A bipartisan effort moved the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act closely to reality Wednesday. One of its latest amendments should please the wide spectrum of the sport’s followers who disdain the prevalence of belts.
The act, advanced by the Education and Workforce Committee by a 30-4 vote to the House of Representatives, stipulates that “a sanctioning organization or unified boxing organization shall award only one championship title for each weight class.”
An interim belt would only be awarded “in the case of an injury or illness to a reigning titleholder, refusal or inability by the reigning titleholder to defend [their] title, or for reasons beyond the control of the boxer, including inability to travel.”
Otherwise, the days could be numbered for the current landscape, in which the WBA has at times awarded more than 40 active belts in 17 weight classes, with the sanctioning body charging “champion” fighters up to a 3% fee to win the strap.
WBA officials did not immediately respond to messages left by BoxingScene.
WBO President Gustavo Olivieri said his sanctioning body has “for many years” followed the revised ground rules proposed in Wednesday’s hearing in Washington.
“Not only does that benefit the fighters; it benefits everyone,” Olivieri told BoxingScene. “It benefits the legitimate full champion, because if under that champion, you have a secondary and/or an interim champion or a champion in recess or a regional champion, it undermines the credibility of that particular champion and the sanctioning body and it confuses the fans, the public … I agree with this in that regard.”
Olivieri, a licensed attorney, has been vocal in his response to these proposed new federal regulations that will allow the new Zuffa Boxing promotion to rank fighters and award its own belts to the boxers it keeps in its stable, with company executive and UFC President/CEO Dana White saying he doesn’t intend to work with the four sanctioning bodies and rival promoters.
“Belts matter,” is a common refrain from Olivieri.
Finding common ground on the point that fewer belts matter more could soothe the entry of Zuffa Boxing, which produces its debut card with new streaming partner Paramount+ Friday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Last month, five-division champion Terence Crawford, who fought on Zuffa’s first show versus Canelo Alvarez in September, capturing the undisputed super-middleweight title, was stripped of his WBC belt after not paying $300,000 in sanctioning fees from a reported $50 million purse.
Crawford proceeded to rip the WBC for over-charging fighters.
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman said his organization will abide by whatever rules the U.S. institutes on the matter.
Currently, the WBC has 24 full and interim champions and three vacancies in 18 weight classes, not counting special and regional belts.
“The WBC has the affiliation of 176 countries in the world and we respect the laws of each country,” Sulaiman told BoxingScene. “The WBC respects the autonomy and jurisdiction of the federal federations or local boxing commissions where a WBC title [fight] is contested.
“We have to study what this is all about and look into it.”
In a prepared statement issued following Wednesday’s session, the bill’s co-author, Rep. Brian Jack (R-Ga.) said he was pleased with the improvements to the bill, which also included:
– Increasing the proposed minimum payment-per-round for boxers from $150 to $200.
– Expanding the proposed minimum medical coverage from $25,000 to $50,000.
– Updating the proposed timelines and frequency requirements for mandatory medical testing, including eye exams, bloodwork, brain health testing, and related evaluations.
Additionally, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D.-Mn.) won these amendment adoptions:
– Mandating that boxer contracts be no longer than six years.
– Updating the proposed free-agency provisions to allow boxers, beginning 30 days prior to the expiration of their contracts, to initiate contact with other UBOs or promoters.
– Establishing that, in the absence of a bout within any six-month period, a boxer is entitled to compensation equal to ten times the minimum per-round compensation of $200.
“The Committee’s adoption of these amendments is reflective of my desire to create legislation with broad bipartisan support to revive one of America’s greatest sports, in the name of one of its greatest champions, Muhammad Ali,” Jack wrote.
“Today represents a critical step toward passage of the first update to federal boxing law in over a quarter century, and this legislation is now positioned for consideration by the full United States House of Representatives with strong bipartisan support.”
