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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1832

To reform unfair and anticompetitive practices in the professional boxing

industry.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 17, 1999

Mr. OXLEY (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. MEEKS of New York, and Mr.

KING) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the

Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To reform unfair and anticompetitive practices in the

professional boxing industry.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Muhammad Ali Boxing

5 Reform Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) Professional boxing differs from other

4 major, interstate professional sports industries in

5 the United States in that it operates without any

6 private sector association, league, or centralized in7 dustry organization to establish uniform and appro8 priate business practices and ethical standards. This

9 has led to repeated occurrences of disreputable and

10 coercive business practices in the boxing industry, to

11 the detriment of professional boxers nationwide.

12 (2) Professional boxers are vulnerable to ex13 ploitative business practices engaged in by certain

14 promoters and sanctioning bodies which dominate

15 the sport. Boxers do not have an established rep16 resentative group to advocate for their interests and

17 rights in the industry.

18 (3) State officials are the proper regulators of

19 professional boxing events, and must protect the wel20 fare of professional boxers and serve the public in21 terest by closely supervising boxing activity in their

22 jurisdiction. State boxing commissions do not cur23 rently receive adequate information to determine

24 whether boxers competing in their jurisdiction are

25 being subjected to contract terms and business prac-
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1 tices which may be violative of State regulations, or

2 are onerous and confiscatory.

3 (4) Promoters who engage in illegal, coercive,

4 or unethical business practices can take advantage

5 of the lack of equitable business standards in the

6 sport by holding boxing events in states with weaker

7 regulatory oversight.

8 (5) The sanctioning organizations which have

9 proliferated in the boxing industry have not estab10 lished credible and objective criteria to rate profes11 sional boxers, and operate with virtually no industry

12 or public oversight. Their ratings are susceptible to

13 manipulation, have deprived boxers of fair opportu14 nities for advancement, and have undermined public

15 confidence in the integrity of the sport.

16 (6) Open competition in the professional boxing

17 industry has been significantly interfered with by re18 strictive and anti-competitive business practices of

19 certain promoters and sanctioning bodies, to the det20 riment of the athletes and the ticket-buying public.

21 Common practices of promoters and sanctioning or22 ganizations represent restraints of interstate trade

23 in the United States.

24 (7) It is necessary and appropriate to establish

25 national contracting reforms to protect professional
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1 boxers and prevent exploitative business practices,

2 and to require enhanced financial disclosures to

3 State athletic commissions to improve the public

4 oversight of the sport.

5 (8) Whereas the Congress seeks to improve the

6 integrity and ensure fair practices of the profes7 sional boxing industry on a nationwide basis, it

8 deems it appropriate to name this reform in honor

9 of Muhammad Ali, whose career achievements and

10 personal contributions to the sport, and positive im11 pact on our society, are unsurpassed in the history

12 of boxing.

13 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

14 The purposes of this Act are—

15 (1) to protect the rights and welfare of profes16 sional boxers by preventing certain exploitative, op17 pressive, and unethical business practices they may

18 be subject to on an interstate basis;

19 (2) to assist State boxing commissions in their

20 efforts to provide more effective public oversight of

21 the sport; and

22 (3) to promote honorable competition in profes23 sional boxing and enhance the overall integrity of

24 the industry.
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1 SEC. 4. PROTECTING BOXERS FROM EXPLOITATION.

2 The Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15

3 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by—

4 (1) redesignating section 15 as 16; and

5 (2) inserting after section 14 the following:

6 ‘‘SEC. 15. PROTECTION FROM EXPLOITATION.

7 ‘‘(a) CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any contract between a

9 boxer and a promoter or manager shall—

10 ‘‘(A) include mutual obligations between

11 the parties;

12 ‘‘(B) specify a minimum number of profes13 sional boxing matches per year for the boxer;

14 and

15 ‘‘(C) set forth a specific period of time

16 during which the contract will be in effect, in17 cluding any provision for extension of that pe18 riod due to the boxer’s temporary inability to

19 compete because of an injury or other cause.

20 ‘‘(2) 1-YEAR LIMIT ON COERCIVE PROMOTIONAL

21 RIGHTS.—

22 ‘‘(A) The period of time for which pro23 motional rights to promote a boxer may be

24 granted under a contract between the boxer and

25 a promoter, or between promoters with respect

26 to a boxer, may not be greater than 12 months
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1 in length if the boxer is required to grant such

2 rights, or a boxer’s promoter is required to

3 grant such rights with respect to a boxer, as

4 a condition precedent to the boxer’s participa5 tion in a professional boxing match against an6 other boxer who is under contract to the pro7 moter.

