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104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4114

To improve and expand the system of safety precautions that protects the

welfare of professional boxers, to assist State boxing commissions to

provide proper oversight for professional boxing, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 19, 1996

Mr. WILLIAMS (for himself and Mr. OXLEY) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities, and in addition to the Committee on Commerce, 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 improve and expand the system of safety precautions

that protects the welfare of professional boxers, to assist

State boxing commissions to provide proper oversight

for professional boxing, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Professional Boxing

5 Safety Act of 1996’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this Act:

3 (1) BOXER.—The term ‘‘boxer’’ means an indi4 vidual who fights in a professional boxing match.

5 (2) BOXING COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘boxing

6 commission’’ means an entity authorized under

7 State law to regulate professional boxing matches.

8 (3) BOXER REGISTERY.—The term ‘‘boxer reg9 istry’’ means any entity certified by the Association

10 of Boxing Commissions for the purposes of main11 taining records and identification of boxers.

12 (4) LICENSEE.—The term ‘‘licensee’’ means an

13 individual who serves as a trainer, second, or cut

14 man for a boxer.

15 (5) MANAGER.—The term ‘‘manager’’ means a

16 person who receives compensation for service as an

17 agent or representative of a boxer.

18 (6) MATCHMAKER.—The term ‘‘matchmaker’’

19 means a person that proposes, selects, and arranges

20 the boxers to participate in a professional boxing

21 match.

22 (7) PHYSICIAN.—The term ‘‘physician’’ means

23 a doctor of medicine legally authorized to practice

24 medicine by the State in which the physician per25 forms such function or action.
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1 (8) PROFESSIONAL BOXING MATCH.—The term

2 ‘‘professional boxing match’’ means a boxing contest

3 held in the United States between individuals for fi4 nancial compensation. Such term does not include a

5 boxing contest that is regulated by an amateur

6 sports organization.

7 (9) PROMOTER.—The term ‘‘promoter’’ means

8 the person primarily responsible for organizing, pro9 moting, and producing a professional boxing match.

10 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

11 the 50 States, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia,

12 and any territory or possession of the United States.

13 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

14 The purposes of this Act are—

15 (1) to improve and expand the system of safety

16 precautions that protects the welfare of professional

17 boxers; and

18 (2) to assist State boxing commissions to pro19 vide proper oversight for the professional boxing in20 dustry in the United States.

21 SEC. 4. BOXING MATCHES IN STATES WITHOUT BOXING

22 COMMISSIONS.

23 No person may arrange, promote, organize, produce,

24 or fight in a professional boxing match held in a State

25 that does not have a boxing commission unless the match
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1 is supervised by a boxing commission from another State

2 and subject to the most recent version of the recommended

3 regulatory guidelines certified and published by the Asso4 ciation of Boxing Commissions as well as any additional

5 relevant professional boxing regulations and requirements

6 of such other State.

7 SEC. 5. SAFETY STANDARDS.

8 No person may arrange, promote, organize, produce,

9 or fight in a professional boxing match without meeting

10 each of the following requirements or an alternative re11 quirement in effect under regulations of a boxing commis12 sion that provides equivalent protection of the health and

13 safety of boxers:

14 (1) A physical examination of each boxer by a

15 physician certifying whether or not the boxer is

16 physically fit to safety compete, copies of which must

17 be provided to the boxing commission.

18 (2) Except as otherwise expressly provided

19 under regulation of a boxing commission promul20 gated subsequent to the enactment of this Act, an

21 ambulance or medical personnel with appropriate re22 suscitation equipment continuously present on site.

23 (3) A physician continuously present at ring24 side.
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1 (4) Health insurance for each boxer to provide

2 medical coverage for any injuries sustained in the

3 match.

4 SEC. 6. REGISTRATION.

5 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Each boxer shall register

6 with—

7 (1) the boxing commission of the State in which

8 such boxer resides; or

9 (2) in the case of a boxer who is a resident of

10 a foreign country, or a State in which there is no

11 boxing commission, the boxing commission of any

12 State that has such a commission.

13 (B) IDENTIFICATION CARD.—

14 (1) ISSUANCE.—A boxing commission shall

15 issue to each professional boxer who registers in ac16 cordance with subsection (a), an identification card

17 that contains each of the following:

18 (A) A recent photograph of the boxer.

