Byron Dorgan: “I am pleased to support with my colleague, Senator McCain, the Professional Boxing Amendments Act of 2003. This is an…”

“I am pleased to support with my colleague, Senator McCain, the Professional Boxing Amendments Act of 2003. This is an issue that we have now been examining for some time, and I am pleased that the Senate is moving this legislation forward. The Senate Commerce Committee had the opportunity over the past years to spend time with figures such as Roy Jones Junior, Muhammad Ali, Bert Sugar, Lou Dibella, and Bernard Hopkins, and we heard some things that caused great concern. I grew up as a boxing fan who wants to see the sport succeed, but I have worried about how the sport is doing, and I believe this legislation will take an important step. Professional boxing is the only major sport in the United States that does not have a strong, centralized association or league to establish and enforce uniform rules and practices for its participants. There is no union, no organization that polices promoters or managers, and unfortunately no consistent level of state regulation among the state athletic commissions. Part of the problem is the alphabet soup of 29 sanctioning bodies-- all with different titles and rankings--and another part is a lack of faith that anyone, not the state commissions, managers or promoters are on the up and up. I believe that a system based on state commissions alone just takes us to the lowest common denominator. We are in desperate need of some basic national standards and uniform enforcement.”