Our sport is in trouble

The Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act has cleared the House of Representatives by a considerable margin. We can still stop this legislation, but it’s going to take all of us to do it: You can write to your Senators and tell them to vote against it. Believe it or not, American legislators often refer to constituent letters and phone calls as a bellwether for how to vote. Your voice will be heard. Use this link to find your Senators and how to contact them; if you need a template on what to say, you can copy mine below.

Hello Senator [last name], I'm writing to discuss the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act that recently passed very favorably in the House. I am writing to express my desire for you to vote against it. I am an avid boxing fan and I am more aware than most of the problems my favorite sport faces. I know that the House committee that heard testimony in support of this legislation had compelling people speak in support of it. I admit that on the surface, this legislation appears to modernize or "revive" boxing by introducing minimum standards of pay and healthcare. It would be dishonest of me to say that those types of changes aren't necessary for boxing, but I would be remiss if I didn't say the MAABRA only appears to solve those problems on the surface. The minimum fighter pay listed in the legislation seems like a good baseline, but unfortunately this sort of minimum standard will function very similarly to how minimum wage works in the US already -- that is to say that if this is the minimum required for fighters to be paid, this is all they will be paid. If there is no mechanism for the pay to increase with inflation, the purchasing power of these minimum guarantees won't go very far in the future. It further establishes a "UFC-esque" model of promotion called Universal Boxing Organizations. One in favor of this legislation would argue that it creates choices for boxers to compete in the existing structure of the boxing industry or have the UBO as an alternative. Again, on the surface the idea of more competition creates a better environment for fighters to negotiate better pay and opportunities. Unfortunately, Dana White, who is highly in favor of this legislation, is known for having created a predatory, monopolistic organization in UFC and he is clearly seeking to do the same in boxing. I want to reiterate that it is certainly necessary to regulate things like titles/championships in a manner similar to MAABRA, to have increases in fighter healthcare and PED testing, but MAABRA as it is currently written will only do more harm than good in the long run. Grassroots boxing will cut to the root and the sport will be left with figures like Dana White, his Saudi benefactors, and predatory figureheads like White open to sign fighters for pennies on the dollar and not have to actually pay the athletes what they're worth. Please, I know MAABRA sounds like a great idea, but look past the surface and you'll find that it's not to the benefit of the boxers.