What’s the Walker Law?

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The Walker Act is a landmark piece of legislation that legitimized and provided enduring official regulations for the modern sport of boxing. It was passed in 1920 and made New York the first state in the United States to fully allow and referee boxing as a sport. Up until this point, boxing had been largely an underground sport, shunned by the general population as too brutal and uncivilized. The Walker Law, more than any other piece of legislation, helped clean up that image by providing the sport with an official regulatory system, which for the first time would be able to make official roster decisions; it also implemented practices that ensured certain safety and decency measures.

By the early 1900s, New York had become a wave of movements and laws, culminating in the Walker Act, that helped clean up boxing’s image and thrust it into the popular spotlight. There was the Horton Act in 1896, which first decriminalized prizefighting. Then there was the Lewis Law, which allowed those who qualified to fight in exclusive bouts. And then there was the Frawley Law, one of the first laws that started carving out a limitation on rounds.

In 1920, all the changes in boxing rules began to settle in with the passage of the Walker Act. Almost as quickly as it passed in New York, the law began popping up in other states, which eventually led to the Walker Law standards being adopted as the regulatory basis for boxing across America. Since its passage, the Walker Act has stood a remarkable test of time, remaining more or less unchanged since 1920.

The law not only revitalized boxing’s image, it provided an entirely new framework within which it could thrive. The law finally allowed official decisions about boxing matches to be made, which launched the sport as a legitimate career path for athletes. It has also launched a thousand other careers, paving the way for trainers, managers and event promoters, among other positions. The matches, which under the new law were limited to 15 rounds, had to be officially decided by referees and judges. The law also ensured that a person could not box without meeting certain qualifications and obtaining a proper license. Boxers and event organizers have also been given guidelines to help keep fights relatively safe and clean.

Perhaps more than anything else in boxing history, the Walker Law is responsible for the sport’s worldwide popularity and success. If the law had never been passed, the system that allowed boxers like Jack Dempsey or Muhammad Ali to show off their skills would not have existed. World titles may not have been recorded. The audience may not have been that big. In other words, boxing is much of what it is and it was because the Walker Law helped make it possible.

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