19 (B) The Social Security number of the

20 boxer (or, in the case of a foreign boxer, any

21 similar citizen identification number or profes22 sional boxer number from the country of resi23 dence of the boxer).

24 (C) A personal identification number as25 signed to the boxer by a boxing registry.
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1 (2) RENEWAL.—Each professional boxer shall

2 renew his or her identification card at least once

3 every 2 years.

4 (3) PRESENTATION.—Each professional boxer

5 shall present his or her identification card to the ap6 propriate boxing commission not later than the time

7 of the weigh-in for a professional boxing match.

8 SEC. 7. REVIEW.

9 (a) PROCEDURES.—Each boxing commission shall es10 tablish each of the following procedures:

11 (1) Procedures to evaluate the professional

12 records and physician’s certification of each boxer

13 participating in a professional boxing match in the

14 State, and to deny authorization for a boxer to fight

15 where appropriate.

16 (2) Procedures to ensure that, except as pro17 vided in subsection (b), no boxer is permitted to box

18 while under suspension from any boxing commission

19 due to—

20 (A) a recent knockout or series of consecu21 tive losses;

22 (B) an injury, requirement for a medical

23 procedure, or physician denial of certification;

24 (C) failure of a drug test; or
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1 (D) the use of false aliases, or falsifying,

2 or attempting to falsify, official identification

3 cards or documents.

4 (3) Procedures to review a suspension where

5 appealed by a boxer, including an opportunity for a

6 boxer to present contradictory evidence.

7 (4) Procedures to revoke a suspension where a

8 boxer—

9 (A) was suspended under subparagraph

10 (A) or (B) of paragraph (2) of this subsection,

11 and has furnished further proof of a sufficiently

12 improved medical or physical condition; or

13 (B) furnishes proof under subparagraph

14 (C) or (D) of paragraph (2) that a suspension

15 was not, or is no longer, merited by the facts.

16 (b) SUSPENSION IN ANOTHER STATE.—A boxing

17 commission may allow a boxer who is under suspension

18 in any State to participate in a professional boxing

19 match—

20 (1) for any reason other than those listed in

21 subsection (a) if such commission notifies in writing

22 and consults with the designated official of the sus23 pending State’s boxing commission prior to the

24 grant of approval for such individual to participate

25 in that professional boxing match; or
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1 (2) if the boxer appeals to the Association of

2 Boxing Commissions, and the Association of Boxing

3 Commissions determines that the suspension of such

4 boxer was without sufficient grounds, for an im5 proper purpose, or not related to the health and

6 safety of the boxer or the purposes of this Act.

7 SEC. 8. REPORTING.

8 Not later than 48 business hours after the conclusion

9 of a professional boxing match, the supervising boxing

10 commission shall report the results of such boxing match

11 and any related suspensions to each boxer registry.

12 SEC. 9. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.

13 No member or employee of a boxing commission, no

14 person who administers or enforces State boxing laws, and

15 no member of the Association of Boxing Commissions may

16 belong to, contract with, or receive any compensation

17 from, any person who sanctions, arranges, or promotes

18 professional boxing matches or who otherwise has a finan19 cial interest in an active boxer currently registered with

20 a boxer registry. For purposes of this section, the term

21 ‘‘compensation’’ does not include funds held in escrow for

22 payment to another person in connection with a profes23 sional boxing match. The prohibition set forth in this sec24 tion shall not apply to any contract entered into, or any

25 reasonable compensation received, by a boxing commission
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1 to supervise a professional boxing match in another State

2 as described in section 4.

3 SEC. 10. ENFORCEMENT.

4 (a) INJUNCTIONS.—Whenever the Attorney General

5 of the United States has reasonable cause to believe that

6 a person is engaged in a violation of this Act, the Attorney

7 General may bring a civil action in the appropriate district

8 court of the United States requesting such relief, including

9 a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order,

10 or other order, against the person, as the Attorney Gen11 eral determines to be necessary to restrain the person

12 from continuing to engage in, sanction, promote, or other13 wise participate in a professional boxing match in violation

14 of this Act.

15 (b) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—

16 (1) MANAGERS, PROMOTERS, MATCHMAKERS,

17 AND LICENSEES.—Any manager, promoter, match18 maker, and licensee who knowingly violates, or co19 erces or causes any other person to violate, any pro20 vision of this Act shall, upon conviction, be impris21 oned for not more than 1 year or fined not more

22 than $20,000, or both.

