Did Foster lobby for legislation without seeing Zuffa Boxing contracts?

Thomas Hauser wrote an article in The Guardian this week which detailed fighter contracts for the newly formed Zuffa Boxing which had its debut last Friday.

Of the notable items in the revealing article, it notes that California State Athletic Commission head Andy Foster admitted to not seeing a Zuffa Boxing contract.

While one could debate the timing of Foster’s admission, a reader of the article might conclude that he did not know what was included in the contracts while he was advocating for the new Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act when his state contemplated to endorse the proposed legislation-backed by Zuffa and TKO. The state athletic commission voted unanimously to endorse the law which would offer Universal Boxing Organizations (or UBOs) to run on its own and having the ability to act as regulatory body and promoter.

Also, in December Foster testified on behalf of the Ali Revival Act due in part to the fighter pay per round and increases in health coverage. But, if we may infer from the article, Foster did not know about the contractual agreements.

Also, the members of Congress that so vehemently were in favor of the new proposal did not have any idea what the new contracts were about. Clearly, the subcommittee meeting was political theater under the guise of the health and safety of boxers.

Payout Perspective:

There’s more to the article which you should read about including the report on how much Paramount paid for Zuffa Boxing. But the one big takeaway here is that Foster did not look at a Zuffa Boxing contract. He could have just looked at one without comment just to say he did have a chance to look at one but did not “scrutinize it.” But, its the brazen and unabashed shilling for TKO to appease money interests. I am not saying that they not not do it but there was not even a scintilla of examination of what the act does. The other alternative is that Foster did not think that boxing contracts would be impacted by the new law. Of course, one need only look at the UFC antitrust lawsuits to know that contractual issues are a big part of the issue.