Revised
CONSTITUTION /
BYLAWS OF THE ASSOCIATION
OF BOXING
COMMISSIONS
ARTICLE I
NAME AND
Section
1.1 Name
The
name of this association is the Association of Boxing Commissions (“ABC”).
Section
1.2 Non-Profit Organization
The
ABC
shall be organized as a non-profit organization.
Section
1.3 Missions
(A) To promote continual improvement of, and for,
the sport of professional boxing.
(B) To promote the uniformity of health and
safety standards and other requirements pertaining to the conduct of
professional boxing events.
(C) To promote standard reporting of boxing
contests between members, including results, injury reports, suspensions and
other medical information.
(D) To encourage communication, cooperation and
uniformity in the supervision and regulation of professional boxing among the
members of the ABC.
(E) To publish and disseminate medical and
training information, and to promote and hold seminars for the continuing
education of all ring officials, ringside
physicians, commissioners and commission employees.
(F) To establish and operate a charitable
foundation which will accept donations to a charitable fund for indigent boxers
with elected officers and members of
the ABC Board of Directors serving on the board of governors and as trustees of
this fund.
(G) To encourage adherence to, and enforcement
of, applicable federal laws by each member of the ABC.
Section
1.4 Code of Ethics
An
ABC member shall at all times:
(A) Adhere to the principles and guidelines of
the ABC;
(B) Display actions that are a credit to the
sport of professional boxing;
(C) Avoid both impropriety and the appearance of
impropriety; and
(D) Uphold and enforce all suspensions and
revocations at all times.
Article II
MEMBERSHIPS
Section
2.1 Eligibility
Membership
shall be open to each of the states of the United States of America, the
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S.
Virgin Islands, and any federally recognized Indian
tribe which has formed a tribal organization to regulate professional
boxing matches pursuant to 15 USC § 6312(b).
Any
state
or tribal organization
requesting membership in the ABC shall allow an
ABC representative to attend and supervise
their workings at a minimum of three (3) professional boxing events.
The ABC representative shall, at the
next annual meeting, make a recommendation to the membership in accordance with
the adopted policy for “Organizations Seeking Membership into the ABC”; and
upon the membership’s majority vote, the state or tribal organization shall be
granted membership in the ABC.
At
any time, the ABC
may invite various guests to its conventions or
to any other meetings scheduled by the ABC;
however, the guests shall have no vote and may speak only when invited to do so
by the ABC President.
Section
2.1a Associate Member
Associate
membership may be granted to:
(1)
any organization whose purpose is related to the regulation or
improvement of the sport of professional boxing;
(2)
any state or Indian tribe that:
(a) is considering the
creation of its own boxing commission;
or
(b) has entered into a contract
with an existing boxing commission to
regulate boxing in their state or on their tribal land.
Associate
membership may be granted upon a majority vote of the ABC
membership.
Associate
members shall have no voting authority.
Section
2.2 Dues
Each
member shall be required to pay reasonable dues.
The amount of these dues shall be set by the membership with a minimum of
$200 for regular membership and $100 for associate membership.
Dues must be paid in full by a member in order for that member to be
considered as a voting member in good standing.
Section 2.3 Member Conduct
After a thorough investigation by the ABC’s Disciplinary
Committee of any complaint or allegation of wrongdoing, any member or associate member
may be counseled, reprimanded, suspended or suffer loss of membership in the ABC
upon a majority vote of the Board of Directors.
Article III
VOTING
Section
3.1 Voting
Each
member commission in good standing shall have one (1) vote pursuant to the
constitution of the ABC.
Section
3.2 Voting Delegates
Each
member commission
shall have one (1) voting delegate. The
voting delegate must be present at the meeting of the ABC in
order to vote. Designation as a
voting member shall be in writing on forms supplied by the ABC
(ABC Voting Authority Form) and shall be in place before each meeting of the ABC.
Section
3.3 Plurality Vote
Unless
otherwise indicated, in any matter in which the membership may vote, a simple
majority of those voting shall be required.
