started again a bit later and boxed for Birmingham City Amateur Boxing Club with Frank O’Sullivan and Pete Williams, which is where the Yafai brothers train. I then left there and went to another club called ‘Studio,’ with Gary Blower, who was an ex-pro. I finished my amateur boxing career at the East Midlands Box Cup in 2019, after having 48 fights (24 wins, 24 losses). Unfortunately, I didn’t have the love or the dedication at the time to go far enough.”
Although Tiernay’s boxing career faded out, his day job flourished. The Brum Town Bomber explained how the role of quantity surveyor evolved. “I started working with tools, but quickly decided I wanted to work in management, working in stores, like materials merchants do, buying and negotiating. Then this job came up as a trainee quantity surveyor for a housing association. In all honesty, I got the job because of my gift of the gab and they decided to take a chance on me. Now I’m a senior quantity surveyor.”
With a successful career behind and in front of him, what was the motivation to get punched in the face? Tierney laughed then responded, “Fame! Before I started the bare knuckle, ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to be famous, whether it was acting or whatever. I wanted to be recognised for something. That sense of accomplishment.
“Then in 2018, there was a bare-knuckle tournament being advertised on TV which and I remember thinking, ‘I’ll have a go at that,’ and it was purely for the sake of being on TV. It was saying that the tournament would be held at the O2 in London and the winner would get £10,000, with the chance to fight for a world title. And, just like that, I kind of fell into my niche.”
On 26 January 2019, Tierney had his debut against Jonny Lawson at the O2 Indigo, which was actually a Prizefighter quarter final contest. Tierney won by UD over three rounds and recalled his entrance onto the bare-knuckle scene. “I was scared. I’d had scuffles in the playground at school, but I’d never had a street fight. So, doing a bare knuckle event in front of about 2,500 people was terrifying. That’s why I think I boxed so well, simply because I was so scared to get hit. Once I’d done it though, I realised there was no other feeling in the world that comes close to winning a fight in bare knuckle.”
With a £10,000 cheque in the bank from the Lawson victory, the 6ft 1 inch fighter explained the impact of the financial spoils. “The money wasn’t the big attraction at first, but I must admit, I do get paid well now. Between prizemoney and sponsorship, it’s good. However, I also get well paid as a surveyor, so I’m lucky to have the best of both worlds which allows me to have a certain lifestyle and create some great memories.”
Two months later, Tierney got stopped in the first round against Ricardo Franco in the Prizefighter semi-final. Connor recalled. “I had a broken finger after the first fight and I didn’t spar. I’m a really big believer of brain memory conditioning, such as when your head is getting knocked around through sparring, your recovery rate is better and I didn’t have a great camp, because this fight was so close to the previous one. I had no time to relax, I was burnt out and I overlooked the situation. I thought I would fly through it and stepped in and got caught with a silly shot. With my lack of experience I walked in again and got knocked out. I was devastated, because I lost against someone I should have beaten in my eyes, because I was a better fighter and boxer, but he’d had a few more fights and that experience played out well for him. I went in cold and got caught out clean.”
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Rolling the clock forward to 25 January 2020, Tierney stopped Matt Piper in the Prizefighter featherweight semifinal. Later that night he knocked out James Andrew Connelly in the second round to be crowned the Prizefighter featherweight champion. “That was one of the best fights of my career. We had a lot of animosity between us and everyone was expecting James to walk through me, because I’d recently come off a loss and I was screaming out for fights, but nobody wanted to give me one, because I couldn’t sell tickets. Then the fight with James popped up and I stepped in there with three weeks notice and dominated Matty Piper. After that fight, people started to take a little bit of notice.”
Tierney and Connelly locked horns once again, but this time it was during lockdown on 27 March 2021. Tierney won once again, but this time via split decision. “The BKB world middleweight title was on the line. For some reason, they thought the previous fight was a fluke, but I beat him again. He was a good fighter, but I outboxed him.”
On 12 March 2022, Tierney travelled Stateside to take on Jeffrey Jeremiah Riggs at the Seneca Allegany Casino in Salamanca, New York State, stopping the Mississippi resident in the fifth and final round. Tierney, who was now fighting under the BKFC banner, explained the euphoric experience. “I’d never been to America before and it was probably the best experience of my life going over there. I think I was the second or third fighter to sign for BKFC, before it was even in the UK.
“Jeremiah was an old cowboy and a Bellator veteran. He was a tough lad. I had to give a bit of weight away, but it was one of the best debut fights for a BKFC fighter. I got dropped, got back up, then used loads of head movement and skill, and knocked him out in the fifth round. That was the pinnacle of my career at the time. I went from being a bit of an unknown to getting loads of attention on Instagram. It was surreal.” For those of you wanting to follow Connor on Instagram, his handle is connortierneybtb
Tierney’s last fight was on 10 August 2024 against Yorkshireman, Jonny Graham. The fight featured knockdowns for both men, in what can only be described as an electrifying contest. Even onlooker and BKFC part-owner, Connor McGregor wrote on X, ‘What a f***ing fight!’ Tierney recalled. “I’d come off a loss against Jake Lindsey for a world title eliminator. It was one where I’d gone back in the gym to lose weight and didn’t train properly. I lost a lot of faith and everyone was saying I wasn’t going anywhere, then the fight with Jonny came up.
“Jonny was an ex pro, a solid opponent and a tough lad. It was for the inaugural UK title, which had never been won before. Jonny was strong, had good head movement and also possessed good boxing ability. However, I was in the best shape of my life and I wanted to prove to the promoters that I was taking this seriously and wouldn’t do what I did in my last fight. That was my greatest win, without a doubt.”
Tierney came to British Vintage Boxing’s attention after sporting a tracksuit on Instagram. What attracted the Brummie Bomber to the brand? “The BVB gear popped up on my Instagram and I thought, ‘I like that. It looks authentic.’ It didn’t look like your typical modern brand of nylon sweatsuits.
“My partner bought me one for my birthday and then got me one for Christmas. I love them. It’s great to wear as an everyday tracksuit, but it’s classy and the quality is unbelievable. We buy a lot of designer gear and I’ll wear this out, just like anything else I’d put on. I think more boxers should be encouraged to support a homegrown brand, but one with boxing heritage to it. I’d like to see a Rocky Marciano range done by BVB.”
Tierney is currently 8-2 and still has a successful career as a quantity surveyor ahead of him. How long can we expect to see him trading punches in bare-knuckle. “With my age at 30 right now, I’d say I’ll fight a maximum of five years, depending on who I fight. If I come up against tough opposition and start to feel my body can’t do the camps anymore, or I have a few losses, then I might retire early. The goal is to win the BKFC championship, because I’ll make history as the first ever lad from Britian and Birmingham to become a BKFC world champion. I’d just like people to look back at my career and say, ‘You know what, Connor. You did really well. You smashed it.’”
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