The TKO Group that owns UFC and WWE has asked for amendment changes to the Muhammad Ali Act, a federal law designed to protect boxers from exploitation, according to a memo to state regulators that was posted on the website Combat Sports Law earlier this week.
The request comes as TKO seeks to form a new boxing promotion. While there are no specific details of the request and speculation has run rampant regarding what it may mean for the sport, a UFC spokesperson said in a statement to ESPN that the amendment would seek to "enhance" the Ali Act and offer boxers "more opportunities."
"TKO is having preliminary conversations with members of Congress about how we can work together to expand the Ali Act to create more choices and opportunities for boxers," the UFC spokesperson said. "We believe the enhancements we are discussing could help to inspire a boxing revival in America, provide American boxers with access to greater opportunities and better protections, and lead to more boxing events across our country."
TKO announced in March that it had joined forces with Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, to form a new boxing promotion.
The Ali Act, enacted in 2000, amended the 1996 Professional Boxing Safety Act by expanding upon legislation against exploitation, conflict of interest and enforcement. In short, the Ali Act intended to prevent promoters from using predatory and anti-competitive practices against athletes while encouraging a free and open market.
This is contrary to what UFC has alleged to be guilty of, as the promotion recently settled a $375 million antitrust lawsuit filed by fighters alleging that the promotion was an illegal monopsony that used anti-competitive business practices to suppress fighter wages and stifle rival promotions.
In the memo, Association of Boxing Commissions president Mike Mazzulli wrote to the regulators that its "board of directors is working with [TKO] to make sure the ABC is still part of the federal law."
There is no timetable for when these amendments could come to fruition, and it is not known when TKO's boxing promotion will launch.