Section
3.4 Quorum
The
presence of a majority of those
delegates entitled to vote shall constitute a quorum
at a meeting of:
(a)
The
ABC general membership
(b)
The
ABC Board of Directors
(c)
An
ABC Committee
Article IV
OFFICERS
Section
4.1 Officers
The ABC
shall have six (6) officers. These
officers shall be affiliated with a member of
the ABC. The
officers shall be the President, Past President, First Vice President, Second
Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. An
elected officer of the ABC shall not be an
officer or member of any “boxing service provider”, as that term is
defined in 15 USC § 6301(12),
during their term of office. A
person shall not hold
more than one elected office of the ABC
at any given time.
No
officer shall be personally liable for any monetary damages, or any other
damages, for any action taken or not taken by the Association.
Section
4.1a
Nominations/Elections
The
Legal Committee shall oversee the election of officers and is responsible for
counting the votes and delivering the results to the membership.
All
nominations for any of the above offices of the ABC
shall come from the floor by a voting delegate and
must have a second. Once all
nominations are presented for an office, the Chair shall move to close
nominations. All balloting shall be
by “paper ballot” unless only one candidate has been nominated.
A simple majority of the votes cast are necessary for election of the
nominee. All ABC
elections shall be open only to ABC members in
good standing.
Each
voting delegate shall submit his/her completed ballot to the Legal Committee
supervising the election without the delegate’s name being identified on the
ballot. The Legal Committee supervising
the election shall record the fact that a ballot was submitted by each voting
delegate. Following the submittal of
all ballots, the Legal Committee supervising the election shall tally the votes
and announce the winner.
The
nominee receiving the most votes cast for the office of Vice President shall be
the First Vice President, and the nominee receiving the next largest number of
votes cast shall be the Second Vice President.
When voting for the office of Vice President, each voting delegate shall
vote for two individuals, so that the offices for First Vice President and
Second Vice President properly can be determined.
A ballot reflecting a vote for only one nominee for the office of Vice
President shall be declared invalid as to the election of the First and Second
Vice President.
Section
4.2 President
The ABC
shall have one President. The
President shall be elected for a
two-year term. The President may
complete the unexpired term of his/her predecessor and then serve a full
two-year term. The President, in
consultation with the other officers, may fill any vacancies that may occur for
any of the elected offices.
Section
4.3 Duties of President
Unless
otherwise indicated, the President shall preside over all ABC
meetings. The President shall be
responsible for appointing all committees. The
President may call, at any time, special meetings to deal with emergency type
situations. These types of emergency
meetings, at the minimum, shall consist of the Elected Officers and a majority
of the Regional Directors, as described in Article V.
Any action taken at the special meetings may go into immediate effect but
shall be ratified by the full membership at the next annual meeting.
The President shall consult freely with all members between annual
meetings and shall keep them informed on all matters of importance to the ABC.
Section
4.3a Past President
After
the current President completes his/her term, that President shall assume the
position of Past President. The Past
President shall remain in that position for the duration of the current
President’s tenure. The Past President shall serve as a member of the Board of
Directors.
Section
4.4 Vice Presidents
The
ABC
shall have a First Vice President and a Second Vice President.
The First and Second Vice-President shall be elected to a two-year term.
The Vice-Presidents may
complete the unexpired terms of his/her predecessor and then serve a full
two-year term.
Section
4.5 Duties of the Vice Presidents
The
First Vice-President shall preside over ABC
meetings and act on behalf of the President in all other matters when the
President is unable to do so. The
Second Vice President shall preside over ABC
meetings and act on behalf of the President in all other matters when both the
President and First Vice President are unable to do so.
Section
4.6 Secretary
The ABC
shall have one secretary. The
Secretary shall be elected to a two-year term.
The Secretary may complete the unexpired term of his/her predecessor and
then serve a full two-year term.
Section
4.7 Duties of Secretary
The
Secretary shall be responsible for the maintenance of all records and written
materials related to the
ABC. The
Secretary shall, within three months following the annual meeting, publish the
minutes of the meeting and make these minutes available to each member.
The Secretary shall ensure that all discloseable records of the ABC
are made available to the public upon request.
A nominal fee, to cover copy charges, may be assessed by the ABC
to any non-member individual or group requesting such records.
Section
4.8 Treasurer
The ABC
shall have one Treasurer. The
Treasurer shall be elected to a two-year term.
The treasurer may complete the unexpired term of his/her predecessor and
then serve a full two-year term.
Section
4.9 Duties of the Treasurer
The
Treasurer shall have the responsibility of maintaining all the appropriate and
accurate financial records of the
ABC. The
Treasurer shall give a financial report at every meeting of the ABC
and at any other times as required by the President or the membership.
