A state lawmaker has hinted at a possible crackdown on the Fight Club in Provo, but Utah's boxing commissioner said Thursday that he would be reluctant to impose regulations on the six-week-old slugfests.
"I'm not sure if I agree that it has to go that far," said Larry Fullmer, the state's top boxing official. "I'm not in favor of what they're doing in Provo; I'd rather see them fight in an amateur (boxing) event. On the other hand, I think we're jumping the gun too quickly to try and regulate it. I think we ought to wait and see if it's a passing fad."
The Fight Club bouts involve competition between men wearing boxing gloves who engage in three 45-second rounds against a competitor. The fighting has few rules and can become brutal, observers say. Officials have found that no current laws would prohibit the fights.
Sen. Pete Suazo, D-Salt Lake City, recently criticized the weekly brawl sessions in Utah Valley, saying that unregulated macho bouts with 16-ounce boxing gloves are a serious injury waiting to happen.
"I'd hate to have an individual die," Suazo said Thursday. "We'll all be sorry then."
Suazo, head of officials for the Utah Amateur Boxing Association and a former amateur boxer himself, said he has never personally attended one of the Fight Club events. His opposition to the club, which has attracted crowds of up to 300 college-age students in recent weeks, is based on photographs and a newspaper article he read on the phenomenon.