New Jersey Strips 35 Professional Boxers of Their Fight Licenses

The New Jersey Athletic Control Board announced Monday that it has stripped the boxing licenses of 35 professional fighters it determined no longer were healthy or skilled enough to continue competing.

Commissioner Larry Hazzard said the list represents 9% of the 400 fighters registered to box in the state. The board based its decisions on the boxers’ performances and on medical examinations required of all participants in New Jersey bouts, he said.

The tests, administered for the first time last year, are an element of a sweeping boxing reform program in New Jersey. All boxers must undergo annual tests to detect possible brain, heart or eye damage. Boxers who are knocked out are required to repeat the exams.