Thread: What conditions prevent a fighter from being licensed?

Would a fighter still be able to get licensed to box if s/he is ...

Colorblind?
Hard of hearing?
Epileptic?

All depends on the jurisdiction. But most certainly for the most strict areas like Vegas, California and New York, you have to be clear in certain areas:

1. Does not have a communicable disease that can be transferred through the blood or sweat, like AIDS/HIV or Chikungunya or some shit like that.

2. You have to be legally able to see. Meaning not legally blind. Both eyes too.

3. You have to show signs of sustained or current brain injury or brain stem injury- epilepsy may fall into the category, but not necessarily all the time. But epilepsy may cause swelling and bleeding in the brain, so it all depends. But generally someone that suffers epilepsy would have brain malfunctions. But the real issue is swelling, bruising or bleeding in the brain. Neurological conditions like fainting and dizziness associated with damage to the brain, but not as severe as the former bleeding and/or swelling, can only be assessed IF the team does their own medical report and the boxing commission finds out and then follows up with their own independent medical. Yes, this has happened.

4. You must have no bone or stress fractures in any of your back or neck vertebrates- yes, this is picking up steam now as a lot of former boxers are coming down with severe neck and back injuries from over training and whiplash.

5. OVERT steroid OR drug use that enhances performance- notice I said "enhances performance". Now, this is a little tricky depending on who you are and what type of drugs you use, but typically overt drug use means that, YES you take this every day in copious amounts and the effects are visible and clear. But there have been times that drug users, like cocaine, meth or heroin, have gotten into the ring once it clears the system. Stuff like anabolic steroids stay in the system much longer, though. But, once the drug, whether steroid or street drug, shows to enhance performance in some way, shape or form, most likely it will cause an investigation and the person is subject to a suspension, or fine, or both, or an expulsion and fine.

6. Psyche evaluations are not that stringent. For the fight game you expect to get a mad-dog or two, especially if he can fight like a bat out of hell with fire on his ass. I would have expected after the James Butler/Richard Grant incident that psyche evaluations would be a part of the package, but it is not taken into serious consideration for granting a fighter a license UNLESS it has caused some issue in the ring like the Butler/Grant scenario. (If you have not seen the Butler/Grant video, look it up and it counts as assault)

7. Cheating on more than one occasion, or sometimes even one occasion- like the Antonio Margarito incident. Yup. The hand wraps, illegal gloves, gloves tampering, illegal substances in the corner LIKE elixirs of vitamin water, or the wrong type of ointments that are put on gloves to cause the other fighter temporary blindness, etc... is cause for the commission to suspend or revoke a license. Not necessary for a new fighter or a fighter coming up, but it is an issue for fighters that have dodgy corners and have been in the game long enough to know the tricks of the trade.

8. You are just too old and decrepit to be in a licensed and sanctioned fight. Some people age early, like Ali and Leon Spinks. Some age slowly over time, like Foreman and Hopkins. Some just keep up to a steady pace and stay decent well into their 40's like a Holmes or a Amir Mansour- although Mansour is aging more slowly than he is staying decent.

But, with all of that said, anyone between the legal age of 18 (16 in Mexico and most other parts of the world) and, let's say, 50, can get a license to fight professionally barring all of these issues as stated above are not in play. Not even if one has a criminal record, or has been to jail for a stint and came back to the ring.

Over here we have stringent conditions to prevent a fighter from having a License, and rightly
so, your health is everything it's okay carrying on regardless, with injury's that may cost you your
life that is really stupid, but it does happen.!

AIDs

Blind fighters have got licence given to them in the states.

The sad thing is it def varies state to state or Country. No unified guidelines and we even have states with no commissions at all. Tommy Morrison for example was HIV positive but still found loopholes to fight in 3 different Countries after the Lewis fight. Japan would stop the fight if a cut occurred , Mexico did not require testing...and I guess refused to recognize others... and BF West Virginia probably was one without commission Eugene 'Silent' Hairston was legally deaf and a top contender in the 50's but ironically had to retire due to an eye injury.