In a revealing interview on Din Thomas‘ podcast, Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) President Mike Mazzulli attempted to clarify his position regarding potential amendments to the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act amid swirling controversy about his relationship with TKO, the parent company of UFC.
Mazzulli, who has served as ABC president for nearly a decade, emphasized repeatedly that he has limited information about TKO‘s plans for amending the Ali Act, which was established in the 1990s to protect boxers from exploitation.
“As of right now, I have nothing in writing to state what TKO would like to do with the Muhammad Ali Act,” Mazzulli stated firmly. “What bothers me the most is when you have websites as well as reporters that send stuff out and they play the ‘I got you’ game.”
The controversy stems from leaked emails suggesting Mazzulli was working closely with TKO on proposed amendments to the Ali Act. On the podcast, he admitted,
“I will admit maybe the email that got leaked out there sounded like I was in the pocket of TKO, the way I wrote it. I didn’t think I wrote that… probably like one o’clock in the morning.”
Mazzulli explained that the Ali Act currently applies only to boxing, not MMA, though many commissions like his at Mohegan Sun treat MMA stars with the same protections. He outlined that the Act primarily serves to protect stars through mechanisms like the federal ID system for tracking medical suspensions, preventing exploitative promoter-manager relationships, and establishing stars’ rights to contract transparency.
When pressed about potential changes, Mazzulli revealed,
“I was told that they would like to rewrite the bill. Maybe add an and/or clause at the end. Nothing related to MMA, nothing related. This is boxing. That’s all I have so far. I had one conversation with them.”
The podcast hosts, former UFC star Din Thomas and co-host Ryan Quinn, expressed concerns shared by many about promoters gaining any ground in amending legislation designed to protect athletes.
Quinn noted he was “nervous about this” because promoters are “traditionally, habitually, and historically spiteful and petty people.”
Thomas emphasized that fighters should have a voice in any amendment process: “If fighters are being protected from the promoter then there should be fighters involved with the amendment process, right? As opposed to just the promoter saying, ‘All right, there needs to be changes. We’re going to make the changes.'”
Mazzulli agreed fighters should be involved, noting ironically that he himself established the fighters committee within the ABC, but lamented that fighter representatives rarely attend ABC meetings to voice their concerns.
“No one was there last meeting. There wasn’t a fighter present to speak up,” he said.
The ABC president also outlined potential improvements he personally would like to see, including standardized minimum medical requirements across all jurisdictions, mandatory medical insurance, and minimum fighter pay standards of “$125 a round or $500 for a four-round fight.”
Mazzulli concluded by inviting fighters and media to attend the upcoming ABC meeting in New Orleans in August, where these issues could be discussed more thoroughly.
“It’s not fair for us to come down on you guys and to treat you guys like [expletive] and alienate you guys and then not accept the invitation to go to your meetings,” Thomas acknowledged, promising to attend.
As the interview wrapped up, Mazzulli urged patience:
“Wait and see.”
