MINUTES
ABC LEGAL COMMITTEE CONFERENCE CALL
December 12, 2007
Members participating
Members absent
Tim
Lueckenhoff Linda
Acampora
Greg Sirb
Tim Dunlop
Keith Kizer
Joanna Aguilar
Hugo Spindola
Bruce Spizler
New
Business
1. Sex with
ring girl as "compensation" to an MMA victor
It has been
brought to the attention of the ABC (by one of its members)
that a Florida MMA "promotions group" is promoting events
entitled "Bang the Champ" on the premise that the winner of
the event "gets to have sex" with one of the ring girls. The
"promotions group" has an "adult themed" website [BangtheChamp.com]
(deemed inappropriate for access via a government-owned
computer).
It is presumed that such
activity is being conducted "underground" and is not licensed
or regulated by a boxing or athletic commission. In such
instance, local law enforcement should be contacted toward
the end of putting an end to such unsanctioned and unregulated
activity. If the MMA event is, otherwise, licensed and
regulated by a boxing or athletic commission, it is doubtful
that any state or tribal regulation expressly addresses
matters such as prohibiting sex acts (as opposed to monetary
reward) as the "quid pro quo" for a fighter's
participation in a bout; however, a "generic" regulatory
provision (e.g., "not in the best interests of MMA")
may be applicable. Further, if "sex with the ring girl" is
deemed to be the fighters' "compensation," such activity may
constitute prostitution and/or the solicitation of the same.
2. Proposed supervision/regulation of pro/am boxing event
by Golden Glove franchise in state without boxing commission
Such a proposal
patently is unlawful. Under the Federal Law, professional
boxing may be held in a state without a boxing commission only
if the boxing matches are supervised by a boxing commission
from another state (or tribe) and subject to the regulatory
guidelines of the ABC, as well as any regulations of the
supervising boxing commission (15 USC §6303).
Further, while amateur
bouts may be regulated by a "nationally recognized amateur
boxing organization" in certain jurisdictions, under no
circumstances may professional boxing matches be regulated by
such an amateur boxing organization. Indeed, it is the
understanding of the ABC Legal Committee that "Golden Gloves"
tournaments are regulated, and are under the authority of, USA
Boxing and have no independent authority to regulate even
amateur boxing on their own.
3. Maskaev v. WBC (U.S. Dist. Ct., N.Y.) – WBC Motion to
Stay court action granted pending mediation and binding
arbitration pursuant to WBC Rules and Regulations
Oleg Maskaev, and his
promoter, Dennis Rappaport Productions, LLC filed a law suit
in the United States District Court for the District of New
York against the WBC relating to the "purse split" for the
Oleg Maskaev v. Samuel Peter fight scheduled (but not held) on
October 6, 2007. In September, 2007, a U.S. District Court
judge granted the WBC's Motion to Stay, suspending the law
suit pending the outcome of mediation and binding arbitration
which, according to the WBC Rules and Regulations, is
compulsory prior to seeking judicial intervention. The WBC's
attorney, Robert J.B. Lenhardt, effectively argued that any
person who participates in the activities of the WBC, by doing
so, is bound by the WBC Rules and Regulations and, as a
result, agrees that their exclusive remedies in any dispute
with the WBC must first encompass mediation, and, if
unsuccessful, mandatory arbitration before the Court of
Arbitration for Sport.
The ABC Legal Committee
noted its concern that such assertions, arguably, may be made
in regard to a boxer's appeal of a sanctioning organization's
ratings change. In such regard, it was noted that, by
enacting 15 USC §6307c.(a), Congress provided for the ABC to
develop and approve guidelines for objective and consistent
written criteria for the ratings of professional boxers; and
that "it is the sense of Congress" that sanctioning bodies
follow these ABC guidelines. The ABC developed and approved
"ABC Guidelines for Objective and Consistent Written Criteria
for the Ratings of Professional Boxers" ("ABC Ratings
Criteria") which, in part, requires that:
(a) objective
(b) cost efficient; and
(c) completed within 30 days of the
appeal.
Although the ABC has encouraged the
sanctioning organizations to adopt the ABC Ratings Criteria,
including the above provision, the ABC has been informed that
the WBC, at its 2006 "Congress" in Croatia, expressly rejected
the ABC Ratings Criteria.
