LIMA, Ohio -- No experience needed. A toughman competition in northern Ohio is looking for amateur fighters.

But as NewsChannel5's Kareen Wynter reported, it's a new sport that could leave some men with some serious injuries.

"I'm gonna put my fist into him until he goes down," one competitor said.

Amateurs walk in off the street in Lima for a show-stopping showdown.

"They don't want people who have experience. Toughman isn't really boxing," said Jim Myers with the Ohio Athletic Association.

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Tough Man

Wynter reported that it's street fighting taken inside the ring. Truck drivers, factory workers and ex-Marines participate.

"I ain't never put on boxing gloves in my whole life," one man said.

The only formal training occurs minutes before the fight. Doctors do a quick pre-fight physical. Then the fight begins.

From flying fists to killer hooks, each punch can be piercing for the novice gladiators whose moves often fall off beat. But when the gloves connect, the body shots are enough to bring grown men to their knees in seconds.

Regional event coordinator Tom Danner said that his events follow state guidelines.

"The Ohio Athletic Commission basically runs this event from a safety standpoint so in the state of Ohio we are all abiding by all those regulations," Danner said.

He wouldn't comment on the other deaths across the nation in a sport where opponents can get hurt.

One man was so delirious that he stumbled away from the cameras in the middle of his interview.

After all the fighting, all the cheering ends. Wynter said that the last man standing in the ring walks away with a jacket and in some local contests he gets a few extra bucks.