8 ‘‘(B) A promoter exercising promotional

9 rights with respect to such boxer during the 12-

10 month period beginning on the day after the

11 last day of the promotional right period de12 scribed in subparagraph (A) may not secure ex13 clusive promotional rights from the boxer’s op14 ponents as a condition of participating in a pro15 fessional boxing match against the boxer, and

16 any contract to the contrary—

17 ‘‘(i) shall be considered to be in re18 straint of trade and contrary to public pol19 icy; and

20 ‘‘(ii) unenforceable.

21 ‘‘(C) Nothing in this paragraph shall be

22 construed as pre-empting any State law con23 cerning interference with contracts.

24 ‘‘(3) PROMOTIONAL RIGHTS UNDER MANDA25 TORY BOUT CONTRACTS.—Neither a promoter nor a
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1 sanctioning organization may require a boxer, in a

2 contract arising from a professional boxing match

3 that is a mandatory bout under the rules of the

4 sanctioning organization, to grant promotional rights

5 to any promoter for a future professional boxing

6 match.

7 ‘‘(b) EMPLOYMENT AS CONDITION OF PROMOTION,

8 ETC.—No person who is a licensee, manager, match9 maker, or promoter may require a boxer to employ, retain,

10 or provide compensation to any individual or business en11 terprise (whether operating in corporate form or not) rec12 ommended or designated by that person as a condition

13 of—

14 ‘‘(1) such person’s working with the boxer as a

15 licensee, manager, matchmaker, or promoter;

16 ‘‘(2) such person’s arranging for the boxer to

17 participate in a professional boxing match; or

18 ‘‘(3) such boxer’s participation in a professional

19 boxing match.

20 ‘‘(c) ENFORCEMENT.—

21 ‘‘(1) PROMOTION AGREEMENT.—A provision in

22 a contract between a promoter and a boxer, or be23 tween promoters with respect to a boxer, that vio24 lates subsection (a) is contrary to public policy and

25 unenforceable at law.
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1 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT.—In any ac2 tion brought against a boxer to recover money

3 (whether as damages or as money owned) for acting

4 as a licensee, manager, matchmaker, or promoter for

5 the boxer, the court, arbitrator, or administrative

6 body before which the action is brought may deny

7 recovery in whole or in part under the contract as

8 contrary to public policy if the employment, reten9 tion, or compensation that is the subject of the ac10 tion was obtained in violation of subsection (b).’’.

11 (b) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—Section 9 of such Act

12 (15 U.S.C. 6308) is amended by—

13 (1) striking ‘‘No member’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)

14 REGULATORY PERSONNEL.—No member’’; and

15 (2) adding at the end thereof the following:

16 ‘‘(b) FIREWALL BETWEEN PROMOTERS AND MAN17 AGERS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It is unlawful for—

19 ‘‘(A) a promoter to have a direct or indi20 rect financial interest in the management of a

21 boxer; or

22 ‘‘(B) a manager—

23 ‘‘(i) to have a direct or indirect finan24 cial interest in the promotion of a boxer; or
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1 ‘‘(ii) to be employed by or receive

2 compensation or other benefits from a pro3 moter,

4 except for amounts received as consideration

5 under the manager’s contract with the boxer.

6 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR SELF-PROMOTION AND

7 MANAGEMENT.—Paragraph (1) does not prohibit a

8 boxer from acting as his own promoter or man9 ager.’’.

10 SEC. 5. SANCTIONING ORGANIZATION INTEGRITY RE11 FORMS.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Professional Boxing Safety

13 Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), as amended by sec14 tion 4 of this Act, is amended by—

15 (1) redesignating section 16, as redesignated by

16 section 4 of this Act, as section 17; and

17 (2) by inserting after section 15 the following:

18 ‘‘SEC. 16. SANCTIONING ORGANIZATIONS.

19 ‘‘(a) OBJECTIVE CRITERIA.—A sanctioning organiza20 tion that sanctions professional boxing matches on an

21 interstate basis shall establish objective and consistent

22 written criteria for the ratings of professional boxers.

23 ‘‘(b) APPEALS PROCESS.—A sanctioning organization

24 shall establish and publish an appeals procedure that af25 fords a boxer rated by that organization a reasonable op-
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1 portunity, without the payment of any fee, to submit infor2 mation to contest its rating of the boxer. Under the proce3 dure, the sanctioning organization shall, within 14 days

4 after receiving a request from a boxer questioning that

5 organization’s rating of the boxer—

6 ‘‘(1) provide to the boxer a written explanation

7 of the organization’s criteria, its rating of the boxer,

8 and the rationale or basis for its rating (including

9 a response to any specific questions submitted by the

10 boxer); and

11 ‘‘(2) submit a copy of its explanation to the

12 President of the Association of Boxing Commissions

13 of the United States and to the boxing commission

14 of the boxer’s domiciliary State.

