Inglorious Plasterers

Photo: Margarito's plaster handwrap from the California Attorney General's office

Texas’ Administrative Rule on the Recognition of Another State’s Suspension of a Boxer


The licensing of professional boxers in Texas is governed by 16 Texas Administrative Code , Chapter 61, also known as the “Combative Sports Administrative Rules.” Under Combative Sports Administrative Rule 16.30(e), the Executive Director of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation “may recognize and enforce disciplinary sanctions, disqualification, or medical suspensions imposed by other combative sport authorities.” The use of the term “may” instead of “shall” in Combative Sports Administrative Rule 16.30(e) indicates that it is in the Executive Director’s discretion whether or not to recognize and enforce the disciplinary sanctions or medical suspensions imposed by another athletic commission. Despite this open-ended language, it should be noted that the federally enacted Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act mandates that individual boxing commissions establish procedures whereby a boxer suspended for “unsportsmanlike conduct or other inappropriate behavior consistent with generally accepted methods of competition in a professional boxing match” is permitted to box. The Act deems the term “suspension” to include a revocation of one’s boxing license. As discussed more below, it is also important to note that the revocation period is over, so what Texas allows itself to do with a given suspension during its duration is no longer at issue.


The Association of Boxing Commission’s Guideline on Out-of-State Suspensions


Under the Regulatory Guidelines of the Association of Boxing Commissions (the “ABC”), the quasi-governing body of professional boxing in North America, “[a]ll medical and administrative suspensions placed on contestants by other athletic commissions will be recognized by the supervising Commission.” Like Texas’ employment of the term “may,” the ABC’s use of the word “will” does not create a strong mandate that one state athletic commission must recognize the suspension of another. It should also be noted that the ABC’s Regulatory Guidelines are silent on how to handle the revocation of a license by another state athletic commission, though the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act has that issue covered, as noted above.


How The Above Regulations and Guidelines Work Together to Margarito’s Advantage


The fact that Margarito is now allowed to reapply for his license in California is all some people need to hear in order to justify his applying for a license anywhere else in the United States. Did the crime, did the time. As indicated above, however, even if he was still being sanctioned by California, there is nothing in the explicit text of Texas’ Combative Sports Administrative Rules, or the ABC’s Guidelines, that would summarily disallow another athletic commission from issuing Margarito a license, though the federal Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act looms over each to compel recognition of such sanctions.


In fairness, many of the athletic commissions do their part to recognize the suspensions and sanctions of other states and disallow the boxers subject to them to come into their arenas. Some of the bigger commissions, such as those in Nevada, New York, and New Jersey, zealously provide reciprocal recognition to the suspensions and sanctions of other states, and may continue to disallow certain boxers from competing in their jurisdictions even after their suspension periods, depending on the reason for a given suspension or sanction. But in the absence of a uniform national mandate on sanctions and suspensions, as demonstrated by Texas’ Rules even in the face of the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act’s provisions, there may always a commission somewhere that would license individuals such as Margarito and Capetillo, regardless of whether or not boxing’s inglorious plasterers were still facing sanctions in California and regardless of prospective challenges under federal law.


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Punches After the Bell: Did German Promoter Trade Gloves for Rackets?: For the third time in two months, it has been reported that a German boxing figure is in trouble with the law. The wrinkle this time is that it’s a promoter, and not a boxer, whose arrest may bring ill repute to the stable of boxers around him. Ahmet Oner, the CEO of Arena Box Promotions, has reportedly been charged with racketeering, assault, and coercion in Germany. The charge of racketeering, in particular, may be distressing to those around Oner, as it suggests that he may have involved himself in activity akin to organized criminal activity while serving as one of Germany’s biggest boxing promoters. Somewhere in their respective afterlives, Blinky Palermo and Frankie Carbo are saying to themselves, “Been there, done that.”…


La Heina’s Wild Ride Outside of the Ring May Signal End of Wild Ride Inside the Ring: Acelino (Popo) Freitas and Rocky Juarez may have been able to put the brakes on two of former WBO super featherweight champion Jorge Rodrigo (La Heina) Barrios’ wildest rides in the ring, but it’s a wild ride outside of the ring that may prove to bring a dramatic end to his career. It was widely reported this week that Barrios is facing a homicide charge in his native Argentina after killing a pregnant woman and her six-month-old fetus when he ran a red light with his BMW X5 truck and collided with another vehicle. Depending on the findings of the local prosecutor, Barrios may not share the good fortune of his Golden Boy Promotions stablemate James (Stone Cold) Kirkland, and get the opportunity to resume his boxing career after a brief prison term. Even a relatively short prison term for the 33-year-old Barrios can signal the end of his entertaining career. And even if he were capable of resuming his boxing career after a prison stint, one would have to wonder if Golden Boy Promotions would stand by its man, given the severity of Barrios’ alleged actions…


For more of the author’s coverage on the Margarito hand wrap affair, please see “Hands of Steal?” at http://sportsjudge.blogspot.com/2009/02/number-one-contender-hands-of-steal.html and “That’s a Wrap” at http://sportsjudge.blogspot.com/2009/02/number-one-contender-thats-wrap.html.



Paul Stuart Haberman, Esq. is an attorney at the New York law firm of Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach, LLP. He is also a New York State licensed boxing manager and the Chairman of the Sports Law Committee of the New York County Lawyers Association. He can be e-mailed at haberman.paul@gmail.com. ©