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Boxing Boxing could be about to undergo a seismic shift. Gabriel Rossi / Latin Content via Getty Images Boxing in the United States is on the brink of significant change. The U. S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the Muhammad Ali Boxing Revival Act — the first proposed change in U. S. federal law on boxing since the introduction of the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act in 2000. The bill passed by a vote of 30-4, but despite strong bipartisan support, the act has caused controversy within the sport. Driven by the powerbrokers behind Ultimate Fighting Championship, the new law could permit a UFC-like entity to operate in boxing separate from its traditional sanctioning bodies, transforming how the sport is run in the United States and, due to the strength of the U. S. market, around the world. Advertisement The Athletic examines the background to the change, why it has faced criticism and what’s likely to happen next. Commonly referred to as the ‘Ali Act’, this U. S. law was enacted in 2000 as an update to the 1996 Professional Boxing Safety Act. The law aimed to restrict the power of promoters and to regulate corrupt sanctioning bodies. Specifically, it outlined three main priorities: Among the motivations of the Ali Act was to prevent fighters from being coerced into signing with promoters as the only way to land a certain fight or title opportunity, and to bar promoters from also serving as managers. Under the law, promoters must disclose all revenues from individual events to fighters, which allows boxers to know how much money events make in relation to their purses. It also provided federal-backed authority on contracts and rankings in an attempt to reduce the exploitation of fighters. The Ali Act remains the only example of the U. S. Congress regulating a professional sport. The Revival Act, which was proposed by U. S. representatives Brian Jack (R-Ga. ) and Sharice Davids (D-Kan. ) in July 2025, would allow the creation of Unified Boxing Organisations (UBOs), which would serve as alternatives to boxing’s four major sanctioning bodies: the WBC, IBF, WBA and WBO. A UBO would have its own champion, but would also run events, sign fighters to its own company and control its rankings. Opening up boxing to UBOs would allow companies such as TKO’s Zuffa Boxing, which is financially backed by Saudi Arabian entertainment and hospitality giant SELA, to have their own rankings, championship belts, and promotional entity. Other updates in the Revival Act include an increase in the minimum national compensation to $200 per round for professional boxers, a nationwide minimum of $50, 000 for health insurance, $15, 000 in accidental death coverage and WADA-approved anti-doping programmes. Advertisement At the moment, those minimums are set on a state-by-state basis. Some U. S. jurisdictions already require higher insurance minimums than those proposed in the Revival Act. UBOs would also be allowed to sign fighters to six-year contracts, an increase from the previous maximum of five years. There are also numerous mentions of the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC), which will be the regulator for the UFC card being staged at the White House this summer because the card will take place on federal land. If the Ali Revival Act passes, the ABC, a non-profit organization, will gain additional oversight power of federal standards, even in states that already regulate combat sports through athletic commissions. The Revival Act stipulates that the ABC sets the guidelines that state athletic commissions and sanctioning bodies should follow. If enacted, the law will ensure the ABC is involved in matters such as drug testing and the appointment of ringside physicians. TKO Group Holdings, headed by entertainment-industry mogul Ari Emanuel and the parent company of Dana White’s UFC and World Wrestling Entertainment, joined with SELA and Saudi Arabian boxing powerbroker Turki Al-Skeikh to form Zuffa Boxing. Together, they want to form a UBO to work within the sport in the same way that the UFC operates within mixed martial arts, a sport that does not have the same federal protections provided by the Ali Act. There is no doubt that the introduction of UBOs would benefit Zuffa Boxing’s plans to create a single entity apart from boxing’s traditional sanctioning bodies, so it is no surprise that TKO has led the lobbying effort behind the Revival Act’s passage. The bill has also received support from Ali’s widow, Lonnie Ali, who was quoted in a congressional press release as saying that, “Muhammad would be proud to have his name associated with this bill. ” Advertisement The California State Athletic Commission and its executive officer Andy Foster, a former professional MMA fighter, are also vocal backers, even though commissions have not been asked for their say. Mike Tyson, the former world heavyweight champion, also expressed his support in a letter to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. On the face of it, improved minimum pay, health insurance, medical examinations and drug testing are useful interventions. There’s also little doubt that boxing needs reform and the sanctioning bodies should be brought under stricter control. But UBOs are controversial, and some critics have argued that if the Revival Act becomes law, it could result in