Union Calendar No. 259
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1832
[Report No. 106–449, Part I]
A BILL
To reform unfair and anticompetitive practices in
the professional boxing industry.
NOVEMBER 4, 1999
Reported from the Committee on Commerce with an
amendment
NOVEMBER 4, 1999
Referred to the Committee on Education and the Work-
force extended for a period ending not later than No-
vember 4, 1999
NOVEMBER 4, 1999
The Committee on Education and the Workforce dis-
charged; referred to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union and ordered to be
printed
IB
Union Calendar No. 259
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1832
[Report No. 106–449, Part I]
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 juris-
diction of the committee concerned
NOVEMBER 4, 1999
Additional sponsors: Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. SANDLIN, Ms. MCKINNEY,
Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr.
TRAFICANT, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. STEARNS,
Mr. UPTON, and Mr. ABERCROMBIE
Deleted sponsor: Mr. MEEK of New York (added May 17, 1999; deleted
November 3, 1999)
NOVEMBER 4, 1999
Reported from the Committee on Commerce with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
NOVEMBER 4, 1999
Referral to the Committee on Education and the Workforce extended for a
period ending not later than November 4, 1999
NOVEMBER 4, 1999
The Committee on Education and the Workforce discharged; referred to the
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered
to be printed
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 17, 1999]
A BILL
To reform unfair and anticompetitive practices in the
professional boxing industry.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Muhammad Ali Boxing
Reform Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Professional boxing differs from other major,
interstate professional sports industries in the United
States in that it operates without any private sector
association, league, or centralized industry organiza-
tion to establish uniform and appropriate business
practices and ethical standards. This has led to re-
peated occurrences of disreputable and coercive busi-
ness practices in the boxing industry, to the detriment
of professional boxers nationwide.
(2) State officials are the proper regulators of
professional boxing events, and must protect the wel-
fare of professional boxers and serve the public inter-
est by closely supervising boxing activity in their ju-
risdiction. State boxing commissions do not currently
receive adequate information to determine whether
boxers competing in their jurisdiction are being sub-
jected to contract terms and business practices which
may violate State regulations, or are onerous and
confiscatory.
(3) Promoters who engage in illegal, coercive, or
unethical business practices can take advantage of the
lack of equitable business standards in the sport by
holding boxing events in States with weaker regu-
latory oversight.
(4) The sanctioning organizations which have
proliferated in the boxing industry have not estab-
lished credible and objective criteria to rate profes-
sional boxers, and operate with virtually no industry
or public oversight. Their ratings are susceptible to
manipulation, have deprived boxers of fair opportuni-
ties for advancement, and have undermined public
confidence in the integrity of the sport.
(5) Open competition in the professional boxing
industry has been significantly interfered with by re-
strictive and anticompetitive business practices of cer-
tain promoters and sanctioning bodies, to the det-
riment of the athletes and the ticket-buying public.
Common practices of promoters and sanctioning orga-
nizations represent restraints of interstate trade in
the United States.
(6) It is necessary and appropriate to establish
national contracting reforms to protect professional
boxers and prevent exploitive business practices, and
to require enhanced financial disclosures to State ath-
letic commissions to improve the public oversight of
the sport.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to protect the rights and welfare of profes-
sional boxers on an interstate basis by preventing cer-
tain exploitive, oppressive, and unethical business
practices;
(2) to assist State boxing commissions in their
efforts to provide more effective public oversight of the
sport; and
(3) to promote honorable competition in profes-
sional boxing and enhance the overall integrity of the
industry.
SEC. 4. PROTECTING BOXERS FROM EXPLOITATION.
The Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C.
6301 et seq.) is amended—
(1) by redesignating sections 9 through 15 as sec-
tions 17 through 23, respectively; and
(2) by inserting after section 8 the following new
sections:
‘‘SEC. 9. CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.
‘‘Within 2 years after the date of the enactment of the
Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, the Association of Box-
ing Commissions shall develop and shall approve by a vote
of no less than a majority of its member State boxing com-
missioners, guidelines for minimum contractual provisions
that should be included in bout agreements and boxing con-
tracts. It is the sense of Congress that State boxing commis-
sions should follow these ABC guidelines.
‘‘SEC. 10. PROTECTION FROM COERCIVE CONTRACTS.
‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—
‘‘(1)(A) A contract provision shall be considered
to be in restraint of trade, contrary to public policy,
and unenforceable against any boxer to the extent
that it—
‘‘(i) is a coercive provision described in sub-
paragraph (B) and is for a period greater than
12 months; or
‘‘(ii) is a coercive provision described in
subparagraph (B) and the other boxer under con-
tract to the promoter came under that contract
pursuant to a coercive provision described in
subparagraph (B).
‘‘SEC. 11. SANCTIONING ORGANIZATIONS.
