If you’ve found that making sense of policy proposals to amend the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act are difficult to wrap your head around, you aren’t alone. The Ali Act – which was built on the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 and has been on the books since 2000 – has been foundational in helping improve entrenched problems such as fighter safety and financial transparency in the sport.
Currently, a bill known as the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act of 2026 (MAABRA) is in the House and, according to some, would “gut” the Ali Act. Others submit that it will enhance and strengthen the best parts of the Ali Act. In any case, MAABRA would introduce certain dramatic changes to the boxing landscape that could affect all parties involved in the sport.
BoxingScene on Wednesday reviewed the publicly available congressional records in an effort to distill these proposed changes. Rather than argue for or against its merits, we try to offer a coherent overview of MAABRA and updates that explain where it currently stands. We ask and attempt to answer a few fundamental questions tied to the policy: What amendments does MAABRA propose? What are the motivations for change? What are the latest revisions to the original bill? And what comes next?
What the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act proposes
The MAABRA bill proposing revisions to the Ali Act was introduced last July to the U.S. House of Representatives and referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce. In January, the committee, chaired by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-IL), marked up the bill, which passed 30-4 and was sent for amendment in February. “This bipartisan bill would create an alternative system in boxing by permitting the formation of Unified Boxing Organizations (UBOs) alongside the sport’s existing sanctioning bodies, giving fighters more choice in how they compete,” Rep. Walberg said through a press release after the January mark-up.
More specifically, MAABRA would allow promoters to form their own UBOs and obtain the power to create their own titles and manage their own rankings. At the same time, it would also make those promoters essentially exempt from many of the transparency protections that have long been in place to protect boxers.
Additionally, the bill includes an enhancement of medical and drug-testing requirements in boxing and the restriction of sanctioning organizations and UBOs offering more than one belt or title per weight class. That could serve to tidy boxing’s divisional hierarchies while also arguably diminishing the influence of (and the fees collected from fighters by) boxing’s traditional powers.
What is driving the efforts to amend the Ali Act?
MAABRA was introduced last summer and is now being pushed in Congress because of the launch of Zuffa Boxing and its desire to build a business model similar to that of the UFC (whose president is also Zuffa’s founder, Dana White). Although the bill has received bipartisan support, its hurried arrival and the speed at which it is being hustled through the lawmaking process has raised some concerns among both watchdogs outside Congress and members inside the body itself.
Under the section “Additional Views” the latest House Report on the matter (H.R. 119-524), dated February 25, 2026, states, “Thanks to Committee Democrats, the version of MAABRA that was approved by the Committee on Education and Workforce on a bipartisan basis was significantly better than the introduced version. Committee Democrats are providing these additional improvements to the bill and continue to press for answers to relevant questions. Regrettably, the rush of this bill to the House Floor has foreclosed the full consideration of the points laid out below.”
But even some Republican lawmakers weren’t sold on the bill as it was initially introduced. In a section of the report entitled “Unanswered Questions,” Rep. Mark Takano (R-CA) had questions for Andy Foster, the executive officer of the California State Athletic Commission, about conversations he may have had with Zuffa, its partners or affiliates regarding employment. There has been speculation that Foster may eventually be appointed to a powerful role with Zuffa or an oversight board with the ability to push forward the upstart promotion’s agenda.
Foster’s communications with Zuffa and disclosures to the CSAC weren’t the only stones left unturned. In the conclusion of the latest report on the MAABRA bill, ranking member Bobby Scott (D-VA) wrote, “It is not clear why the Committee Majority rushed to advance this legislation, especially given that all the questions for the record (QFRs) from Democratic Committee members still have not been addressed by witnesses in the Committee’s one and only hearing on this topic, a Workforce Protections Subcommittee hearing on December 4, 2025.”
What are the key amendments to MAABRA?
Below is a paraphrased list of improvements cited in the latest report under subsections “Health and Safety,” “Economic Security and Opportunity for Boxers” and “Integrity of the Sport”:
• Ensuring qualified ringside caregivers with degree and certification requirements provided by the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) and physician groups.
• Requiring boxing fight organizers to provide both an ambulance and emergency medical personnel on site.
• Increasing the new minimum coverage for match-related injuries from $25,000 to $50,000.
• Adding a new requirement for $15,000 in accidental death coverage.
• Increasing the new minimum payment to boxers from $150 per round to $200 per round.
• Establishing consistent drug testing policies by adhering to World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of tested substances, and requiring drug testing for every title bout and at least half of other matches.
• Limiting sanctioning organizations and UBOs to awarding no more than one championship title per weight class and restricting interim circumstances.
• Require UBOs to specify a minimum payment for bouts in their contracts with boxers;
• Guarantee fighters at least one match every six months or a minimum payout.
• Limit contract duration to a maximum of six years.
Additionally, the latest MAABRA report earmarked “Areas for Further Improvement,” paraphrased below:
• Establishing a right for boxers under contract with a UBO to be able to challenge an assigned opponent that a boxer believes to be an unsafe mismatch.
• Requiring UBOs to cover the cost of deductibles for mandated health insurance.
• Encouraging public and occupational health researchers to harness medical data arising from professional boxing (with an emphasis on brain health).
• Protecting boxers’ ability to earn ancillary income through endorsement deals.
• Prohibiting a UBO from forbidding a boxer to train, prepare, or live in any state (for example, barring a boxer from residing in California).
• Regulating boxer ratings by UBOs (which MAABRA currently leaves unregulated) using a pool of reporters free from business relationships with a UBO or similar objective criteria and appeals that apply to sanctioning organizations.
What’s next for the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act?
For all the polarizing opinions about MAABRA – including concerns of Zuffa building a UFC-like monopoly in boxing and the costs of some of the changes detailed above likely to drive smaller promoters from the sport – the bill has rallied bipartisan support. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), an enthusiastic and educated boxing fan, has led the charge to bolster health, safety and other fighter protections and place reasonable limits on the power of UBOs, but lawmakers – if not quite in lockstep – appear headed toward roughly the same destination.
As MAABRA moves to the House floor for a majority vote – a representative from the Committee on Education and Workforce told BoxingScene on Wednesday that the bill has not yet been added to Congress’ calendar – it appears ready to coast ahead. If, as expected, MAABRA passes the House, it would require another majority in the Senate (60 votes) before moving to the desk of the president. Given White’s relationship with Donald Trump, some version of MAABRA (and likely one that closely resembles its current form) figures to become law as soon as the end of 2026.
David Greisman and Lance Pugmire helped contribute to this report.
Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.