15 ‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION OF CHANGE IN RATING.—If a

16 sanctioning organization changes its rating of a boxer who

17 is included, before the change, in the top 10 boxers rated

18 by that organization, then, within 14 days after changing

19 the boxer’s rating, the organization shall—

20 ‘‘(1) mail notice of the change and a written ex21 planation of the reasons for its change in that box22 er’s rating to the boxer at the boxer’s last known ad23 dress;

24 ‘‘(2) post a copy, within the 14-day period, of

25 the notice and the explanation on its Internet
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1 website or homepage, if any, for a period of not less

2 than 30 days; and

3 ‘‘(3) mail a copy of the notice and the expla4 nation to the President of the Association of Boxing

5 Commissions.

6 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—

7 ‘‘(1) FTC FILING.—Not later than January

8 31st of each year, a sanctioning organization shall

9 submit to the Federal Trade Commission—

10 ‘‘(A) a complete description of the organi11 zation’s ratings criteria, policies, and general

12 sanctioning fee schedule;

13 ‘‘(B) the bylaws of the organization;

14 ‘‘(C) the appeals procedure of the organi15 zation; and

16 ‘‘(D) a list and business address of the or17 ganization’s officials who vote on the ratings of

18 boxers.

19 ‘‘(2) FORMAT; UPDATES.—A sanctioning orga20 nization shall—

21 ‘‘(A) provide the information required

22 under paragraph (1) in writing, and, for any

23 document greater than 2 pages in length, also

24 in electronic form; and
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1 ‘‘(B) promptly notify the Federal Trade

2 Commission of any material change in the in3 formation submitted.

4 ‘‘(3) FTC TO MAKE INFORMATION AVAILABLE

5 TO PUBLIC.—The Federal Trade Commission shall

6 make information received under this subsection

7 available to the public. The Commission may assess

8 sanctioning organizations a fee to offset the costs it

9 incurs in processing the information and making it

10 available to the public.

11 ‘‘(4) INTERNET ALTERNATIVE.—In lieu of sub12 mitting the information required by paragraph (1)

13 to the Federal Trade Commission, a sanctioning or14 ganization may provide the information to the public

15 by maintaining a website on the Internet that—

16 ‘‘(A) is readily accessible by the general

17 public using generally available search engines

18 and does not require a password or payment of

19 a fee for full access to all the information;

20 ‘‘(B) contains all the information required

21 to be submitted to the Federal Trade Commis22 sion by paragraph (1) in an easy to search and

23 use format; and

24 ‘‘(C) is updated whenever there is a mate25 rial change in the information.’’.
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1 (b) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—Section 9 of such Act

2 (15 U.S.C. 6308), as amended by section 4 of this Act,

3 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

4 ‘‘(c) SANCTIONING ORGANIZATIONS.—

5 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON RECEIPTS.—Except as

6 provided in paragraph (2), no officer or employee of

7 a sanctioning organization may receive any com8 pensation, gift, or benefit directly or indirectly from

9 a promoter, boxer, or manager.

10 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) does not

11 apply to—

12 ‘‘(A) the receipt of payment by a promoter,

13 boxer, or manager of a sanctioning organiza14 tion’s published fee for sanctioning a profes15 sional boxing match or reasonable expenses in

16 connection therewith if the payment is reported

17 to the responsible boxing commission under sec18 tion 17; or

19 ‘‘(B) the receipt of a gift or benefit of de

20 minimis value.’’.

21 (c) SANCTIONING ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—Sec22 tion 2 of the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15

23 U.S.C. 6301) is amended by adding at the end thereof

24 the following:
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1 ‘‘(11) SANCTIONING ORGANIZATION.—The term

2 ‘sanctioning organization’ means an organization

3 that sanctions professional boxing matches in the

4 United States—

5 ‘‘(A) between boxers who are residents of

6 different States; or

7 ‘‘(B) that are advertised, otherwise pro8 moted, or broadcast (including closed circuit

9 television) in interstate commerce.’’.

10 SEC. 6. PUBLIC INTEREST DISCLOSURES TO STATE BOXING

11 COMMISSIONS.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Professional Boxing Safety

13 Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), as amended by sec14 tion 5 of this Act, is amended by—

15 (1) redesignating section 17 as redesignated by

16 section 5 of this Act, as section 18; and

17 (2) by inserting after section 16 the following:

18 ‘‘SEC. 17. REQUIRED DISCLOSURES TO STATE BOXING COM19 MISSIONS.

