Joint Association of Boxers (JAB) President Eddie Mustafa Muhammad testified Thursday in support of Michigan H.R. 4355, the Michigan Boxing Reform Act. The bill, which is now waiting for a vote by Michigan’s Senate Subcommittee for Labor, Economic Development, Small Business and Regulatory Reform, would improve conditions for boxers fighting in Michigan.

Muhammad was invited to testify by Bradley A. Wright, chairman of the Michigan Athletic Board of Control, which regulates boxing in Michigan. The legislation, which would create a Michigan Boxing Commission, requires boxers, promoters, and referees to be licensed. The bill also enacts increases in boxer insurance, and requires promoters to post bonds passed the House, and is now waiting for a Senate subcommittee and subsequent full Senate vote.

“The testimony went great,” Muhammad said. “I talked about implementing JAB, and the Senators really loved that. We’re trying to put things together to help the boxers of Michigan.”

Wright said there have been attempts to create such a commission for nearly 20 years, but this is the furthest any attempt has gotten through the legislative process. “What’s different about it this time is that the boxing community is united behind it,” he said.