Ali bill passes Senate, heads to House

Benjamin Grove

Monday, April 10, 2000 | 11:07 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Boxers would receive some protection from unscrupulous fight promoters under a bill that is alive again in Congress after a delay last year.

The bill, introduced by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., passed the Senate on Friday and now heads back to the House.

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., was a bill sponsor and vocal supporter of the the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act.

The bill would prohibit boxing promoters from trapping fighters in open-ended contracts. For instance, promoters would no longer be able to coerce boxers into signing long-term contracts by promising them big-time fights against high-rated opponents.

"Fight promoters would not be able to make fighters indentured servants through a series of contracts," Bryan said. "Fighters have been victimized by that."

The bill also would require boxing organizations that rank fighters, such as the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association, to make public more information about how they rank fighters.

Some critics have said organizations have unfairly and secretly ranked boxers in order to manipulate fight pairings.

"This legislation is designed to protect the integrity of the sport as well as the financial health of the fighter," Bryan said.

The House now will consider the bill as it was amended Friday. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., pushed for several bill changes, which Bryan and McCain favored.

One change would effectively exempt hotel-casinos that host fights from being defined and punished as a "promoter" under the bill. Reid was concerned that hotels such as MGM Grand, which advertises its prize fights, could be unfairly caught up in the language of the bill.

But another amendment makes cable channels such as HBO and Showtime subject to the same rules and punishments as promoters. Reid says that the cable operators should not have the ability to negotiate unfair contracts with boxers, either.

"It's a good bill," Reid said today. "It brings in the network if it has direct monetary contact with the fighter."

The bill was revived last week after an unknown senator in November halted the bill at the end of last year's congressional session. The senator used a procedural rule to put an anonymous freeze on the legislation.

Reid, who had opposed the bill until Friday because it lacked his amendments, denied putting the hold on the bill. Reid also denied that he opposed the bill simply because it was opposed by promoter Don King, who gave Reid's political action committee $50,000 last year.

Reid staffers have noted that the unamended bill had been opposed by Nevada boxing officials, including Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission. Ratner also had argued that HBO and Showtime should be considered licensed promoters.

Benjamin Grove covers Washington D.C. for the Sun. He can be reached at (202) 628-3100, ext. 269 or by e-mail at benjamingrove@yahoo.com.