Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act

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The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act of 2000 is a federal law enacted in the United States that provides for various legal protections to boxers as well as assisting states in regulating boxing as a sport. The legislation was enacted due to boxing's unique position in American sports, not having any organized league or rule-making body to ensure appropriate business practices, and due to the lack of protection offered to boxers from the various sanctioning bodies (e.g., the WBO, WBC, IBF, and others).

In general, the act restricts the types of contract that a boxer may be required to sign in order to box at an event. The boxer cannot, for example, be required to give away future promotional rights as a requirement of competing in a match that is a mandatory bout under the rules of a sanctioning organization. The act also requires sanctioning bodies to reveal to state commissions various information about matches that are held, fees charged to boxers for the sanctioning body to sanction a match, as well as any payment or comps received for the body for affiliating itself with the promoter. It also requires promoters to disclose a large amount of the financial information about bouts to the state commissions, as well as to the boxers they promote.