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ORIGINAL STORY: Shades of "Fight Club": A bare-knuckle boxing champion from Hackensack was being sought for the drunk-driving death of a woman in a crash that seriously injured her husband.
“Bobby Gunn,” as he’s known in the sports world, remained a fugitive Wednesday, charged with vehicular homicide, said New Jersey State Police, who turned to the public for help.
He was driving a northbound Dodge Ram 3500 that crossed into oncoming traffic on Route 635 in Salem County’s Upper Pittsgrove Township and slammed head-on into a Hyundai Elantra on Sept. 28, 2019, State Police said in a release.
Pronounced dead at the scene was Polly Tornari, 51, and injured was Robert Tornari, 52, of Glassboro.
Robert Gunn Jr., 47, was born Robert James Williamson in Niagara Falls, Ontario to a family of Irish “travelers.”
He has dual citizenship in the United States and Canada, boxing publications say.
Known as “the Celtic Warrior,” Gunn was one of the last to hold the bare-knuckle cruiserweight title and was the first living inductee into the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame.
Bare-knuckle boxing differs from street fighting because it has rules established nearly 300 years ago, including not hitting a downed opponent.
It was never legal under any federal or state laws in the United States until Wyoming became the first to legalize it on March 20, 2018.
There have been many publicized unsanctioned bouts, including an August 2011, match at Fort McDowell Casino on the Yavapai Nation reservation in Arizona that was won by Gunn.
Gunn has also boxed with gloves and mouthpieces against, among others, Roy Jones Jr. and James Toney (he lost to both) since beginning his professional career in 1989.
Authorities believe that Gunn, who was last seen in Maricopa County, AZ, on Feb. 10, may be working as an independent contractor.
Anyone who sees or knows where to find him is asked to contact the State Police Fugitive Unit tip line at 1-800-437-7839.
Anonymous tips are welcome.
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