‘‘(a) OBJECTIVE CRITERIA.—Within 2 years after the
date of the enactment of the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform
Act, the Association of Boxing Commissions shall develop
and shall approve by a vote of no less than a majority of
its member State boxing commissioners, guidelines for ob-
jective and consistent written criteria for the ratings of pro-
fessional boxers. It is the sense of Congress that sanctioning
bodies and State boxing commissions should follow these
ABC guidelines.
‘‘(b) APPEALS PROCESS.—A sanctioning organization
shall not be entitled to receive any compensation, directly
or indirectly, in connection with a boxing match, until it
provides the boxers with notice that the sanctioning organi-
zation shall, within 7 days after receiving a request from
a boxer questioning that organization’s rating of the
boxer—
‘‘(1) provide to the boxer a written explanation
of the organization’s criteria, its rating of the boxer,
and the rationale or basis for its rating (including a
response to any specific questions submitted by the
boxer); and
‘‘(2) submit a copy of its explanation to the As-
sociation of Boxing Commissions.
‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION OF CHANGE IN RATING.—A sanc-
tioning organization shall not be entitled to receive any
compensation, directly or indirectly, in connection with a
boxing match, until, with respect to a change in the rating
of a boxer previously rated by such organization in the top
10 boxers, the organization—
‘‘(1) posts a copy, within 14 days of such change,
on its Internet website or home page, if any, includ-
ing an explanation of such change, for a period of not
less than 30 days; and
‘‘(2) provides a copy of the rating change and
explanation to an association to which at least a ma-
jority of the State boxing commissions belong.
‘‘(d) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—
‘‘(1) FTC FILING.—A sanctioning organization
shall not be entitled to receive any compensation di-
rectly or indirectly in connection with a boxing
match unless, not later than January 31 of each year,
it submits to the Federal Trade Commission and to
the ABC—
‘‘(A) a complete description of the organiza-
tion’s ratings criteria, policies, and general sanc-
tioning fee schedule;
‘‘(B) the bylaws of the organization;
‘‘(C) the appeals procedure of the organiza-
tion for a boxer’s rating; and
‘‘(D) a list and business address of the orga-
nization’s officials who vote on the ratings of
boxers.
‘‘(2) FORMAT; UPDATES.—A sanctioning organi-
zation shall—
‘‘(A) provide the information required
under paragraph (1) in writing, and, for any
document greater than 2 pages in length, also in
electronic form; and
‘‘(B) promptly notify the Federal Trade
Commission of any material change in the infor-
mation submitted.
‘‘(3) FTC TO MAKE INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO
PUBLIC.—The Federal Trade Commission shall make
information received under this subsection available
to the public. The Commission may assess sanctioning
organizations a fee to offset the costs it incurs in
processing the information and making it available to
the public.
‘‘(4) INTERNET ALTERNATIVE.—In lieu of sub-
mitting the information required by paragraph (1) to
the Federal Trade Commission, a sanctioning organi-
zation may provide the information to the public by
maintaining a website on the Internet that—
‘‘(A) is readily accessible by the general
public using generally available search engines
and does not require a password or payment of
a fee for full access to all the information;
‘‘(B) contains all the information required
to be submitted to the Federal Trade Commission
by paragraph (1) in an easy to search and use
format; and
‘‘(C) is updated whenever there is a mate-
rial change in the information.
‘‘SEC. 12. REQUIRED DISCLOSURES TO STATE BOXING COM-
MISSIONS BY SANCTIONING ORGANIZATIONS.
‘‘A sanctioning organization shall not be entitled to
receive any compensation directly or indirectly in connec-
tion with a boxing match until it provides to the boxing
commission responsible for regulating the match in a State
a statement of—
‘‘(1) all charges, fees, and costs the organization
will assess any boxer participating in that match;
‘‘(2) all payments, benefits, complimentary bene-
fits, and fees the organization will receive for its af-
filiation with the event, from the promoter, host of the
event, and all other sources; and
‘‘(3) such additional information as the commis-
sion may require.
‘‘SEC. 13. REQUIRED DISCLOSURES FOR PROMOTERS.
‘‘(a) DISCLOSURES TO THE BOXING COMMISSIONS.—
A promoter shall not be entitled to receive any compensa-
tion directly or indirectly in connection with a boxing
match until it provides to the boxing commission respon-
sible for regulating the match in a State a statement of—
‘‘(1) a copy of any agreement in writing to
which the promoter is a party with any boxer partici-
pating in the match;
‘‘(2) a statement made under penalty of perjury
that there are no other agreements, written or oral,
between the promoter and the boxer with respect to
that match; and
‘‘(3)(A) all fees, charges, and expenses that will
be assessed by or through the promoter on the boxer
pertaining to the event, including any portion of the
boxer’s purse that the promoter will receive, and
training expenses;
‘‘(B) all payments, gifts, or benefits the promoter
is providing to any sanctioning organization affili-
ated with the event; and
‘‘(C) any reduction in a boxer’s purse contrary
to a previous agreement between the promoter and the
boxer or a purse bid held for the event.
