The Senate Commerce Committee approved a bill Tuesday that would create a federal commission to regulate boxing in the United States.

Promoter Gary Shaw is a former regulator, having served on the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, and said he has a difficult time understanding the reasoning behind a federal commission.

He said it is only going to create problems, and he doesn't think it will solve any of the sport's existing problems.

"When's the last time you saw the federal government get involved in something and make it better?" Shaw asked.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., a member of the commerce committee, did not respond to messages from the Review-Journal about the bill. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., also failed to return phone calls.

Reid has opposed the creation of a federal commission in the past but is in favor of the current bill, introduced by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Shaw used the breakup of AT&T in 1984 as an example of the problems a federal commission would bring to boxing.

"Anyone who's around 50 remembers the way it was with the phone company, but now if you have a problem, you call and they tell you it's a problem with the line in the house and that's someone else's issue," Shaw said. "Nothing gets done."

He said if there is federal regulation, it should take a close look at managers, who often get as much as a third of a boxer's purse. In sports such as baseball, football and basketball, agents typically receive far less than 10 percent commission.

• EXECUTIONER FOR PRESIDENT -- Light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins, scheduled to meet former super welterweight champion Winky Wright on July 21 at a site to be determined, joked after Shane Mosley's victory over Luis Collazo on Feb. 3 at Mandalay Bay that he was going to run for president.

While hosting the news conference, Hopkins said: "I want to announce my candidacy for president. If I can figure out a way to get these eight felonies off my record, I'm in."

Hopkins was an incorrigible youth and served five years in a Pennsylvania prison on a strong-arm robbery conviction.

• DATE MOVED -- Ricky Hatton surrendered the IBF junior welterweight title he won Jan. 20 at Paris Las Vegas so he could face Jose Luis Castillo as originally planned. Hatton's British promoter, Dennis Hobson, had suggested this month that Hatton would first fight mandatory challenger Lovemore N'dou before taking on Castillo.

But Hatton gave up the belt, which the IBF awarded to N'dou, then asked Top Rank to change the date of the fight with Castillo from June 2 to June 23. Top Rank complied, and the bout will be at the Thomas & Mack Center and broadcast on HBO.

• BACK TO COURT -- As promised, Top Rank filed suit against Goossen-Tutor Promotions on Friday in District Court in Las Vegas in an attempt to halt a WBO welterweight championship fight between Antonio Margarito and Paul Williams.

Top Rank announced in January that Margarito was going to fight WBA champion Miguel Cotto on June 9 in New York, so it did not place a purse bid with the WBO for the Margarito-Williams fight. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said he was told by Margarito's managers not to bother submitting a bid.

But Margarito didn't want to be stripped of his WBO belt and signed instead to fight Williams, promoted by Goossen.

• JUDAH UP -- Top Rank wasted little time securing a replacement for Margarito as Cotto's opponent, signing former undisputed welterweight champion Zab Judah.

Judah had his license revoked by the Nevada Athletic Commission last year for his role in a melee that occurred during his April 8 fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Judah will be eligible to fight again in April. He has signed with the Memphis, Tenn.-based Prize Fight Promotions and will fight a tuneup in April before taking on Cotto at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 9.

• NO WEIGHTING AROUND -- Shaw said former lightweight champion Diego Corrales will skip the super lightweight division and will fight as a welterweight in April against an opponent to be named.

Corrales is coming off back-to-back losses to Castillo and Joel Casamayor. He also has split with trainer Joe Goossen and is working again with Ray Woods.

• ROUGH WORDS -- A potential fight of the year will take place March 3 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., when Israel Vazquez defends his WBC super bantamweight title against highly regarded IBF bantamweight king Rafael Marquez.

Both men are promising to go the limit in an attempt to win the bout, which will be broadcast on Showtime.

"I will die, if that's what it takes to win the fight," said Vazquez, coming off a stirring knockout victory over Jhonny Gonzalez.

Marquez said much the same thing, adding: "I will give my life, if necessary, to win this fight. It's going to be a war."

• NO DEAL YET -- Sergio Mora, a star from Season 1 of the reality series "The Contender," has yet to agree to terms for an April 21 title match with middleweight champion Jermain Taylor. Mora's promoter, Jeff Wald, said contract talks are ongoing with Taylor promoter Lou DiBella.

Las Vegas is among the proposed sites, though Wald said talks haven't progressed that far.

• CLOSED CIRCUIT -- Golden Boy Promotions will put 20,000 closed-circuit tickets on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday for the May 5 super welterweight title fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand Garden.

Tickets to attend the fight sold out in less than three hours and will account for a state-record live paid gate of more than $19 million.

The closed-circuit viewings will be at the MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Treasure Island, Luxor, Monte Carlo and Circus Circus. Tickets are $50.