The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

, professional wrestlers

Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

, seconds, ring officials, managers, and matchmakers.

NBA rivalry

The NYSAC was founded in 1920, when the Walker Law

Walker Law

The Walker Law passed in 1920 was an early New York state law regulating boxing. The law reestablished legal boxing in the state following the three-year ban created by the repeal of the Frawley Law. The law instituted rules that better ensured the safety of combatants and reduced the roughness...

 legalized prizefighting. The National Boxing Association (NBA) was established in 1921 by other U.S. states to counter the influence of the NYSAC. Sometimes the NYSAC and the NBA recognized different boxers as World Champion, especially in 1927–40. In 1962, the NBA renamed itself the World Boxing Association

World Boxing Association

The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...

, and in 1963 the NYSAC supported the formation of the World Boxing Council

World Boxing Council

The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...

.

1929 Weights and Classes

• Junior Flyweight......109 pounds
• Flyweight.............112 pounds
• Junior Bantamweight...115 pounds
• Bantamweight..........118 pounds
• Junior Featherweight..122 pounds
• Featherweight.........126 pounds
• Junior Lightweight....130 pounds
• Lightweight...........135 pounds
• Junior Welterweight...140 pounds
• Welterweight..........147 pounds
• Middleweight..........160 pounds
• Light Heavyweight.....175 pounds
• Heavyweight...........All over

Boxing Rules of Athletic Commission of the State of New York

(As published in Self-Defense Sporting Annual 1929, p. 14.)

Referee

• The referee shall have the power:
  • (a) To cast the third vote, in which case the three votes shall be of equal value. In the event of two votes coinciding, the result shall be so determined. In the event of all votes disagreeing, the contest shall be declared a draw.
  • (b) To stop a bout or contest at any stage and make a decision if he considers it too one-sided.
  • (c) To stop a bout or contest if he considers the competitors are not in earnest. In this case he may disqualify one or both contestants.
  • (d) To disqualify a contestant who commits a foul and to award decision to opponent.
• The referee shall not touch the contesting boxers, except on failure of one or both contestants to obey the “break” command.
• When a contestant is “down” the referee and timekeeper shall at once commence calling off the seconds and indicating the count with a motion of the arm. If the contestant fails to rise before count of ten, the referee shall declare him the loser.
• Should a contestant who is “down” arise before count of ten is reached and again go down intentionally, without being struck, the referee and timekeeper shall resume count where it left off.
• Should a contestant leave the ring during the one minute rest period between rounds and fail to be in ring when gong rings to resume boxing, the referee shall count him out, the same as if he were “down.”
• If a contestant is down, his opponent shall retire to the farthest corner and remain there until the count is completed. Should he fail to do so, the referee and timekeeper may cease counting until he has so retired.
• Referee shall decide all questions arising during a contest which are not specifically covered by these rules.

Judges

• The two judges shall be stationed at opposite sides of the ring. The decisions of the judges shall be based primarily on effectiveness, taking into account the following points:
  • 1. A clean, forceful hit, landed on any vulnerable part of the body above the belt should be credited in proportion to its damaging effect.
  • 2. Aggressiveness is next in importance and points should be awarded to the contestant who sustains the action of a round by the greatest number of skillful attacks.
  • 3. Defensive work is relatively important and points should be given for cleverly avoiding or blocking a blow.
  • 4. Points should be awarded where ring generalship is conspicuous. The comprises such points as the ability to quickly grasp and take advantage of every opportunity offered, the capacity to cope with all kinds of situations which may arise; to foresee and neutralize an opponent’’s method of attack; to force an opponent to adopt a style of boxing at which he is not particularly skillful.
  • 5. It is advisable to deduct points when a contestant persistently delays the action of a contest by clinching and lack of aggressiveness.
  • 6. Points should be deducted for a foul even though it is unintentional and not of a serious nature to warrant disqualification.
  • 7. A contestant should be given credit for sportsmanlike actions in the ring, close adherence to the spirit as well as the letter of the rules and for refraining from taking technical advantage of situations unfair to an opponent.
  • 8. In order to arrive at a true conclusion every point should be carefully observed and noted as the contest progresses, the decision going to the contestant who scores the greatest number of effective points regardless of the number of rounds won or lost.
• When neither contestant has a decided margin in effectiveness, the winner should be determined on points scored and aggressiveness.

Miscellaneous

• 1922-06-01: Adopts rule prohibiting boxers under the age of 20 from participating in bouts of more than six rounds. Wenatchee Daily World (Wenatchee, WA, USA) wire report.
• 1932-01-08: Secretary Bert Stand announces that Battling Battalino
  Battling Battalino
  Christopher Battaglia better known as Battling Battalino, was an American former world featherweight boxing champion...
  
   forfeited his World Featherweight Title by stepping onto the scales overweight at 135¾ pounds, causing the first abandonment of a boxing match in the history of Madison Square Garden
  Madison Square Garden
  Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
  
   on the afternoon of the night on which the match was scheduled, and the "only parallel for the situation in modern boxing" since the Charley (Phil) Rosenberg vs. Bushy Graham
  Bushy Graham
  Bushy Graham was an Italian-American boxer from New York. He held the bantamweight championship in 1928.-Boxing career:...
  
   1927 title bout. Lew Feldman, Battalino's scheduled opponent, immediately claims the title. New York Times

External links

• Official Site of the NYSAC
• MMA fighters from New York State