The Professional Boxing Safety Act takes effect on
Tuesday, which is "geared to protect the no-name boxers on
small-time shows, rather than the pay-per-view champions,"
according to Dave Anderson of the N.Y. TIMES. Under the new
law, a professional boxer must register with a state
commission, be issued an identification card and be assigned
a number by a boxing registry. Each commission will review
a boxer's ring record, medical records, recent knockout
losses, consecutive losses and failed drug tests. Results
of all pro boxing matches must now be reported to boxing
registries within 48 hours. Anderson writes that the law is
being put in place to help "journeymen boxers" who "have
sometimes fought without state-to-state medical supervision,
sometimes under assumed names, sometimes in states without a
boxing commission." For "knowingly violating the new law,"
managers, promoters, matchmakers, licensees, or employees of
boxing commissions "can be imprisoned up to one year, or
fined up to $1,000." Anderson: "For boxing's shady people,
a prison term or those relatively modest fines will be worth
the risk. ... So without diligent enforcement, the new
Federal law won't mean much" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/30).
