Toughman bill clears House committee

When first-time boxing amateur BobbyTroy DePue entered the ring, he didn't know his first opponent was a three-time Louisiana Golden Glove winner who had 56 amateur fights under his belt. Unfortunately, he'd never find out. You see, that fighter, Terry Vermaelen, had discovered in previous combative amateur boxing competitions that referees allowed fighters to use a variety of techniques that would be illegal in sanctioned boxing. One was holding the back of an opponent's head with one hand while hitting him with the other.

By the second round, Vermaelen was punching at will, holding the back of DePue's head with his right hand and pummeling him with his left. DePue finally turned to the referee and said, "I've had enough." The referee stopped the match, and DePue walked a few feet before collapsing. He died later that night. A similar scenario occurred here in Texarkana in 2008 and has one family grieving for their son. 23 year-old Brandon Twitchell died after life support was removed four days after he participated in the Texarkana Toughman on February 8 and 9, 2008.

When Sen. John McCain filed legislation in 1997 in an attempt to ban the elimination boxing competitions nationwide, he called the contest a form of "human cockfighting." I set out to do the same thing here in Arkansas but quickly realized the support wasn't there for an outright ban as other neighbors have done (Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee). Therefore, rather than shooting for the moon and coming up empty-handed, I've negotiated with several different groups over the last several months in an effort to at least regulate elimination boxing contests and mixed martial arts events through a promulgation of any number of rules for the purpose of ensuring that fighters are matched with other fighters of similar experience and size, testing fighters for alcohol/drug consumption, inspecting for qualified referees and on-site medical personnel, and to properly notify contestants of what they're getting themselves into. I have to say that the Toughman Contest in particular has been very willing to meet and listen to my concerns.

The legislative product of these meetings gives the Arkansas Athletic Commission the authority to promulgate regulations to further ensure the safety of contestants entering these contests and to allow them to enforce their rules through a variety of enforcement procedures. They'll take 5% of the gate from these events to help provide them enforcement resources. HB1785 passed out of House State Agencies unanimously this morning, and I'll present it to the House on Monday.