58 Pa. Code § 21.4 - Conduct of contests

(a) At each professional contest or exhibition, except an exhibition held solely for training purposes, there shall be two referees, one physician, three judges, an announcer and a timekeeper in attendance, all of whom will be licensed by the Commission. The Executive Director will assign all officials except the announcer. The Executive Director may also appoint a knockdown timekeeper. A promoter or an employee of a promoter or an officer, director or stockholder of a corporation holding the license of a promoter may not be appointed or permitted to officiate in any capacity at a professional contest under the jurisdiction of the Commission.

(b) The Executive Director will determine the time and place of the weigh-in for each professional event under the Commission's jurisdiction, and boxers under contract to participate in the event shall appear promptly at the appointed place to be officially weighed by a representative of the Commission on Commission approved scales and examined by the attending physician.

(1) A boxer being weighed shall remove all clothing at the discretion of a commissioner or the Executive Director.

(2) A boxer shall weigh-in no more than 24 hours prior to the contracted time of the contests. Under extenuating circumstances and with the permission of the Executive Director, the boxer may be allowed to weigh-in no more than 30 hours prior to the contracted time of the contest. If a boxer is deemed overweight by the Executive Director, another weigh-in shall be scheduled for no more than 3 hours from the time that he first stepped onto the scale to determine that the boxer weighs no more than the weight for which he has contracted. Boxers may lose no more than 3 pounds in this 3-hour period. If after 3 hours the boxer cannot achieve the weight, the boxer shall be disqualified and may be subject to disciplinary action as the Commission may determine.

(3) The Commission will require a boxer under contract for a contest under its jurisdiction to appear before a commissioner or the Executive Director for a preliminary physical examination within 2 hours prior to the contest, as required by section 709(a) of the Athletic Code (relating to medical examination). The weight of the boxer shall be one of several factors included in this physical examination by the attending physician to determine whether the boxer is physically or mentally fit to proceed. Physically unfit shall include, but not be limited to, a determination by the attending physician that a boxer has gained or lost so much weight since the time of the weigh-in that the boxer could harm himself or the opponent. Except as provided by section 711 of the Athletic Code (relating to limitation on difference in weights), the weight of one boxer may not exceed the weight of that boxer's opponent by 10 pounds.

(4) If an event is postponed for more than 24 hours, a commissioner or the Executive Director may require an additional weigh-in and physical examination of the participating boxers on the day to which the event is postponed.

(5) Each boxer in a contest under the jurisdiction of the Commission shall submit to the Executive Director the names of the boxer's seconds for approval, and no person other than the boxer's approved seconds may be permitted to assist in the boxer's corner during the contest.

(6) A boxer under contract to participate in an event under jurisdiction of the Commission shall report in the dressing room at a time set by the Executive Director and shall remain in that area until ordered to the ring by an authorized representative of the Commission.

(c) The referee shall call the participants and their chief seconds to the center of the ring for final instructions before each contest. During an event, only licensed seconds, trainers and managers are authorized to be in the boxer's corner. After the announcement of the decision at the end of a contest, the participants and their seconds shall leave the ring without undue delay and retire to the dressing quarters. Participants, seconds and managers may not manifest to officials or to spectators an opinion as to the outcome of the contest nor may they be disrespectful or exhibit improper conduct toward a Commission official or toward the spectators before or after the announcement of the decision.

(d) The promoter shall have immediately available for use adequate medical emergency first aid supplies and equipment during each event under his promotion, which will be subject to examination and approval by the Commission. An individual will not be permitted to examine or treat a participant during an event unless the individual is wearing disposable latex hygienic gloves. The gloves shall be paid for and provided by the promoter. Exceptions will be permitted when an emergency treatment or examination makes the wearing of the gloves impractical. The promoter shall also have available for each event under his promotion an ample supply of conventional boxing gloves including at least one new set of gloves for use in the main contest. Gloves for use in the event shall be in good condition and will be subject to inspection and approval by the referee, a commissioner, the Executive Director and an inspector before and during use. If a glove bursts or is otherwise seriously damaged during the progress of a contest, the referee shall interrupt the contest and require that the glove be replaced before the resumption of the contest.

