Reacting to the rush of celebrity fights being billed as professional boxing matches, the Association of Boxing Commissions has submitted a letter advising U.S. athletic commissions to adhere to standards before labeling these bouts official matches.
“Celebrity feature fights and other events that deviate from true boxing rules should not be referred to as ‘professional boxing,’” ABC President Michael Mazzulli wrote in the letter.
Mazzulli told BoxingScene the ABC-connected state commissions should follow the guidelines. If they don’t, “the ABC will respond strongly and rule [the fight(s)] improper.”
The reaction follows the November Jake Paul-Mike Tyson match at AT&T Stadium near Dallas that the Texas state commission sanctioned as legitimate despite the bout being fought in oversized gloves with two-minute rounds.
The event drew 72,300 to the Dallas Cowboys’ home stadium and exceeded 60 million streams on Netflix.
Even with the reductions, Tyson, 58, was badly fatigued at the bout’s end and performed as a shell of himself.
“What happened with Mike Tyson is not professional fighting,” Mazzulli said.
Messages left for Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian were not immediately returned to BoxingScene on Tuesday.
“Whether it is called an exhibition or non-conventional fighting, in which no decision is rendered, or a fight where one is determined, unless standard boxing rules are utilized, it is a sham if billed as a professional boxing event,” Mazzulli wrote.
“It is fraught with evils, such as the risk of mismatches, gambling manipulation and dangers to participants. The term ‘professional boxer’ is one which is held in high esteem for those few athletes who compete in the sweet science and follow all the rules set forth.”
The letter spells out that regulation fights need to feature three-minute rounds and a one-minute rest period between rounds, while employing drug-testing procedures, standard glove sizes (10oz for fights at 149lbs and above, 8oz for bouts with fighters 148lbs and lighter), weight divisions, scoring and age limits.
“When variations are made, such as shortened rounds, non-standard glove sizes and the like, the competition is no longer professional boxing,” Mazzulli declared in the letter.
In a Tuesday interview with BoxingScene, Mazzulli spoke of his work supervising this weekend’s celebrity fight card in the UK headed by KSI versus Dillon Danis. Those two want to employ an alternate judging panel, while undercard celebrity fighter Demi Sims will wear heavier gloves.
“We have no problem with unconventional boxing, but if it doesn’t follow the rules, it’s not a professional fight,” Mazzulli said. “This is an effort to protect the fighter and ensure there are no shams when it comes to celebrity and unconventional boxing.”
In his letter, Mazzulli informed the U.S. regulators why this stance is so necessary.
“If commissions, sanctioning bodies or promoters are allowed to alter the rules to suit particular weaknesses or strengths of competitors, the integrity that remains in boxing will be destroyed,” he wrote.
Any concessions cannot be accepted, “regardless of opponents on the card.”
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.