many fighters losing protections they currently enjoy under the Ali Act. In December, Top Rank founder and CEO Bob Arum, who promoted Ali at the height of his career, wrote to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce to express his concerns. He said: “As presently drafted, the conditions required for an entity to qualify as a UBO do not include the protections for fighters set forth by the original Ali Act. A UBO is not prohibited from entering coercive contracts with fighters, is not required to provide financial disclosures to fighters, and is not subject to the rule establishing a firewall between managers and promoters. “There is no reason for Congress to remove these protections for those fighters who choose to sign with a UBO, and there is no reason for a UBO to be exempt from complying with these protective measures. ” Arum is not alone. “This is a concerning bill for professional boxers, ” Erik Magraken, a combat sports regulatory attorney and founder of combatsportslaw. com, told the Guardian last August. “It guts the key protections from the Ali Act for promoters that choose to use the ‘unified boxing organization’ model. It allows a promoter to control rank and title … and achieve a stranglehold on the sport. ” Nico Ali Walsh, a professional boxer and grandson of Ali, expressed his opposition to the bill on X last August. Oscar De La Hoya, the former world-champion fighter turned promoter, has spoken out against the bill on numerous occasions, while USA Boxing, the amateur governing body, withdrew its support this month. In January, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman wrote an open letter to the boxing community in defense of the current Ali Act. Advertisement There is concern within boxing that UBOs will be allowed to operate like the UFC. In 2024, UFC agreed to pay $375 million to a group of more than 1, 200 athletes who had competed in UFC events to settle an antitrust lawsuit in which the plaintiffs accused the UFC of stifling economic competition and suppressing fighter pay. The latest wording of the Ali Revival Act does state that UBOs — or their employees — cannot have “any direct or indirect financial interest in the management of a boxer in relation to the participation of the boxer in a covered match. ” However, under the Revival Act, UBOs can operate as both promoter and sanctioning body, which means the UBO can control fighters’ rankings, title opportunities and, ultimately, the value of their purses. Managers remain as a sort of independent broker under the Revival Act’s proposed changes, but their power is diluted. A fighter under contract with a UBO cannot leave the company without losing his or her ranking or title. For example, under the current system, if a boxer is signed to a certain promoter as the IBF welterweight champion and that fighter’s contract expires, he or she could take the title and sign with the highest-bidding promoter. When a boxer signed to a UBO reaches the end of a deal, that fighter would not be able to sign with another promoter and retain the title and/or ranking. If the Revival Act becomes law, critics warn that boxers might feel coerced into staying under contract with a UBO rather than seeking higher pay on the free market. There is also concern among U. S. ‘club’ promoters — the smaller operators known in the UK as ‘small-hall’ promoters — that the rising costs of staging events will run them out of business. They will be subject to the same minimum payments and insurance guarantees for an event that attracts a crowd of 500 people as a larger promoter would be required to provide for a pay-per-view event at a sold-out stadium. Participating in club shows can be a pathway for boxers to reach higher levels of the profession, and critics have argued that requirements that constrain club promoters’ ability to put on U. S. shows could drive fighters to compete in nearby countries with fewer regulations. Now that the House has voted on the Ali Revival Act, the bill must also be passed by the U. S. Senate before President Donald Trump can sign it into law. The Senate, however, has been occupied with other priorities in recent weeks, such as the ongoing debate over Department of Homeland Security funding, which Senate Democrats have refused to support without including reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement practices after two U. S. citizens were killed during interactions with federal agents in Minnesota in January. Trump has also directed leaders in the Republican-controlled Senate to prioritize the passage of an election-overhaul bill called the SAVE America Act in time for the 2026 U. S. midterm elections. Will lawmakers find time to vote on a boxing reform proposal before this legislative session ends in early 2027? If they don’t, the bill will die, and its congressional backers will have to reintroduce the act when a new session begins next year. The bipartisan support for the bill in Tuesday’s House vote, however, along with Trump’s strong relationship with TKO and Dana White, suggests that the Ali Revival Act is likely to be enacted sometime in 2026. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Chris Mc Kenna spent more than 11 years working for the Daily Star as well as the Daily Mirror and Daily Express covering football and boxing. He also covered the World Cup final in 2022 and boxing’s biggest events of the last decade.