KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 — The pillow fight, a game indulged by children during sleepovers, is now moving to the boxing ring.

The Pillow Fight Championship (PFC) will be held in Florida on Jan 29, Reuters reported.

PFC chief executive officer Steve Williams, the man with a dream to turn childhood horseplay into a professional combat sport, said that PFC delivers all the drama of hand-to-hand combat without the gore of mixed martial arts (MMA) or boxing.

"It’s not something where you sit there and laugh and feathers are flying,” said Williams. 

"It’s serious. It’s hardcore swinging with specialised pillows.”

While the male and female participants in the January event will mostly hail from MMA and boxing, children will still be able to sleep soundly after seeing the bouts.

"The only difference between our fights and MMA fights is that nobody gets hurt. 

"The fighters don’t like to get hurt, and there’s a lot of people who don’t want to see the blood. 

They want to see good competition, they just don’t want to see the violence.”

And since many people grew up bashing their siblings, friends and parents with pillows making it relatable, he hopes it will help tap into a new audience.

"You can call it an alternative sport, but we think it’s going to have mainstream appeal. 

"Think about how they mixed country music with rap music and brought these diverse audiences together. 

"That’s what we’re doing, and we hope it brings in a different kind of viewer.”

The three-round bouts are to be available to view on sports streaming platform FITE.