Chap. 404.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 4, 7, 9, 13, 15, 19, 20, 20-a
and 21 of an act entitled “an act to provide for a State Boxing and Wrestling
Commission, to prescribe its powers and duties, and to provide for the expense
of administering this act; to authorize and empower counties, cities and towns
to determine by ordinance, referendum, or otherwise, when boxing and
wrestling contests may be held therein; to provide for boxing and wrestling
contests for prizes or purses, or where an admission is charged, and limiting
such boxing contests to fifteen rounds and wrestling matches by such rules as
may be promulgated by the commission; to prescribe conditions under which
licenses shall be issued and contests held; to declare that amateur boxing and
wrestling contests conducted heretofore shall be subject to the provisions of
this measure and under the sole jurisdiction of such commission in all cases
wherein an admission fee is charged spectators to witness such amateur boxing
and/or wrestling contests; to provide for licensing and taxing such. boxing
and wrestling matches and providing for the distribution of the moneys derived
therefrom,” approved March 29, 1934, said sections being in relation to
licenses, permits, compensation of officers, referees, number of bouts of
matches, and appropriation of money collected. [H B 415]

Approved March 30, 1936

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tions four, seven, nine, thirteen, fifteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-a and
twenty-one of an act entitled an act to provide for a State Boxing and
Wrestling Commission, to prescribe its powers and duties, and to pro-
vide for the expense of administering this act; to authorize and
empower counties, cities and towns to determine by ordinance, refer-
endum, or otherwise, when boxing and wrestling contests may be held
therein; to provide for boxing and wrestling contests for prizes or
purses, or where an admission is charged, and limiting such boxing
contests to ten rounds and wrestling matches by such rules as may be
promulgated by the commission; to prescribe conditions under which
licenses shall be issued and contests held; to declare that amateur
boxing and wrestling contests conducted heretofore shall be subject to
the provisions of this measure and under the sole jurisdiction of such
commission in all cases wherein an admission fee is charged spectators
to witness such amateur boxing and/or wrestling contests; to provide
for licensing and taxing such boxing and wrestling matches and pro-
viding for the distribution of the moneys derived therefrom,” approved
March twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and thirty-four, be amended
and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 4. The secretary shall hold office during the pleasure of
the commission and shall give a bond to the State of Virginia in the
sum of two thousand dollars, with good and sufficient sureties to be
approved by the commission, for the faithful performance of his duties
as such secretary. Such secretary shall receive such salary as the
commission shall fix, not exceeding twenty-four hundred dollars per
annum.

Section 7, No wrestling, boxing or sparring exhibition shall be
conducted by any club or organization except by license issued to such
club or organization by the commission and no club or organization
shall be entitled to receive a State license unless it has been incor-
porated under the laws of Virginia, and provided, further, that the
membership of such club shall be limited to persons who have been
continuous residents in the State at least one year. The application
for a license, as herein provided for, shall be in writing, and shall be
addressed to the commission, and shall be verified by some officer of
the club, organization or corporation on whose behalf the application
may be made. Such application shall be accompanied by an annual fee,
which shall be twenty-five dollars in cities and counties of not more
than five thousand inhabitants and in towns of not less than one
thousand; fifty dollars in cities and counties of not more than fifty
thousand inhabitants; one hundred dollars in cities and counties of
over fifty thousand and not more than seventy-five thousand inhabi-
tants; one hundred and fifty dollars in cities of over seventy-five
thousand and not more than one hundred and fifty thousand inhabi-
tants, and three hundred dollars in all cities of the State having a
population of over one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. Upon
the payment of such fee, such applicant shall be authorized to hold
professional boxing and wrestling matches without the payment of any
additional license fee in any form to any city, town or county. Before
any such permit or license is granted to any club, organization or
corporation which shall have filed an application as herein provided, to
conduct professional wrestling or boxing matches, such applicant shall
execute a bond in such penalty as the Commission may determine, not,
however, to exceed one thousand dollars, with surety approved by the
commission, conditioned for the payment of the taxes and penalties
herein imposed and for the fulfillment of contracts made with boxers
and wrestlers in accordance with the regulations of the commission,
which bond shall be filed with the commission.