20 ‘‘(a) SANCTIONING ORGANIZATIONS.—Before sanc21 tioning a professional boxing match in a State, a sanc22 tioning organization shall provide to the boxing commis23 sion of, or responsible for sanctioning matches in, that

24 State a written statement of—
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1 ‘‘(1) all charges, fees, and costs the organiza2 tion will assess any boxer participating in that

3 match;

4 ‘‘(2) all payments, benefits, complimentary ben5 efits, and fees the organization will receive for its

6 affiliation with the event, from the promoter, host

7 of the event, and all other sources; and

8 ‘‘(3) such additional information as the commis9 sion may require.

10 ‘‘(b) PROMOTERS.—Before a professional boxing

11 match organized, promoted, or produced by a promoter

12 is held in a State, the promoter shall provide a statement

13 in writing to the boxing commission of, or responsible for

14 sanctioning matches in, that State—

15 ‘‘(1) a copy of any agreement in writing to

16 which the promoter is a party with any boxer par17 ticipating in the match;

18 ‘‘(2) a statement made under penalty of perjury

19 that there are no other agreements, written or oral,

20 between the promoter and the boxer with respect to

21 that match; and

22 ‘‘(3) a statement in writing of—

23 ‘‘(A) all fees, charges, and expenses that

24 will be assessed by or through the promoter on

25 the boxer pertaining to the event, including any
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1 portion of the boxer’s purse that the promoter

2 will receive, and training expenses; and

3 ‘‘(B) all payments, gift, or benefits the

4 promoter is providing to any sanctioning orga5 nization affiliated with the event.

6 ‘‘(c) INFORMATION TO BE AVAILABLE TO STATE AT7 TORNEY GENERAL.—A promoter shall make information

8 received under this section available to the chief law en9 forcement officer of the State in which the match is to

10 be held upon request.

11 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION.—The requirements of this section

12 do not apply in connection with a professional boxing

13 match scheduled to last less than 10 rounds.’’.

14 SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT.

15 Section 10 of the Professional Boxing Safety Act of

16 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6309) is amended by—

17 (1) inserting a comma and ‘‘other than section

18 9(b), 15, 16, or 17,’’ after ‘‘this Act’’ in subsection

19 (b)(1);

20 (2) redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) of

21 subsection (b) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respec22 tively, and inserting after paragraph (1) the fol23 lowing:

24 ‘‘(2) VIOLATION OF ANTI-EXPLOITATION, SANC25 TIONING ORGANIZATION, OR DISCLOSURE PROVI-
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1 SIONS.—Any person who knowingly violates any pro2 vision of section 9(b), 15, 16, or 17 of this Act shall,

3 upon conviction, be imprisoned for not more than 1

4 year or fined not more than—

5 ‘‘(A) $100,000; and

6 ‘‘(B) if the violations occur in connection

7 with a professional boxing match the gross rev8 enues for which exceed $2,000,000, such addi9 tional amount as the court finds appropriate,

10 or both.’’; and

11 (3) adding at the end thereof the following:

12 ‘‘(c) ACTIONS BY STATES.—Whenever the chief law

13 enforcement officer of any State has reason to believe that

14 a person or organization is engaging in practices which

15 violate any requirement of this Act, the State, as parens

16 patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of its residents

17 in an appropriate district court of the United States—

18 ‘‘(1) to enjoin the holding of any professional

19 boxing match which the practice involves;

20 ‘‘(2) to enforce compliance with this Act;

21 ‘‘(3) to obtain the fines provided under sub22 section (b) or appropriate restitution; or

23 ‘‘(4) to obtain such other relief as the court

24 may deem appropriate.
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1 ‘‘(d) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Any boxer who

2 suffers economic injury as a result of a violation of any

3 provision of this Act may bring an action in the appro4 priate Federal or State court and recover the damages suf5 fered, court costs, and reasonable attorneys fees and ex6 penses.’’.

7 SEC. 8. PROFESSIONAL BOXING SAFETY ACT AMENDMENTS.

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the Professional

9 Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6301), as amended

10 by section 5(c) of this Act, is amended by adding at the

11 end thereof the following:

12 ‘‘(12) SUSPENSION.—The term ‘suspension’ in13 cludes within its meaning the revocation of a boxing

14 license.’’.

15 (b) STATE BOXING COMMISSION PROCEDURES.—

16 Section 7(a)(2) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 6306(a)(2)) is

17 amended—

18 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ in subparagraph (C);

19 (2) by striking ‘‘documents.’’ at the end of sub20 paragraph (D) and inserting ‘‘documents; or’’; and

21 (3) adding at the end thereof the following:

22 ‘‘(E) unsportsmanlike conduct or other in23 appropriate behavior inconsistent with generally
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1 accepted methods of competition in a profes2 sional boxing match.’’.

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