Marc Lichtenfeld: How will the Teamsters help JAB?

James Hoffa: It’s a two step process. After the association (JAB) gets formed, then we’re going to talk about affiliation. In fact, we’re going to welcome them to affiliate with us. We’ll try to give them some structure to what they’re doing, and to enforce some discipline as far as getting healthcare and pensions and regulations in regards to boxing.

ML: Will it be more of an advisory role?

JH: No, they’ll eventually join us. As far as the structure - we haven’t gotten to the point as to whether they would be affiliated with us or even become members of the Teamsters. That’s a structural issue we haven’t gotten to yet. But basically there will be an affiliation between the Teamsters and JAB. What we’re going to do is to use our power to try to enforce some of the legislation that has already been passed, like the Muhammad Ali bill, but also to work with Senator McCain, who I already met with. I’m trying to get other legislation passed. Once we get that, then we can have something, when these people fight, when they’re career is over, they’ll have something.

Talking about structure it will be something like the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) I would think.

ML: Talk about the process of creating this organization from nothing. How do you get to the point where several years down the road, you have healthcare and pensions, when right now, you’re starting from scratch?

JH: Eddie (Mustafa Muhammad, who is leading the organization effort) tells us he’s getting a very good response. We’ve got Bonecrusher Smith here and many other fighters who will come out and say they’re for this. We’ll also get some trainers and others to say this is what’s needed. There has to be some structure, people are getting ripped off. We’re going to have some kind of enforcement like, who we can deal with, as far as if there’s any type of persons who are not reputable and try to keep them out. The NFL Player’s Association has something like that. They basically have a list of approved representatives for players. We would have something like that too. We’re going to draw from the NFL Player’s Association and SAG.

A lot of these fighters end up with nothing. We’ve talked about increasing the integrity of the sport. We talked about promoting only one league, so there’s not three or four crowns in the heavyweight division. We’ve talked about healthcare, we’ve talked about regulations in regards to fighting, so you have to have a fight card so you can’t fight under an assumed name.

Once we do this, it’s going to bring in more money and better sponsorship. Some of the top notch companies have been reluctant to get involved in sponsoring or advertising on a fight night, because it’s not considered reputable. If we can change that, it would mean more money for the fighters. Then of course, doing eventually what the NFL does, tapping into a TV contract. That’s really where the money’s at.

ML: How does this benefit the Teamsters, if at all?

JH: We represent working people. These boxers are working people. There’s some benefit to us, but it’s just important that we want to work with and help this sport. It’s a benefit that we want to help working people, which is our job, our role as a major organization.

ML: Would union boxers be eligible for Teamsters jobs once they retired from the ring?

JH: You’re right, there’s something right there. That would be an idea to have them on a referral list. That’s something we can look into.

ML: If a promoter agreed to an all union card, would there be stipulations that only Teamsters can hang the lights and deliver the concessions, etc., or will the boxers union be separate from the rest of the organization.

JH: You have to get the TV and you have to get the promoter and then the venue is just a part of the deal. We haven’t really thought about that yet.

ML: Have you gotten any reaction from the promoters? I assume in the short term, this will cost them money. Perhaps long term it will benefit them, but it has to hit them in the wallet, short term.

JH: We have talked to a number of promoters and they realize than in the long run, this is going to help boxing, make it more reputable. It will make it so that eventually there is more revenue for everybody if it gets its respectability back. If we get TV contracts, bigger sponsors, better sponsors, long term contracts, whether it’s ESPN, HBO or one of the networks - all these things work out if we have a better product, a more reputable product.

ML: What about the international aspect? There are a lot of international boxers who fight in the United States. Would they have to join in order to compete in the U.S.?

JH: That’s a good question. We haven’t explored that yet. There are a lot of international boxers that are interested in this. There are a lot of international boxers who have moved to the United States that want to join the union. We’ve had a good response from them. I would think that if we have a contract that says, the fighters have to all belong from the players association, from JAB… You’re right, the first thing we would try to do is do an all JAB evening with promoters, with a good TV contract, that’s a good evening of boxing, that’s reputable, that meets all of our standards, and I think that would be a good test case.

ML: I know it’s very early in the process but do you have a timeline for reaching certain milestones?

JH: No. We’ll look at this. But Eddie Mustafa Muhammad says they’re getting a lot of cards (union), they’re signing up a lot of fighters. By the way, I have a letter here from Muhammad Ali endorsing what they’re trying to do.

ML: Thanks very much for your time, Jim.

JH: OK, Marc. My pleasure.