(e) Persons other than boxers, managers, seconds and Commission representatives may not have access to the dressing quarters at an event under the jurisdiction of the Commission except by special permission of the Commission. The Commission may issue nontransferable written passes to the dressing quarters if circumstances warrant, and then only holders of the passes shall be admitted except by special permission of the Commission. An inspector shall be on duty in the dressing quarters from the opening until the closing and shall be responsible for the maintenance of order and the enforcement of the Athletic Code and this part.

(f) The ring platform shall be kept clean and clear of obstructions throughout each contest. Buckets, stools, bottles and other corner equipment shall be removed before the start of each contest and again between rounds immediately upon the sounding of the 10-second warning signal of the timekeeper. Care shall be exerted by boxers and their seconds to keep corners dry. Excessive spraying or throwing of water on boxers is forbidden.

(g) Unless otherwise authorized by the Executive Director, a professional event may not be scheduled for a total of less than 28 or more than 40 rounds, each of which shall be of the maximum duration of 3 minutes for male boxers and 2 minutes for female boxers with a rest period of 1 minute between the end of each round and the start of the next. Professional contests under the jurisdiction of the Commission shall be scheduled for four, six, eight or ten rounds unless otherwise specifically authorized by the Executive Director in the case of a world championship, State championship or other especially significant contests when contests may be scheduled for 12 or 15 rounds for male boxers as the Commission deems appropriate. The maximum number of rounds for female boxers is ten rounds. A contest of the scheduled duration of more than 15 rounds may not be permitted in this Commonwealth. The Executive Director may permit, and will have the discretion to place on the program, and to determine the length of, one scheduled intermission between contests of a professional event.

(h) A promoter shall notify the Executive Director of a proposed change in the composition of any contest under his promotion immediately upon the arising of need or decision for change. An announcement or advertisement of the proposed change may not be made by the promoter or a person connected with the promotion unless approval of a commissioner or the Executive Director has been granted. If the change is made and approved, immediate widespread public announcement shall be made through available communications media and written notice shall be posted conspicuously at ticket agencies and at entrances and ticket windows at the site of the event. Upon postponement or cancellation of the main event or the entire program of contests or exhibitions, the promoter shall refund the full price of each ticket to any person who presents the entire ticket for a refund within 10 days after the event. The promoter shall announce the postponement or cancellation at the beginning of the program and at other times during the event as the Commission may prescribe and shall notify the ticket holders in each announcement that they may present their ticket stubs for a refund of the purchase price during the program.

(i) The promoter of a professional event under the jurisdiction of the Commission shall make payment of the purse and other money due a participating boxer to the boxer personally unless a prior arrangement has been made and approved by the Commission. A promoter may not make payment to a boxer, to a manager or to an agent of either of them except in the presence of a commissioner or the Executive Director. There may be no variance from the procedure in this subsection except by explicit written direction by the Commission to the promoter.

(j) Each professional contest under the jurisdiction of the Commission shall be designated a contest or an exhibition according to its true and correct character and having been so designated, it shall be announced and advertised explicitly as such. An exhibition may not be announced or advertised either directly or by inference as a championship match.

(k) A boxer or a licensee may not strike, molest or abuse physically or verbally a spectator, ring official or representative of the Commission under penalty of summary disqualification, suspension or fine, or any combination of these penalties.

(l) A professional event or individual match may not be publicly announced or advertised until approved by the Commission.

(m) If a boxer refuses to continue a contest while physically able to do so, the referee shall rule the contest a technical knockout (TKO) and award the contest to the opposing boxer. The purse of the losing boxer, or any part thereof, may be impounded by the Commission.

Notes

58 Pa. Code § 21.4

The provisions of this § 21.4 adopted March 11, 1946; amended through November 1, 1966; amended November 10, 1978, effective 11/11/1978, 8 Pa.B. 3094; amended April 10, 1992, effective 4/11/1992, 22 Pa.B. 1760; amended May 17, 2002, effective 5/18/2002, 32 Pa.B. 2443.

The provisions of this § 21.4 amended under the Athletic Code, 5 Pa.C.S. § 103(b)(1).

This section cited in 58 Pa. Code § 5.2 (relating to postponements and cancellations); 58 Pa. Code § 21.15 (relating to State championships); and 58 Pa. Code § 23.4 (relating to boxers).