‘‘(b) DISCLOSURES TO THE BOXER.—A promoter shall
not be entitled to receive any compensation directly or indi-
rectly in connection with a boxing match until it provides
to the boxer it promotes—
‘‘(1) the amounts of any compensation or consid-
eration that a promoter has contracted to receive from
such match;
‘‘(2) all fees, charges, and expenses that will be
assessed by or through the promoter on the boxer per-
taining to the event, including any portion of the box-
er’s purse that the promoter will receive, and training
expenses; and
‘‘(3) any reduction in a boxer’s purse contrary
to a previous agreement between the promoter and the
boxer or a purse bid held for the event.
‘‘(c) INFORMATION TO BE AVAILABLE TO STATE AT-
TORNEY GENERAL.—A promoter shall make information re-
quired to be disclosed under this section available to the
chief law enforcement officer of the State in which the match
is to be held upon request of such officer.
‘‘SEC. 14. REQUIRED DISCLOSURES FOR JUDGES AND REF-
EREES.
‘‘A judge or referee shall not be entitled to receive any
compensation, directly or indirectly, in connection with a
boxing match until it provides to the boxing commission
responsible for regulating the match in a State a statement
of all consideration, including reimbursement for expenses,
that will be received from any source for participation in
the match.
‘‘SEC. 15. CONFIDENTIALITY.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Neither a boxing commission nor
an Attorney General may disclose to the public any matter
furnished by a promoter under section 13 except to the ex-
tent required in a legal, administrative, or judicial pro-
ceeding.
‘‘(b) EFFECT OF CONTRARY STATE LAW.—If a State
law governing a boxing commission requires that informa-
tion that would be furnished by a promoter under section
13 shall be made public, then a promoter is—
‘‘(1) not required to file such information with
such State; and
‘‘(2) required to file such information with the
ABC.
‘‘SEC. 16. JUDGES AND REFEREES.
‘‘No person may arrange, promote, organize, produce,
or fight in a professional boxing match unless all referees
and judges participating in the match have been certified
and approved by the boxing commission responsible for reg-
ulating the match in the State where the match is held.’’.
SEC. 5. CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
Section 17 of the Professional Boxing Safety Act of
1996 (15 U.S.C. 6308) (as redesignated by section 4 of this
Act) is amended—
(1) in the first sentence by striking ‘‘No member’’
and inserting ‘‘(a) REGULATORY PERSONNEL.—No
member’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(b) FIREWALL BETWEEN PROMOTERS
AND MAN-
AGERS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It is unlawful for—
‘‘(A) a promoter to have a direct or indirect
financial interest in the management of a boxer;
or
‘‘(B) a manager—
‘‘(i) to have a direct or indirect finan-
cial interest in the promotion of a boxer; or
‘‘(ii) to be employed by or receive com-
pensation or other benefits from a promoter,
except for amounts received as consideration
under the manager’s contract with the
boxer.
‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1)—
‘‘(A) does not prohibit a boxer from acting
as his own promoter or manager; and
‘‘(B) only applies to boxers participating in
a boxing match of 10 rounds or more.
‘‘(c) SANCTIONING ORGANIZATIONS.—
‘‘(1) PROHIBITION
ON
RECEIPTS.—Except as
provided in paragraph (2), no officer or employee of
a sanctioning organization may receive any com-
pensation, gift, or benefit, directly or indirectly, from
a promoter, boxer, or manager.
‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) does not
apply to—
‘‘(A) the receipt of payment by a promoter,
boxer, or manager of a sanctioning organiza-
tion’s published fee for sanctioning a professional
boxing match or reasonable expenses in connec-
tion therewith if the payment is reported to the
responsible boxing commission; or
‘‘(B) the receipt of a gift or benefit of de
minimis value.’’.
SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT.
Subsection (b) of section 18 of the Professional Boxing
Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6309) (as redesignated by
section 4 of this Act) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1) by inserting a comma and
‘‘other than section 9(b), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, or 16,’’
after ‘‘this Act’’;
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as
paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively;
(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(2) VIOLATION
OF
ANTIEXPLOITATION, SANC-
TIONING
ORGANIZATION, 
OR
DISCLOSURE
PROVI-
SIONS.—Any person who knowingly violates any pro-
vision of section 9(b), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, or 16 of this
Act shall, upon conviction, be imprisoned for not
more than 1 year or fined not more than—
‘‘(A) $100,000; and
‘‘(B) if a violation occurs in connection
with a professional boxing match the gross reve-
nues for which exceed $2,000,000, an additional
amount which bears the same ratio to $100,000
as the amount of such revenues compared to
$2,000,000, or both.’’; and
(4) in paragraph (3) (as redesignated by para-
graph 2 of this subsection) by striking ‘‘section 9’’
and inserting ‘‘section 17(a)’’; and
(5) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(c) ACTIONS BY STATES.—Whenever the chief law en-
forcement officer of any State has reason to believe that a
person or organization is engaging in practices which vio-
late any requirement of this Act, the State, as parens
patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of its residents
in an appropriate district court of the United States—
‘‘(1) to enjoin the holding of any professional
boxing match which the practice involves;
‘‘(2) to enforce compliance with this Act;
‘‘(3) to obtain the fines provided under sub-
section (b) or appropriate restitution; or
‘‘(4) to obtain such other relief as the court may
deem appropriate.
