CSAC withdraws support of Ali Act destruction after public outcry

CSAC withdraws support of Ali Act destruction after public outcry

Vocal pushback has forced the California State Athletic Commission to reconsider its backing of TKO’s attack on boxing

by Patrick Stumberg
Sep 9, 2025, 3:12 PM EDT
In preparation for a vote to support the “Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act,” TKO’s grotesquely bad-faith attempt to defang the original Ali Act, the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) opened the floor to public comment.

The public did not take kindly to their position. As a result, CSAC scrapped its initial plan to back the bill, instead creating a subcommittee to investigate the bill ahead of a potential vote in December.

The bill, led by Representatives Brian Jack and Sharice Davids, has yet to be heard in either the Committee on Education and Workforce or the Committee on Energy and Commerce. It would need to pass out of committee, pass the House, and then secure 60 votes in the Senate to reach the President’s desk. That’s an extremely tall order, especially with a hideously divided Congress scrambling to cobble together a funding bill ahead of their end-of-month deadline.

Still, I’ll keep you all abreast of any developments. This is your chance to have a hand in defending the sport you love.

https://www.badlefthook.com/boxing-...rt-of-ali-act-destruction-after-public-outcry

This content is protected

Interestingly Rachel Donaire (Nonito's wife & manager) was 1 of the members of public who spoke out against TKO's proposed "reforms". You can hear her at around 1 hr 36 mins

MMAFA the guys who were involved with the UFC anti trust lawsuit also chimed in on the dangers of doing away with sanctioning bodies & allowing promoter controlled in house rankings

 

This content is protected

Supporters are almost all connected to UFC in someway

Opponents are mostly former UFC/MMA fighters

No active pro boxer showed up for something that will effect them though a 17 year old amateur boxer Gabriel called in to express his opposition

 

Ya

Even worse is all these active boxers making millions under the existing structure not even taking a few mins to call in while yapping online to Ariel Helwani about the need to protect the Ali act (both Paulie Malinaggi & Danny Garcia have done that)

But so many ex UFC fighters called in to express their opposition because they know what the UFC does. These boxers sitting smug will only know what hit them when they start making UFC money while Dana gambles away a million per night

 

Only if Zuffa boxing succeeds in eliminating other promoters from the field with Turki's backing

Boxers still got way more in % terms than what UFC pays out (16% of revenue) even before the Ali Act, so the Ali act isn't the sole reason for why boxing isn't structured like the UFC

Even the IBC which came closest to UFC model was mob linked meaning there was mafia threats to make their monopoly possible for however long they lasted

I don't know what Turki's game is as he is still working with Matchroom & other promoters, even signed a deal with Boxxer recently. Hearn claimed that Turki wants to work with all the promoters when asked about his recent deal with Boxxer

As long as Zuffa boxing doesn't gain control of 90% of the market like UFC has in MMA (which IMO needs very substantial early cash burn to overpay top talent initially & which can only come from Saudi), Ali act or no Ali act they are not going to attract top talent. They are going to attract the likes of Callum Walsh

Also if they gain such control then it will likely be for 135 & above since below that the major market is Japan & they haven't even gained a foothold in Japan for MMA where Rizin does its own thing. This means that "eastern" boxing may branch off away from the west where the Japanese do their own thing with the traditional sanctioning bodies in weight classes that people in west anyway don't care much about. I don't see Dana & Ari Emanuel running roughshod over Teiken & Akihiko Honda in their own backyard no matter how much money they bring to the table

 

Paulie made a good point here I thought about the problems Zuffa boxers will face securing fighting with non Zuffa top talent with journeymen records

This content is protected

 

Ya people want action but after the Mayweather era there is a lot of focus on the 0, when you see a 30-0 elite guy fighting 20-4 Zuffa guy then they might call the Zuffa boxer a bum even if he is good

The issue you mentioned will definitely happen unless Zuffa manages to eliminate all other major promoters & gain control of boxing market

If they do it then it will only be in the West because if they can't crack Japan in MMA, no way they are gonna eliminate Honda & Teiken in their backyard especially with how conservative the JBC is (remember they only recognized WBC & IBF in 2013). This means below 135 will branch off into a separate sport where Japan does its own thing in league with the 4 sanctioning bodies because Japan is the major market for those weight classes. I don't know how that would be considered good for boxing by these Zuffa enthusiasts like Steve Kim?

I remember Dana White even discussed eliminating the 125 lb weight class because he said it wasn't selling tickets & he was unhappy with Demetrius Johnson (whom many consider MMA GOAT candidate). In the end they traded DJ to One Championship for a middling talent like Ben Askren because DJ was asking for more & wasn't willing to give into their nonsensical demands. Now imagine a guy like Naoya Inoue being completely unknown in western boxing because Zuffa didn't care about his weight class or JBC won't recognize worthless Zuffa trinket belt & thus Inoue chooses to fight only in Japan for the 4 titles

The other issue is what will happen to the Soviet bloc talent because its very obvious that the UFC undersigns talent from the stans & Russia because of their wrestling heavy styles, lack of English. visa issues etc. Instead they prefer to sign cans from much bigger markets like Brazil & US for cheaper because the UFC fanbase doesn't care/doesn't even known MMA exists outside of UFC

We have the same problem in boxing now where guys from those places have to do extra work to get signed & promoted but at least in boxing there are 4 paths to a world title plus multiple promoters. So if Matchroom says no to Murtazaliev he can approach TR, Queensberry, GB etc., & he has 4 ways he can reach a world title. OTOH if Zuffa boxing is all there is to boxing then they can essentially shut out Soviet bloc talent if they so desire & take us back to the cold war era when these guys couldn't even turn pro. How is that good for boxing?

Lot of issues that these Zuffa shills are not considering at all