by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Following legislation passed last year which implemented “specific rules and regulations” for amateur fight nights in Jacksonville, City Council representatives say the law is now serving as a potential model for other cities which are establishing guidelines of their own.
The local ordinance, which was developed by a special committee chaired by Council vice president Elaine Brown, placed provisions on the sale of alcoholic beverages during fight night calender weeks and also bolstered the importance of preregistering before the event in an effort to quell competitors “who have been drinking and not thinking clearly.”
“[Fight nights] had been going on for a long time and the regulation that was out there, and there really wasn’t very much at all, was far below acceptable standards,” said Brown. “There wasn’t even an official sanctioning body set up to govern amateur boxing matches.”
Cindy Warner, chief of public information for the Council, concurred.
“A lot of people can get seriously hurt if they get into the ring and get a little more than they bargained for,” she said. “It wasn’t safe.”
Not long after the ordinance’s passing, the phone started ringing.
“We’ve been getting questions about it for a while now and what we’re beginning to see is that Jacksonville has become a benchmark. We’ve set a new standard,” said Warner. “When we were developing this legislation a while back, we looked for other cities who may have implemented something like this and it was pretty discouraging. There might be something out there, but we couldn’t find it. Now we can help other people.”
According to Warner, officials from Sarasota, Clay County and Ocala are just a few who have contacted City Hall looking for information.
“I think it proves that there is a continued concern surrounding fight nights,” she said. “People want guidelines and they obviously don’t want to get seriously injured. This kind of legislation has an audience and it’s definitely spreading.”
Brown said she was “thrilled” the ordinance was getting notices.
“Thank goodness the power and scope of our ordinance may be extended,” said Brown. “We have to protect the public.”
Hoping to help other cities “avoid reinventing the wheel,” Warner insisted the Council is more than happy to oblige and answer any calls.
“We’ll send them whatever we can,” said Warner. “We talked to a lot of experts from a variety of fields, including representatives from the Olympics, when we were collecting information last year. We not only pass along a copy of our legislation, we’re giving them our research, too.”