Promoters Coming Together To Fight New Laws in New York

By Edward Chaykovsky

According to a report in the New York Post, local promoters in New York are putting together a formal response to the new laws governing mixed martial arts and boxing.

There was a new legislation passed in April and signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The bill legalized MMA in the state for the first time since 1997 and also raised insurance requirements to levels boxing promoters say they can’t afford.

The new regulations include an increase from $10,000 to $50,000 in medical and death benefits and a requirement for promoters of boxing and MMA to have $1 million of insurance in the event a fighter suffers a traumatic brain injury. Promoters fear the new requirements will cripple the local boxing scene in the state.

The paper says Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing, Lou DiBella of DiBella Entertainment and boxing attorney Pat English are among those hoping to persuade the commission to adjust the insurance requirements.

“The problem is the legislature already wrote certain things into law,” DeGuardia said. “These are things that I don’t think were properly vetted by the boxing community. Right now, they’re claiming the [NYSAC] has found companies that are willing to underwrite the insurance and make it where you can do big shows in New York. But it’s going to reduce the overall number of shows because it triples the costs.”

“If it costs me three times as much to do shows here, can I still do shows? Yeah,” DeGuardia added. “Will I still do shows in New York? Yeah. But will it be the same number of shows I’ve done? No. I’ll have to bring them to different locations outside of the state.”

One of the few companies that can afford the new insurance requirements is the UFC, who will make their in the state on November 12 with UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden and also plan a UFC Fight Night for Dec. 9 in Albany. For the moment there are no boxing events scheduled for the rest of the year.