‘‘(d) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Any boxer who suf-
fers economic injury as a result of a violation of any provi-
sion of this Act may bring an action in the appropriate
Federal or State court and recover the damages suffered,
court costs, and reasonable attorneys fees and expenses.
‘‘(e) ENFORCEMENT AGAINST FEDERAL TRADE COM-
MISSION, STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL, ETC.—Nothing in
this Act authorizes the enforcement of—
‘‘(1) any provision of this Act against the Fed-
eral Trade Commission, the United States Attorney
General, or the chief legal officer of any State for act-
ing or failing to act in an official capacity;
‘‘(2) subsection (d) of this section against a State
or political subdivision of a State, or any agency or
instrumentality thereof; or
‘‘(3) section 10 against a boxer acting in his ca-
pacity as a boxer.’’.
SEC. 7. ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2(a) of the Professional
Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6301(a)) is
amended—
(1) in paragraph (10) by striking the period at
the end and inserting ‘‘, including the Virgin Is-
lands.’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(11) EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE CONTRACT.—The
term ‘effective date of the contract’ means the day
upon which a boxer becomes legally bound by the con-
tract.
‘‘(12) BOXING
SERVICE
PROVIDER.—The term
‘boxing service provider’ means a promoter, manager,
sanctioning body, licensee, or matchmaker.
‘‘(13) CONTRACT PROVISION.—The term ‘contract
provision’ means any legal obligation between a boxer
and a boxing service provider.
‘‘(14) SANCTIONING
ORGANIZATION.—The term
‘sanctioning organization’ means an organization
that sanctions professional boxing matches in the
United States—
‘‘(A) between boxers who are residents of
different States; or
‘‘(B) that are advertised, otherwise pro-
moted, or broadcast (including closed circuit tele-
vision) in interstate commerce.
‘‘(15) SUSPENSION.—The term ‘suspension’ in-
cludes within its meaning the revocation of a boxing
license.’’.
(b) STATE BOXING COMMISSION PROCEDURES.—Sec-
tion 7(a)(2) of the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996
(15 U.S.C. 6306(a)(2)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘or’’;
(2) in subparagraph (D) by striking ‘‘docu-
ments.’’ at the end and inserting ‘‘documents; or’’;
and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(E) unsportsmanlike conduct or other in-
appropriate behavior inconsistent with generally
accepted methods of competition in a profes-
sional boxing match.’’.
(c) RENEWAL PERIOD FOR IDENTIFICATION CARDS.—
Section 6(b)(2) of the Professional Boxing Safety Act of
1996 (15 U.S.C. 6305(b)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘2
years.’’ and inserting ‘‘4 years.’’.
(d) REVIEW OF SUSPENSIONS.—Section 7(a)(3) of the
Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C.
6306(a)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘boxer’’ and inserting
‘‘boxer, licensee, manager, matchmaker, promoter, or other
boxing service provider’’.
(e) ALTERNATIVE SUPERVISION.—Section 4 of the Pro-
fessional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6303) is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘No person’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)
No person’’; and
(2) by inserting at the end thereof the following:
‘‘(b) For the purpose of this Act, if no State commis-
sion is available to supervise a boxing match according to
subsection (a), then—
‘‘(1) the match may not be held unless it is su-
pervised by an association of boxing commissions to
which at least a majority of the States belong; and
‘‘(2) any reporting or other requirement relating
to a supervising commission allowed under this sec-
tion shall be deemed to refer to the entity described
in paragraph (1).’’.
(f) HEALTH AND SAFETY DISCLOSURES.—Section 6 of
the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C.
6305) is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
‘‘(c) HEALTH AND SAFETY DISCLOSURES.—It is the
sense of Congress that a boxing commission should, upon
issuing an identification card to a boxer under subsection
(b)(1), make a health and safety disclosure to that boxer
as that commission considers appropriate. The health and
safety disclosure should include the health and safety risks
associated with boxing, and, in particular, the risk and fre-
quency of brain injury and the advisability that a boxer
periodically undergo medical procedures designed to detect
brain injury.’’.