Section 9. Any club or organization may hold or conduct strictly
amateur wrestling, boxing and sparring matches and exhibitions on
the payment of the annual license fee of any dollar; and shall also pay
to the commission a tax of five per centum of its total gross receipts
from the sale of tickets of admission to such amateur wrestling, boxing,
sparring matches or exhibitions, upon the compliance and in accord-
ance with all the provisions of section seven with respect to obtaining
a license and sanction from the commission and subject to all the rules
and regulations of such commission. Amateur contests and exhibitions
within the meaning of this sub-section are defined to mean and include
only contests or exhibitions in which the participants are bona fide
amateurs and receive no money, compensation or reward for their
participation in any such contest or exhibition, except that watches,
medals, articles of jewelry, silverware, trophies or ornaments suitably
inscribed to show that it is given for participation in an amateur boxing
contest or exhibition, may be given, but the value of such article given
to any contestant must not exceed the sum of twenty-five dollars. No
other prize or reward shall be given or awarded or accepted by any
boxer unless authorized in writing by the commission. No amateur
boxing or sparring bout or match in any such exhibition or contest
shall exceed three three-minute rounds with one minute intermission
between each round. In any event no more than three rounds of
amateur boxing are permissible. The commission may accept member-
ship in a recognized amateur athletic association as evidence of the
amateur standing of any contestant, and in case of dispute, may deter-
mine upon any competent evidence the amateur status of any con-
testant.

Section 13. No boxing or sparring exhibition shall be of more than
fifteen rounds duration, and no one round of such exhibition shall be
permitted to extend for a longer period than three minutes.

(a) There shall be one minute intermission between each round,

(b) No contestants shall in any such boxing or sparring exhibi-
tion wear, or be permitted to wear, gloves weighing less than five
ounces for contestants under one hundred and forty pounds, and six
ounces for contestants over one hundred and forty pounds.

(c) No contestants under the age of eighteen years shall be per-
mitted to participate in any such boxing or sparring contest.

(d) No betting or wagering at anv wrestling, boxing or sparring
contests shall be permitted by any club or organization before, after,
or during any such contest, in the building where such contest is held,
or elsewhere.

(e) In boxing or sparring contests contestants shall break clean,
and must not hold and hit. Butting with head or shoulder, wrestling
or illegal use of elbows shall not be allowed. There shall be no un-
sportsmanlike conduct on the part of contestants. This shall include
the use of abusive or insulting language.

({) The commission may, in its discretion, allow or provide for
decisions upon contests or exhibitions held under this chapter to be
made by the refereee or by the referee and two judges appointed by
the commission for that purpose under such regulations as the com-
mission may prescribe.
(g) The commission shall permit a total of forty-five rounds of
professional boxing or sparring at any one time when requested by any
licensed club, corporation or organization.

Section 15. Each contestant must be examined prior to entering
the ring by a physician who has been licensed to practice in Virginia
for not less than five years; such physician to be appointed by the
commission. The physician shall certify in writing, over his signature,
as to the contestant’s physical condition to engage in such contest.

(a) The commission is authorized to grant license upon application
and the payment of the fees herein prescribed to matchmakers, man-
agers, referees, examining physicians, boxers, and seconds and trainers,
which licenses shall expire one year after the dates on which issued,
respectively. The fees to be paid per annum shall be as follows:
Matchmakers in cities with a population of over one hundred fifty
thousand, fifty dollars ; matchmakers in other counties, cities and towns
twenty-five dollars ; managers, fifteen dollars ; referees, fifteen dollars ;
examining physicians, ten dollars; boxers, ten dollars; seconds and
trainers, ten dollars; wrestlers, ten dollars. The commission may re-
voke any such license upon such cause as it shall deem sufficient.

(b) All referees shall be bona fide residents of the State, except
that a non-resident referee may officiate for a single contest, in the
discretion of the commission.

Section 19. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this
act, for which a penalty is not herein expressly prescribed, shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor.

Section 20. Nothing in this act shall be construed to apply to
amateur wrestling, amateur boxing, or amateur sparring matches or
exhibitions conducted by or held under the auspices of any university,
college, normal school, or high school of this State, or religious asso-
ciations, or the American Legion.

Section 20-a. The commission is hereby empowered to prescribe
and promulgate such rules and regulations as it may deem desirable,
not in conflict with this act, governing wrestlers and boxers and boxing
and wrestling contests, matches and exhibitions.

Section 21. All moneys collected by the commission pursuant to
the provisions of this act shall be paid promptly in the State treasury.
One-half of all such moneys collected, remaining after providing for
the costs and expenses of administration, shall be apportioned and
distributed by the State Treasurer, upon warrants of the comptroller
to the cities, counties and towns of the Commonwealth, in proportion
to the amount collected from contests held and licensees resident in
such respective cities, counties and towns, for which purpose such
moneys are hereby appropriated. For the purpose of providing for
the administration of the provisions of this act, there is hereby appro-
priated to the commission, from such moneys remaining, the sum of
twenty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as shall be required for
each fiscal year of the biennium beginning July first, nineteen hundred
and thirty-four; the balance of such moneys shall be transferred by
the comptroller to the general fund of the State treasury.