23 (2) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—Any member or

24 employee of a boxing commission, any person who

25 administers or enforces State boxing laws, and any
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1 member of the Association of Boxing Commissions

2 who knowingly violates section 9 of this Act shall,

3 upon conviction, be imprisoned for not more than 1

4 year or fined not more than $20,000, or both.

5 (3) BOXERS.—Any boxer who knowingly vio6 lates any provision of this Act shall, upon conviction,

7 be fined not more than $1,000.

8 SEC. 11. NOTIFICATION OF SUPERVISING BOXING COMMIS9 SION.

10 Each promoter who intends to hold a professional

11 boxing match in a State that does not have a boxing com12 mission shall, not later than 14 days before the intended

13 date of that match, provide written notification to the su14 pervising boxing commission designated under section 4.

15 Such notification shall contain each of the following:

16 (1) Assurances that, with respect to that pro17 fessional boxing match, all applicable requirements

18 of this Act will be met.

19 (2) The name of any person who, at the time

20 of the submission of the notification—

21 (A) is under suspension from a boxing

22 commission; and

23 (B) will be involved in organizing or par24 ticipating in the event.
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1 (3) For any individual listed under paragraph

2 (2), the identity of the boxing commission that is3 sued the suspension described in paragraph (2)(A).

4 SEC. 12. STUDIES.

5 (a) PENSION.—The Secretary of Labor shall conduct

6 a study on the feasibility and cost of a national pension

7 system for boxers, including potential funding sources.

8 (b) HEALTH, SAFETY AND EQUIPMENT.—The Sec9 retary of Health and Human Services shall conduct a

10 study to develop recommendations for health, safety, and

11 equipment standards for boxers and for professional box12 ing matches.

13 (c) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date

14 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall sub15 mit a report to the Congress on the findings of the study

16 conducted pursuant to subsection (a). Not later than 180

17 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary

18 of Health and Human Services shall submit a report to

19 the Congress on the findings of the study conducted pur20 suant to subsection (b).

21 SEC. 13. PROFESSIONAL BOXING MATCHES CONDUCTED ON

22 INDIAN RESERVATIONS.

23 (a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the

24 following definitions shall apply:
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1 (1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’

2 has the same meaning as in section 4(e) of the In3 dian Self-Determination and Education Assistance

4 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)).

5 (2) RESERVATION.—The term ‘‘reservation’’

6 means the geographically defined area over which a

7 tribal organization exercises governmental jurisdic8 tion.

9 (3) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘tribal

10 organization’’ has the same meaning as in section

11 4(l) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education

12 Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(l)).

13 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

15 provision of law, a tribal organization of an Indian

16 tribe may, upon the initiative of the tribal organiza17 tion—

18 (A) regulate professional boxing matches

19 held within the reservation under the jurisdic20 tion of that tribal organization; and

21 (B) carry out that regulation or enter into

22 a contract with a boxing commission to carry

23 out that regulation.

24 (2) STANDARDS AND LICENSING.—If a tribal

25 organization regulates professional boxing matches
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1 pursuant to paragraph (1), the tribal organization

2 shall, by tribal ordinance or resolution, establish and

3 provide for the implementation of health and safety

4 standards, licensing requirements, and other require5 ments relating to the conduct of professional boxing

6 matches that are at least as restrictive as—

7 (A) the otherwise applicable standards and

8 requirements of a State in which the reserva9 tion is located; or

10 (B) the most recently published version of

11 the recommended regulatory guidelines certified

12 and published by the Association of Boxing

13 Commissions.

14 SEC. 14. RELATIONSHIP WITH STATE LAW.

15 Nothing in this Act shall prohibit a State from adopt16 ing or enforcing supplemental or more stringent laws or

17 regulations not inconsistent with this Act, or criminal,

18 civil, or administrative fines for violations of such laws or

19 regulations.

20 SEC. 15. EFFECTIVE DATE.

21 The provisions of this Act shall take effect on Janu22 ary 1, 1997, except as follows:

23 (1) Section 9 shall not apply to an otherwise

24 authorized boxing commission in the Commonwealth

25 of Virginia until July 1, 1998.
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1 (2) Sections 5 through 9 shall take effect on

2 July 1, 1997.

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