The Treasurer shall be responsible for the collection of all fees due to
the ABC and shall also be responsible for the
deposit and disbursement of all revenue. The
Treasurer shall make all financial reports available to any member in good
standing upon written request.
The Treasurer, with the approval of the President and a
Vice-President, may authorize all bonds, contracts, checks or other obligations
in the name of the ABC.
ARTICLE
V
REGIONS
AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Section 5.1 Regions
The
ABC shall be subdivided into five (5) regions.
The regions shall be as follows:
Region 1: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Mashantucket
Pequot Tribe, Massachusetts, Mohegan Tribal Commission, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New York, Oneida Indian Nation, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont,
Washington, D.C., and West Virginia
Region 2: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, Mississippi, Mississippi Band of Choctaw
Indians, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, The U.S. Virgin
Islands, Virginia
Region 3:
Region 4:
Region 5: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada,
New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Pueblo of Santa Ana
Athletic Commission, San Juan Pueblo, Pascua Yaqui Tribe
The
President of the ABC shall select one person from each region to serve as the
Regional Director from that region. The
term of each Regional Director shall be for a period of two (2) years.
A Regional Director may complete the unexpired term of his/her
predecessor and then serve the full two (2) year term.
Section 5.2 Board of Directors
The ABC’s Board
of Directors shall consist of the President, Past President, First
Vice-President, Second Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer,
and five (5) Regional Directors.
No
person serving on the Board of Directors shall be a member or officer of any
“boxing service provider” as that term is defined in 15 USC § 6301(12).
The President shall serve as the Chairman of the Board of Directors
and preside over all meetings of the Board of Directors.
Other
than the Regional Directors who shall not have a vote, each member of the Board
of Directors shall have one vote.
The President shall cast a vote in the event of
a tie vote by the other voting Board members.
Section 5.3 Duties of the Board of Directors
The Board of Directors shall serve as an executive committee to the
President.
Section 5.4 Removal of Officers/Directors
Any officer or director may be removed from his/her position for
cause by a majority vote of the Board
of Directors following a thorough investigation by the Disciplinary Committee.
Any action taken shall be ratified by a majority vote of the membership
attending the next meeting of the ABC.
ARTICLE
VI
COMMITTEES
Section 6.1 Committees
There
shall be the following permanent standing committees: Medical, Legal, Rule
Making, Training and Education, Disciplinary and Boxers Pension and Trust Fund.
All
committees must meet at least once before each annual ABC meeting and publish
the findings of these meetings with the ABC membership.
In
addition to the standing committees, the President may
appoint such committees as he/she deems appropriate to promote the purposes of the
ABC.
The President shall appoint the chairperson, and the members,
of each committee. Such committees,
their chairpersons and their other members shall serve at the pleasure of the
President.
ARTICLE
VII
MEETINGS
Section 7.1 Meetings
The ABC
shall meet a minimum of once
every twelve months to carry out its missions.
All meetings shall be at a designated site with adequate notice given to
all members.
Periodic meetings of the Board of Directors and the committees of
the ABC
may be conducted via tele-conferencing.
All meetings of the ABC
shall be conducted by Parliamentary Procedures as adopted by the majority of the
membership.
The officers of the ABC,
as well as the Board of Directors, shall be empowered to hold special meetings
as they deem necessary. Any actions
taken at these special meetings shall be ratified at the next regularly
scheduled meeting of the ABC.
Section 7.2 Correction
Upon the adoption of an amendment to the Constitution, the
President or his/her designee may correct grammar or numbering where appropriate
if such correction does not alter the meaning of the amendment.
Section 7.3 Interpretation
Any dispute or question as to the interpretation of this
Constitution shall be resolved by the Board
of Directors.
ARTICLE
VIII
Amendment
to the Constitution
This constitution may be amended by a majority vote of the members
of the ABC.
All amendments to change this constitution shall be in writing and
submitted to the membership at least twelve hours prior to voting.
The twelve-hour time frame may be waived if the members approve by a
majority vote.
ARTICLE
IX
DISSOLUTION
Section 9.1 Dissolution
If the ABC
is dissolved, all of it’s property, if any, not needed for the payment of any
debt and expenses of the ABC shall be
transferred and conveyed to one or more organizations that engage in the
betterment of professional boxing in the