{"id":637556,"date":"2026-06-17T00:00:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T05:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=637556"},"modified":"2026-06-17T09:40:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:40:20","slug":"native-america-calling-native-bare-knuckle-boxers-fight-for-recognition-in-the-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2026\/06\/17\/native-america-calling-native-bare-knuckle-boxers-fight-for-recognition-in-the-ring\/","title":{"rendered":"Native America Calling: Native bare-knuckle boxers fight for recognition in the ring"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"card mb-2\">\r\n  <div class=\"row\">\r\n    <div class=\"col-md-4 align-self-center\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/nativeamericacalling.jpg\" class=\"img-fluid\" alt=\"native america calling\"\/>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"col-md-8\">\r\n      <div class=\"card-body\">\r\n        <div class=\"h5-responsive card-title\">Native America Calling<\/div>\r\n        <div>\r\n           Listen to Native America Calling every weekday at 1pm Eastern.\r\n        <\/div>\r\n        <div>\r\n          <!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\r\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-1859-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/playerservices.streamtheworld.com\/api\/livestream-redirect\/NV1.mp3\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/playerservices.streamtheworld.com\/api\/livestream-redirect\/NV1.mp3\">http:\/\/playerservices.streamtheworld.com\/api\/livestream-redirect\/NV1.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>\r\n\t\t\tAlternate Links: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nv1.org\/\">Native Voice One<\/a> |\r\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativeamericacalling.com\/\">NAC<\/a>\r\n\t\t\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\"><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Wednesday, June 17, 2026<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source-links\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativeamericacalling.com\/\"><i class=\"fas fa-link fa-xs\"><\/i> nativeamericacalling.com<\/a>\r\n&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nativeamericacalling\/\"><i class=\"fab fa-instagram fa-xs\"><\/i> nativeamericacalling<\/a>\r\n&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nativeamericacalling\"><i class=\"fab fa-facebook fa-xs\"><\/i> nativeamericacalling<\/a>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">\r\nGloves off: Native bare-knuckle boxers fight for recognition in the ring\r\n<\/div>\r\nFor decades, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bkfc.com\/fighters\/leo-bercier\">Leo \u201cBushido\u201d Bercier<\/a> (Ojibwe) balanced a full-time job and a family as he worked to make a name for himself as a professional fighter. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nNow, he\u2019s hoping the controversial sport of bare-knuckle boxing will afford new opportunities. Along the way he\u2019s helping other amateur fighters in Great Falls, Montana. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nSimilarly, across the country, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bkfc.com\/fighters\/joshua-oxendine\">Joshua Oxendine<\/a> (Lumbee) is lining up bouts while also teaching traditional boxing at a gym he owns with his wife outside Charlotte, North Carolina. Tune into Native America Calling to speak with both fighters about their passion for the sport that was banned for more than a century.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nAlso, get perspectives on the 150th anniversary of the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Battle_of_the_Rosebud\">Battle of Rosebud<\/a>. Chief Crazy Horse and Lakota and Cheyenne warriors successfully turned back the U.S. Army column led by Gen. George Crook, cutting off the re-enforcements heading to the fateful Battle of Greasy Grass eight days later.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3Dpfbid02QBHfPQVjS4aVyBRH4hJ3N6uoQ8K5VhyXK45SUYj26KHTYfbhM4NuPjNZpczWdxUcl%26id%3D61586801003278&#038;show_text=true&#038;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"424\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">Guests on Native America Calling<\/div>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bushidoboy81\/\">Leo Bercier<\/a> (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians), boxer and owner of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bushidofightseries.com\/\">Bushido Fight Series<\/a> in Montana\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/joshuaoxendine_\/\">Josh Oxendine<\/a> (Lumbee), boxer, MMA fighter, and owner of <a href=\"https:\/\/oxfitnessclt.com\/\">Oxfitness<\/a> in North Carolina\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nWilma Bearshield-Robertson (Sicangu Lakota), historian, elder, and artisan\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/linktr.ee\/lkkillsback\">Leo Killsback<\/a> (Northern Cheyenne), professor at the University of Arizona and author\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border-radius:12px\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/show\/4RE6juPYr7cl2Zsmb2zjq7?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"232\" frameBorder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\"><\/iframe>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">All Episodes on <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4RE6juPYr7cl2Zsmb2zjq7?si=2a56e59533534bf9\">Spotify<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativeamericacalling.com\/subscribe-to-podcast\/\">More Options<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<img src=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/17\/BushidoFightSeriesbyJasonBergPhotography.jpg width=0 height=0 class=invisible>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bare-knuckle boxing was banned for more than a century. Now, Native fighters like  Leo \u201cBushido\u201d Bercier are helping others get in the ring.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":637607,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,21],"tags":[7535,7536,7534,2283,718,243,25,249,133,4249,134,569,7537],"class_list":["post-637556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-sports","tag-joshua-oxendina","tag-joshua-oxendine","tag-leo-bercier","tag-leo-killsback","tag-lumbee","tag-media","tag-military","tag-montana","tag-native-america-calling","tag-norht-carolina","tag-radio","tag-wars","tag-wilma-bearshield-roberston","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/17\/BushidoFightSeriesbyJasonBergPhotography.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-2FRa","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637556"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":637610,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637556\/revisions\/637610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}