Friday, March 04, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Boxing bill gets mixed reviews

Revived legislation would create federal commission for sport

By TONY BATT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- After dying in the final days of Congress last year, a resurrected bill to create a federal boxing commission drew mixed reviews Thursday during a House subcommittee hearing.

Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., said he was reviving the legislation because federal oversight of all professional boxing matches would improve the lives of ordinary boxers. Federal oversight would include standardized guidelines for medical care and licensing of boxers, according to Stearns' bill.

Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., are backing similar legislation in the Senate. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., also introduced a bill Tuesday calling for a federal boxing commission.

Stearns, the chairman of a House subcommittee on commerce, trade and consumer protection, said boxing is the only major sport that does not have a commission.

But Linda Torres, a legal adviser to the International Boxing Federation, said while other sports may have commissions, they are not federal agencies.

"I think you're in a difficult situation here because states have statutes that actually regulate certain things having to do with boxing," said Torres, who also represents the World Boxing Association.

Rep. Joe Barton, D-Texas, who is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, attended the hearing but did not read his prepared statement that expressed reservations about Stearns' bill.

"Creating a federal commission to regulate a sport is a big step for Congress," Barton's statement said. "The federal government simply can't solve all of society's problems. Introducing new federal regulations is never an easy task, and introducing a new regulator is even more challenging."

Two witnesses at Thursday's hearing -- Dr. Michael Schwartz, chairman of the American Association of Professional Ringside Physicians, and Ron Stevens, chairman of the New York State Commission -- expressed support for a federal boxing commission.

Schwartz said standardization of medical requirements for boxers is urgently needed. This would prevent fighters with health problems from "state shopping" to find a place to box, Schwartz said.

Stevens said a federal commission could spare boxers the expense of going to court to make sure their rights are enforced.

In 1996, Congress passed the Professional Boxing Safety Act requiring all boxing matches to be supervised by a state boxing commission. Congress followed up in 2000 with the Muhammad Ali Boxing Act, which imposed restrictions on contracts between boxers and promoters.

Last March, the Senate approved by a voice vote McCain's bill to create a federal boxing commission. When the House failed to vote on his bill during the waning days of Congress last fall, McCain reportedly threatened to hold up every piece of legislation in the Senate.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., eventually cut a deal with McCain promising the House would act on a federal boxing commission bill this year before the congressional recess in August.