[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 92 (Monday, June 18, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4240-S4241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCAIN (for himself and Mr. Reid):
  S. 3306. A bill to establish a United States Boxing Commission to 
administer the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, today I am pleased to be joined by Senator 
Reid of Nevada, our distinguished majority leader, to introduce the 
Professional Boxing Amendments Act of 2012. This legislation is 
virtually identical to a measure reported by the Commerce Committee 
during the 111th Congress, after being approved unanimously by the 
Senate in 2005. Simply put, this legislation would better protect 
professional boxing from the fraud, corruption, and ineffective 
regulation that has plagued the sport for too many years, and that has 
devastated physically and financially many of our Nation's professional 
boxers.
  My involvement with boxing goes back a long way, first as a fan in my 
youth--in what many view as the golden age of boxing in America: in the 
days of Joe Louis and Billy Conn and Floyd Patterson and Sugar Ray 
Robinson--probably the greatest boxer in history--and Kid Gavilan and 
Joey Giardello, the names I still remember because of the incredible 
acts of sportsmanship and courage and tenacity in the ring that they 
displayed, which made boxing one of the most popular sports in all of 
the United States, then with my undistinguished record as a boxer at 
the U.S. Naval Academy, and then over my time here in Congress, where I 
have been involved in legislation related to boxing since the mid-
1990s.
  The 19th century sportswriter Pierce Egan called the sport of boxing 
the ``sweet science.'' Long-time boxing reporter Jimmy Cannon called it 
the ``red light district of sports.'' In truth, it is both. I have 
always believed that at its best, professional boxing is a riveting and 
honorable contest of courageous and highly skilled athletes. 
Unfortunately, the last few decades of boxing history have--through 
countless examples of conflicts of interest, improper financial 
arrangements, and inadequate or nonexistent oversight--led most to 
believe that Cannon's words--that boxing is the ``red light district of 
sports''--were more appropriate than that of Pierce Egan's words, who 
called it the ``sweet science.''
  The most recent controversy surrounding the Pacquiao-Bradley fight is 
the latest example of the legitimate distrust boxing fans have for the 
integrity of the sport. After the Pacquiao-Bradley decision was 
announced, understandably fans were clearly apoplectic and many 
commentators found the decision astonishing.
  Bob Arum, the promoter of the fight--and he represented both Pacquiao 
and Bradley--said:

       What the hell were these people watching?. . . . How can 
     you watch a sport where you don't see any motive for any 
     malfeasance and yet come up with a result like we came up 
     with tonight? How do you explain it to anybody?. . . . 
     Something like this is so outlandish, it's a death knell for 
     the sport.

  Those words came from the promoter of the fight, long-time promoter 
Bob Arum.
  ESPN boxing analyst Dan Rafael--who scored the fight 119 to 109 for 
Pacquiao--called the decision an ``absolute absurdity.'' And he said:

       I could watch the fight 1,000 times and not find seven 
     rounds to give to Timothy Bradley.

  Additionally, following the fight, HBO's Max Kellerman--a guy I have 
always enjoyed--was ringside, where he said:

       This is baffling, punch stat had Pacquiao landing many more 
     punches, landing at a higher connect percentage, landing more 
     power punches. Ringside, virtually every reporter had 
     Pacquiao winning by a wide margin. . . . I can't understand 
     how Bradley gets this decision. There were times in that 
     fight where I felt a little bit embarrassed for Bradley.

  Clearly, the conspiracy theories and speculation surrounding the 
fight are given life because there are so many questions surrounding 
the integrity of the sport and how it is managed in multiple 
jurisdictions. Professional boxing remains the only major sport in the 
United States that does not have a strong centralized association, 
league, or other regulatory body to establish and enforce uniform rules 
and practices. Because a powerful few benefit

[[Page S4241]]

greatly from the current system of patchwork compliance and enforcement 
of Federal boxing law, a national self-regulating organization--though 
preferable to government oversight--is not a realistic option.
  What has happened to the meaning of the word champion? There is an 
alphabet soup of organizations today, some of them--or many of them--
based outside of the United States of America, that clearly manipulates 
the rankings in order to set up a fight which has a ``championship'' 
associated with it.
  Ineffective oversight of professional boxing will continue to result 
in scandals, controversies, unethical practices, a lack of trust in the 
integrity of judged outcomes and, most tragic of all, unnecessary 
deaths in the sport. These problems have led many in professional 
boxing to conclude that the only solution is an effective 
and accountable Federal boxing commission.

