Current through Register Vol. 41, No. 3, September 23, 2024
A. The department or its contractor shall
obtain information on each contestant from a martial arts registry and examine
that information, for records, experience, and consecutive losses. Boxers or
martial artists with 10 or more consecutive losses must obtain a special
exception before being placed on the fight card. The results of the prefight
physical, and any other pertinent information available including the boxing or
martial arts severity index, will be used to determine, to the extent possible,
that both contestants are substantially equal in skills and ability and are
medically fit to compete. No contest shall take place without the approval of
the event inspector and the ringside physician assigned to the event by the
department or its contractor.
B. No
contestant shall participate in a contest who has:
1. Been knocked out in the 60 days
immediately preceding the date of the contest;
2. Been technically knocked out in the 30
days preceding the date of the contest;
3. Been a contestant in a boxing, kick
boxing, or martial arts event of more than six rounds during the 15 days
preceding the date of the contest or six or fewer rounds during the seven days
preceding the date of the contest;
4. Suffered a cerebral hemorrhage;
5. Suffered a serious head injury or other
serious physical injury. The department or its contractor may require an
additional, specific medical examination to determine the contestant's
suitability;
6. Been found to be
blind in one eye or whose vision in one eye is so poor that a physician
recommends the contestant not participate in the contest. A boxer or martial
artist who is totally unsighted (uncorrected vision worse that 20/400) in one
or both eyes shall be prohibited from competing; or
7. Been denied a license or approval to fight
by another jurisdiction for medical reasons.
C. No contestant shall participant in an
event while under suspension from a commission of another jurisdiction of the
United States due to:
1. A recent knockout or
series of consecutive losses;
2. An
injury, requirement for a medical procedure, or physician denial of eligibility
to compete;
3. Failure of a test
for drugs or controlled substances; or
4. The use of false aliases or falsifying, or
attempting to falsify, official identification cards or documents.
D. Any promoter or contestant may
request reconsideration by the director of the event inspector's decision by
immediately providing in writing additional information or contradictory
evidence concerning the contestant's skill, ability, or medical
fitness.
E. A contestant who is
suspended by a commission of another jurisdiction of the United States may be
allowed to compete if:
1. The contestant was
suspended for a knockout, technical knockout, series of consecutive loses, an
injury, a requirement of a medical procedure, or physician denial of
certification and the time interval for knockouts and technical knockouts in
subsection B of this section has been met and further proof of sufficiently
improved medical or physical condition has been furnished;
2. The contestant was suspended for the
failure of a drug test or the use of false aliases or falsifying, or attempting
to falsify, official identification cards or documents and that a suspension
was not, or is no longer, merited by the facts; or
3. The contestant was suspended for any
reason other than those mentioned in subdivisions 1 and 2 of this subsection
and the department or the department's contractor notifies the suspending
commission in writing and consults with the designated official of the
suspending commission prior to the grant of approval for such contestant to
participate in a contest.
Statutory Authority: § 54.1-831 of the Code of
Virginia.
