Adam Roorbach, Executive Director ATHLETIC COMMISSION Phone: (785) 296-0596 1000 S.W. Jackson St., Suite 100 Fax: (785) 296-6809 TTY: 711 Topeka, KS 66612-1354 [email protected]
David Toland, Secretary Department of Commerce Laura Kelly, Governor
November 18, 2019
Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulations – Department of Commerce, Athletic Commission Response
In response to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulations Report on the August 6, 2019, Meeting of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulations provided to the Kansas Legislature, the Kansas Department of Commerce Athletic Commission submits the following response to the Committee’s concern and request.
Concern. The Committee is concerned the sport of professional bareknuckle fighting is being authorized by the Commission without prior legislative consideration. It notes KSA 74-50,182(o) does not list professional bare-knuckle fighting in the definition of “regulated sports,” but does list other sports mentioned in KAR 128-5-1.
In response to the Joint Committee concern that bare-knuckle fighting is being authorized without prior legislative consideration, Commerce refers the Committee to K.S.A. 21-1801 which does consider fighting without gloves. Specifically, K.S.A. 21-1801(a) prohibits “any public boxing, sparring or wrestling match, exhibition or contest with or without gloves” [emphasis added] however K.S.A. 21- 1801(b) states “the provisions of subsection(a) shall not apply to any fight, exhibition match or contest conducted under a license issued by the athletic commission pursuant to the Kansas professional regulated sports act [(hereinafter the “Act”)], and amendments thereto […].” The legislature has specifically barred combat sports both with and without gloves unless the match is conducted under a license issued by the athletic commission. As the legislature included contests with or without gloves in this statute and then exempted those contests from the prohibition if licensed under the Act, the legislature contemplated the possibility of those contests being licensed and regulated by the Commission under the Act.
Under KSA 74-50,182 (o) "Regulated sports" means professional boxing, sparring, professional kickboxing, professional and amateur mixed martial arts, grappling arts, pankration, professional wrestling and professional full-contact karate. Per KSA 74-50,182 (j) "Professional boxing" means the sport of attack and defense which uses the fists and where contestants compete for valuable consideration. Bare knuckle fighting is a sport of attack and defense and within the definition.
Bare Knuckle Fighting, also known as bare knuckle boxing, is a subset of the sport of professional boxing in which contestants participate in the sport of attack and defense using their fists without gloves. The definition of professional boxing does not include the specification that contestants must wear gloves. You will note that the regulations for professional boxing are substantially similar in form with the primary exception being the requirement of gloves and their specifications versus the requirement for wrapping the hands and wrists of fighters with tape and the specifications for those wraps in bare knuckle matches.
Because the legislature provided the exemption from prohibition of contests both with and without gloves when conducted pursuant to the Act and because the definition of professional boxing does not specify whether the sport of attack and defense which uses the fists shall require or prohibit gloves, the Commission is authorized to regulate such sport both with and without gloves. The addition of a separate regulation for bare knuckle professional boxing, or bare knuckle fighting, promotes the purpose of the Kansas Athletic commission in ensuring the safety of contestants who participate in these contests.
Request. The Committee requests the Commission provide citations for peer-reviewed literature relied upon by the Commission and its medical staff in consideration of the regulation of bare-knuckle fighting, specifically related to injuries associated with the sport and forces experienced by the body.
As explained by Kanas Athletic Commission member and senior ringside physician Dr. Bohm in the Joint Committe hearing, there are no official “peer-reviewed” articles published on the sport of Bare Knuckle Fighting. What we have found through our research are several articles detailing the amount of force a fighter can strike their opponent with.
According to industry research, elite level fighters average 776 pounds of force when wearing gloves, with some registering up to 1,300 pounds (The True Force of a Boxers Punch – Cecil Adams. 6/20/2010). The same article cites a study of martial arts punches (which are thrown with bare knuckles) registered at only 325 pounds of force, with the strongest measuring 412 pounds. In mixed-martial arts, which are sanctioned by the Athletic Commission, contestants are allowed to throw hammer fists at their opponent with up to 660 pounds of force. Also allowed are elbows that can register at or around 425 pounds (MMA Force Impact Study, AUM Department of Kinesiology).
Adam Roorbach Kansas Boxing Commissioner