  The legislation that Senator Reid and I are introducing would 
establish the United States Boxing Commission--the USBC or Commission--
providing the much-needed oversight to ensure integrity within this 
profession through better reporting and disclosure, requiring that the 
sport avoid the conflicts of interest which cause fans to question the 
outcome of bouts, which hurts the sport.
  If enacted, the commission would administer Federal boxing law and 
coordinate with other Federal regulatory agencies to ensure that this 
law is enforced, oversee all professional boxing matches in the United 
States, and work with the boxing industry and local commissions to 
improve the safety, integrity, and professionalism of professional 
boxing in the United States.
  More specifically, this legislation would require that all referees 
and judges participating in a championship or a professional bout 
lasting 10 rounds or more be fully registered and licensed by the 
commission. Further, while a sanctioning organization could provide a 
list of judges and referees deemed qualified, only the boxing 
commission will appoint the judges and referees participating in these 
matches.
  Additionally, the commission would license boxers, promoters, 
managers, and sanctioning organizations. The commission would have the 
authority to revoke such a license for violations of Federal boxing 
law, to stop unethical or illegal conduct, to protect the health and 
safety of a boxer or if the revocation is otherwise in the public 
interest.
  The Professional Boxing Amendments Act would strengthen existing 
Federal boxing law by improving the basic health and safety standards 
for professional boxers, establishing a centralized medical registry to 
be used by local commissions to protect boxers, reducing the arbitrary 
practices of sanctioning organizations, and enhancing the uniformity 
and basic standards for professional boxing contracts. Most 
importantly, this legislation would establish a Federal regulatory 
entity to oversee professional boxing and set basic uniform standards 
for certain aspects of the sport.
  Thankfully, current law--which we passed in the 1990s--has already 
improved some aspects of the state of professional boxing. However, 
like me, many others remain concerned the sport continues to be at 
serious risk. In 2003, the Government Accountability Office spent more 
than 6 months studying 10 of the country's busiest State and tribal 
boxing commissions. Government auditors found that many of these 
commissions do not comply with Federal boxing law, and that there is a 
disturbing lack of enforcement by both Federal and State officials.
  It is important to state clearly and plainly for the record that the 
purpose of the commission created by this bill is not to interfere with 
the daily operations of State and tribal boxing commissions. Instead, 
it would work in consultation with local commissions, and it would only 
exercise its authority when reasonable grounds exist for such 
intervention. In fact, this bill states explicitly that it would not 
prohibit any boxing commission from exercising any of its powers, 
duties, or functions with respect to the regulation or supervision of 
professional boxing to the extent consistent with the provisions of 
Federal boxing law.
  With respect to costs associated with this legislation, the pricetag 
for this legislation should not fall on the shoulders of the American 
taxpayer, especially during a time of crushing debt and deficits. As 
such, to recover the costs, the bill authorizes the commission to 
assess fees on promoters, sanctioning organizations, and boxers, 
ensuring that boxers pay the smallest portion of what is, in fact, 
collected.
  Let there be no doubt, however, of the very basic and pressing need 
in professional boxing for a Federal boxing commission. The 
establishment of the USBC would address that need. The problems that 
have plagued the sport of professional boxing for many years continue 
to undermine the credibility of this sport in the eyes of the public 
and, more importantly, compromise the safety of boxers. This bill 
provides an effective approach to curbing these problems.
  I take a back seat to no one in my desire for smaller government and 
less regulation. It is a crying need today, not only for the integrity 
of the sport but the health of boxers. We are finding more and more, 
especially in the sport of professional football lately, the effect of 
blows to the head. Anyone who has had the honor of knowing Muhammad 
Ali, as I have over the years, recognizes that this is a very brutal 
sport. There is no doubt that if in professional football blows to the 
head can be damaging to one's health, clearly it can be in the sport of 
boxing. I regret to tell my colleagues that there are not sufficient 
protections for the safety of the boxers engaged in the sport today.
  The Pacquiao-Bradley fight is only the latest example, and its 
outrage is spread because of the size of the fight. Unfortunately, over 
the years, there have been a series of fights--some of them I will add 
for the Record at the appropriate time--where the wrong decision has 
been announced.
  This is a great sport. It has given an opportunity, for young men 
particularly, to rise from the depths of poverty to pinnacles of 
greatness in the sport--and wealth beyond their imagining at the time 
they entered the sport. So we need to protect these people. We need to 
give them a fair and legitimate playing field in which to compete.
  I urge the support of my colleagues and again thank my friend the 
majority leader, Senator Harry Reid, who was a boxer of great skill and 
ability himself in his younger days. Some of those traits he has 
displayed very prominently here on the floor of the Senate, and I 
respect him greatly.
                                 ______