PROVO -- The Fight Club might be down for the count, but that didn't stop the Provo City Council from attempting to deliver a final blow.

While organizers of the underground boxing matches several weeks ago KO'd the events due to concern over liability and negative publicity, Mayor Lewis K. Billings wants to make sure consensual fighting doesn't get up off the mat. An ordinance adopted Tuesday outlaws fight clubs."I know there are those saying this is not necessary," Billings said, referring to the promise of Fight Club organizers that they had thrown in the towel. "I would just remind you they quit once before."

The Brigham Young University and Utah Valley State College students who organized the fighting on several Monday nights earlier this year once said they were quitting, but they resurrected the matches after a tabloid television show offered to pay them.

Provo's new ordinance does not make specific reference to "fight club," but the city code now makes it a class B misdemeanor to "participate in, promote, organize or publicize a fighting/boxing contest" unless organizers have met several criteria.

Would-be consensual pugilists must get written approval from Provo's mayor or his designee to stage the event; they must provide "proper safety equipment"; they must provide for a medical doctor to be present; and they must make allowance for crowd control and toilet facilities.

However, Provo's new ordinance has several loopholes. For example, it outlaws consensual fighting only if 10 or more individuals are present. In addition, it fails to specifically define terms like "fighting/boxing" and "proper safety equipment."

But in the end, city officials decided it was more important to have an ordinance on the books than to get it right the first time. Members of the City Council acknowledged they may have to revise the ordinance to eliminate vague statements.

Some Provo residents said the ordinance raised the specter of violations of Constitutional rights.

"My biggest concern here is freedom of speech," said Jay Sevison, who successfully lobbied the council to remove any reference to the term "fight club" from its ordinance.

"Fight Club" was a Hollywood film released last year starring Brad Pitt, and it was the name adopted by the untrained college boxers in Utah County. But several other groups, including high school students, organized copycat boxing matches.

Several residents said it was unnecessary for the ordinance to require fight organizers to get a signature from the mayor, saying the police chief would be a better choice. But Billings appeared interested in maintaining control over approving any fighting events.

"You would hate to see us have another incident," said Billings, urging the council not to wait before passing the ordinance. "You never know if it might crop up." Billings objected to efforts by the council to adopt nationwide amateur boxing standards as the threshold for acceptable fighting clubs. Such regulations include detail about type and size of equipment such as gloves, headgear and mouthpieces.

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Provo's ordinance requires those but says only that they must be "proper."

"Suddenly, I have got to have police officers who become certified boxing referees," Billings said sarcastically. "I'm going to have to give them scales so they can go around weighing gloves."

Dell Fowler, who operates Dell's Boxing Club from the garage of his Provo home, said perhaps the city's ordinance should be more strict and require wannabe fighters to join the U.S. Amateur Boxing Association.

"I came to you people to maybe have (you add) some more safety to it," Fowler told the council.E-MAIL:carter@desnews.com

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