Thus, if a sanctioning
organization's Rules and Regulations encompass procedures for
a ratings appeal which are not "objective, cost efficient and
completed within 30 days," a court action brought by a boxer
(or a boxer's representative) challenging the sanctioning
organization's rating change may withstand a Motion to Stay in
which the sanctioning organization argues that its procedural
Rules and Regulations must first be satisfied.
A letter will be sent to
each of the major sanctioning organizations, again,
encouraging them to conform their respective ratings criteria
to the ABC Ratings Criteria, including a section ensuring that
an appeal of a ratings change is objective, cost efficient and
completed within 30 days of the appeal.
4. Boxing
on tribal land "regulated" by employee of promoter
It was brought to the
attention of the ABC that professional boxing events, held on
the tribal land of the Sault Sainte Marie Tribe at the Kewadin
Casino, were being "regulated" (including the licensing of the
participants, the review of medical examinations, the approval
of the particular bouts, and the appointment of officials) by
William Miley, an employee of the promoter of the event
(formerly, an inspector for the Michigan Athletic Board of
Control), and not by the Sault Sainte Marie tribal boxing
commission. On October 18, 2007, a boxing show was held at
the Kewadin Casino; and the show was "regulated" by Mr. Miley
(the promoter's employee). Among the bouts approved by Mr.
Miley which were held on that evening included: (1) Hasim
Rahman (44-6-2; 35 KO) (former undisputed heavy-weight
champion of the world) v. Cerrone Fox (8-6-0; 4 of the losses
by being KO'd) [Rahman KO'd Fox at 2:27 of the first round];
and (2) Francis McKechnai (3-14-0; all 14 loses by being KO'd
or TKO'd, including his last seven bouts) v. Brian Mithar
(6-0-0) [McKechnai lost by TKO at 1:33 of the second round.]
Regarding the latter bout, McKechnai was under an indefinite
suspension, imposed by the Indiana Boxing Commission, pending
McKechnai providing the Indiana Commission with an HIV test
and documentation that McKechnai's left elbow was "O.K."
A letter was sent to the
Sault Sainte Marie Tribe by Tim Lueckenhoff advising the Tribe
of the following provisions in the Federal Law:
-
A tribal organization of
an Indian Tribe may regulate professional boxing matches held
within the reservation under the jurisdiction of that tribal
organization and: (1) carry out that regulation, or (2) enter
into a contract with a boxing commission (not a
promoter or the promoter's employee) to carry out that
regulation [15 USC §6312(b)(1)].
· No
member or employee of a boxing commission and no person who
administers or enforces boxing laws may contract with any
person who promotes professional boxing matches or otherwise
has a financial interest in an active boxer [15 USC §6308(a)].
·
If a tribal organization regulates professional
boxing, the tribal organization shall, by tribal ordinance or
resolution, establish and provide for the implementation of
health and safety standards, licensing requirements, and other
requirements related to the conduct of professional boxing
matches which are at least as restrictive as: (1) otherwise
applicable standards and requirements of a State in which the
reservation is located; or (2) the regulatory guidelines
certified and published by the ABC (including reciprocal
enforcement of medical suspensions) [15 USC §6312(b)(2)].
5.
Sanctioning organizations' solicitation/receipt of
"sponsorships" from promoters
It has come to the
attention of the ABC that the major sanctioning organizations
have been, and are, soliciting, and receiving, "sponsorships"
from major promoters who operate in the U.S. For example, in
the WBO's "The Best 20 Years - Collector's Edition,"
distributed at its 20th annual convention in November, 2007,
the following promoters, in respective full page displays,
were advertised as "Platinum Sponsors": Top Rank (Bob Arum),
Don King Productions (Don King), Golden Boy Promotions (Oscar
De La Hoya), Universum Box-Promotion (Klaus-Peter Kohl),
Warrior's Boxing Promotions (Leon Margules), Sports Network
(Frank Warren), and Banner Promotions (Arthur Pelullo). In
addition, some of the same promoters, as well as others,
published ads in the WBO booklet. This type of activity
appears to be a direct contravention of 15 USC§6308(c) which
states, in pertinent part:
" … no officer or employee of a
sanctioning organization may receive any compensation, gift,
or benefit, directly or indirectly, from a promoter, boxer, or
manager."
The ABC will send a
letter to each of the major sanctioning organizations advising
them, respectively, to cease and desist from this practice.
NEXT MEETING:
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 @ 2:00 p.m. EST
Respectfully submitted,
Bruce C. Spizler
Chair
