HB617 Summary

• Defines bare knuckle boxing as the original form of boxing involving two individuals fighting without boxing gloves or padding on their hands.

• Authorizes the Alabama Athletic Commission to regulate professional bare knuckle boxing with the same authority and rules applied to professional boxing and mixed martial arts.

• Revises the medical advisory panel to include two licensed sports medicine physicians alongside existing specialties of neurology, ophthalmology, and general medicine.

• Expands drug testing requirements to follow World Anti-Doping Agency standards with both in-competition and out-of-competition testing, allowing competitors to challenge results with secondary specimen testing.

• Allows the commission to issue temporary licenses to applicants who apply less than 30 days before a scheduled, sanctioned event, streamlining participation timelines.