Barehanded boxing is not worse.
One of the reasons for the excellent track record of safety in Mixed Martial Arts is the lack of reliance on heavy padded gloves.
A traditional boxing glove spreads the impact across a wider area resulting in greater likelihood of brain swelling and life-threatening injury.
Lighter gloves or bare knuckle impacts result in less internal swelling but greater likelihood of skin tears, cuts or out right deflected strikes.
Other myths you have posted -
If anything, the evolution of humans as bipedal creatures should have made the legs into the weapons of choice
Nope. Bipedal animals, particularly humans, are not evolved for effective lower leg striking. It takes years of training to be able to throw a kick which balances effectiveness, accuracy and power versus the risk of leaving oneself vulnerable.
You throw a kick and I will try and gouge your eyes out with my thumbs by grappling you. Let's see who has evolved the greater defence.
While the most direct way to hurt someone is actually a straight movement towards someone
Again, most martial artists and boxers will agree that an effective straight line jab is far less powerful than a hook or uppercut thrown with precision to the lower chin, lower jaw or temple. Very few knockouts ever arise from a straight line punch.
Even gated martials arts such as Wing Chun advocate coming in at an oblique angle whereever possible.
IMHO, the most ideal strike a human can give without injuring themselves would be from the shin or heel
In close quarters the most effective strike you can deliver to a standing human opponent is a knee strike or elbow strike. It takes repeated shin strikes in Muay Thai to weaken or disable the upper thighs or ribs.