House passes Ali Revival Act; bill now headed to Senate

The Muhammad Ali Boxing Revival Act is one step closer to becoming law.

The US House of Representatives passed the Revitalization Act by voice vote after a half-hour debate during its legislative session on Tuesday. Now it is with the Senate. Should it pass there, it would then potentially go to President Donald Trump to sign and turn it into law.

If the bill becomes law, the biggest change to the Revival Act will be allowance for the creation of Unified Boxing Organizations, known as UBOs, as an option for boxers throughout their careers.

Under boxing’s current system, the law requires a separation between promoters, who organize fights, and sanctioning bodies, who handle rankings, titles and matchmaking. The revival act would allow the UBO to handle all of those things as a sort of one-stop shop, similar to the Ultimate Fighting Championship in MMA. The Revival Act would only regulate boxing, not MMA.

Supporters of the bill, including UFC CEO Dana White and his Zuffa Boxing promotional organization, former boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and the Association of Boxing Commissions, hailed it as another option for fighters. He pointed to strong health care provisions for all fighters, including mandatory physicals and brain and eye tests, a belt for sanctioned physiques per weight class and a minimum payout of $200 per round to all fighters.

Those supporters emphasize that the addition of the UBO would not replace the structure of professional boxing, but would provide a different type of opportunity for fighters to choose what career path would be best for them.

“My hope is that, with its passage, you won’t just have one UBO, my hope is you’ll have a dozen UBOs operating in this game, if not more,” Rep. Brian Jack, R-Ga., who authored the bill, told ESPN Tuesday night. “The more interest, the more innovation, the more opportunities for boxers and fans, the more opportunities to enjoy the sport that inspired greatness.”

Critics of the bill say it could harm fighters and reduce the protections provided to them in the two original Ali Act bills – the Professional Boxing Protection Act of 1996 and the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act of 2000 – because it could shift the balance of money-making power from fighters to promoters.

The Revival Act has also received criticism from promoters and others in the boxing community, who have alleged that White Ali is trying to change the Act so that his boxing company, Zuffa Boxing, can operate similarly to the UFC, which has control over matchmaking, rankings, titles, and the contracts it awards. The UFC has faced two antitrust lawsuits from fighters who have accused them of pay suppression and monopoly tactics. The organization settled a lawsuit for $375 million.

White countered with similar arguments to some members of Congress, saying that UBOs only provide an alternative.

The bill initially passed the House Committee on Education and the Workforce 30-4 in January. Nine House members spoke about the bill on the floor Tuesday and only one, Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., opposed the legislation.

“Proposed under UBO organizations [the Revival Act] “It will replicate a model that has been extremely attractive in other, non-boxing mixed martial arts sports worlds that operate with some legal and economic protections for the fighters,” Courtney said.

He then expressed concern about how those organizations, which he did not name, use long-term contracts with forced arbitration, prevent fighters from bringing contract-breach lawsuits and waive rights to class action lawsuits.

Top Rank founder Bob Arum criticized the bill in a letter to Congress in December and questioned why UBOs would be exempt from the compliance rules under which non-UBOs have to operate. Arum also expressed concern that the bill would take away fighter protections if a boxer joined the UBO.

Courtney and two other House members encouraged the Senate to continue amending the bill to strengthen it. Representative Bobby Scott, D-VA, who supported the bill, suggested the Senate could include provisions prohibiting contracts between UBOs and boxers, “including clauses that prohibit class action proceedings or mandate that disputes be brought to private arbitration.”

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who offered amendments to the bill in committee, supported the bill, but also called for “stronger financial transparency, stronger anti-monopoly provisions and stronger safeguards against coercive contracts.”

The bill in March also allows the Association of Boxing Commissions and the Association of Ringside Physicians to set baseline health and safety standards for each state throughout the sport. These will include annual physical checkups as well as brain, eye and heart checks and blood tests every six months. This will also require expanding testing for fighters above 40 years of age.

It would also give the Association of Boxing Commissions the ability to certify judges and officials for fights. Right now, only state athletic commissions can do this.

“You have a lot of options here,” Jack said. “If this bill becomes law, the fighters can take one path or they can take another path.” “They can join the UBO or they can join the existing sanctioned organization model. Why not give the fighters that option?”