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Michael Rothstein
Multiple Authors
The Muhammad Ali Boxing Revival Act is one step closer to becoming law.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Revival Act by a voice vote during its legislative session Tuesday after a half-hour of debate. It now heads to the Senate. Should it pass there, it would then go to President Donald Trump to potentially sign and turn into law.
If the bill becomes law, the Revival Act’s biggest shift would be the allowance for the creation of Unified Boxing Organizations, better known as UBOs, as options for boxers in their careers.
Under boxing’s current system, the law requires a separation between promoters, who put on the fights, and sanctioning bodies, who handle rankings, titles and matchmaking. The Revival Act would allow UBOs to handle all of those things as a sort of one-stop shop, similar to what the Ultimate Fighting Championship is in MMA. The Revival Act would govern only boxing, not MMA.
Supporters of the bill, including UFC CEO Dana White and his Zuffa Boxing promotional outfit, former boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and the Association of Boxing Commissions, praised it as another choice for fighters. They pointed to stronger health care provisions for all fighters, including mandatory physicals and brain and eye testing, one belt per sanctioning body per weight class and a minimum payment of $200 per round to all fighters.
Those supporters stress the addition of UBOs won’t replace the structure of professional boxing but will afford a different type of opportunity for fighters to choose what career path works best for them.
“My hope is, by its passage, you’re not just going to have one UBO, my hope is that you’re going to have a dozen UBOs operating, if not more, in this sport,” Rep. Brian Jack, R-Ga., who wrote the bill, told ESPN on Tuesday night. “The more interest, the more innovation, the more opportunities for boxers and for fans, the more opportunities to enjoy a sport that used to inspire greatness.”
Critics of the bill say it could harm fighters and lessen protections afforded to them in the two original Ali Act bills — the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 and the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act of 2000 — because it could shift the balance in moneymaking power from fighters to promoters.
The Revival Act has also received criticism from promoters and others in the boxing community who allege that White is trying to make changes to the Ali Act so his boxing company, Zuffa Boxing, can operate similarly to the UFC, which has control over matchmaking, rankings, titles and the contracts it offers. The UFC has faced two antitrust lawsuits from fighters who allege wage suppression and monopolization tactics. The organization settled one lawsuit for $375 million.
White has countered with the same arguments as some members of Congress, saying that UBOs simply offer a choice.
The bill initially passed 30-4 out of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in January. Nine House members spoke about the bill on the House floor Tuesday, and only one, Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., opposed the legislation.
“UBO organizations proposed under [the Revival Act] will replicate a model that has been extremely lucrative in other, non-boxing mixed martial arts sports worlds that operate with few legal and economic protections for fighters,” Courtney said.
He then pointed to concerns about how those organizations, which he did not name, use long-term contracts with forced arbitration, blocking fighters from bringing breach-of-contract lawsuits and waiving rights for class action lawsuits.
Top Rank founder Bob Arum criticized the bill in a December letter to Congress, questioning why UBOs would be exempt from compliance rules that non-UBOs have to operate under. Arum also expressed concern about the bill stripping away fighter protections if a boxer joined a UBO.
Courtney and two other House members encouraged the Senate to continue amending the bill to strengthen it. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., who supported the bill, suggested the Senate could include provisions prohibiting contracts between UBOs and boxers from “including clauses that bar class action proceedings or mandate bringing disputes to private arbitration.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who offered amendments to the bill in committee, supported the bill but also called for “stronger financial transparency, stronger anti-monopoly provisions and stronger safeguards against coercive contracts.”
An addition to the bill in March also allows the Association of Boxing Commissions and the Association of Ringside Physicians to establish baseline health and safety standards for every state throughout the sport. These would include yearly physicals along with brain, eye and heart exams and blood work every six months. It would also require increased testing for fighters over age 40.
It would also give the Association of Boxing Commissions the ability to certify judges and officials for fights. Right now, only state athletic commissions can do that.
“You’ve got multiple options here. Fighters can pursue one path or they can pursue another path if this bill becomes law,” Jack said. “They can join a UBO or they can join the existing sanctioning organization model. Why not give fighters that choice?”