Donald J. Trump is a world figure who needs no introduction. The recently re-elected President of the United States will begin his second term as Commander in Chief of the United States on January 20, 2025. Casual fans may wonder how this has anything to do with sports, much less Boxing. However, seasoned veterans of the Boxing community are enthusiastically watching for the inevitable impact that President Trump’s inauguration will have on the sport of boxing.
As many casual fans are not aware, Donald J Trump’s name was synonymous with Boxing until he became famous for his presidential runs. One could go so far as to say he was the Turki Alalshikh of the 1980s and 1990s, responsible for staging some of the greatest fights of all time, including but not limited to Tyson vs. Spinks, Holyfield vs. Foreman, and Tyson vs. Holmes. Trump not only hosted these historic events in his wildly successful casinos, but promoted and/or sponsored them. Trump has kept the sport alive for more than 30 years by using his revered business acumen to ensure fighters earn the most money possible while facing corruption at unprecedented levels and successfully standing up to nefarious figures and compromised commissions whose predatory activities threatened the physical and financial health of fighters, as well as the integrity of Boxing itself.
Donald Trump’s positive impact on the sport of boxing is reflected by the various honors and awards he has received. Aside from his permanent induction into the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame and the New Jersey State Boxing Hall of Fame, Donald Trump earned the prestigious Muhammad Ali Entrepreneur Award and the Sports Business Journal’s Most Influential Person in Sports Award. Trump is also a staunch and passionate fan and supporter of Boxing to this day, often appearing at events to thunderous applause and admiration from packed arenas full of combat sports fans who remember what the man did to bring combat sports to where they are today.
Unfortunately, due to the inevitable political slander and rhetoric that comes hand-in-hand with challenging the most powerful people and cabals in the world, significant amounts of casual boxing fans have been forced to associate Donald J. Trump’s name with negative political rhetoric. To maintain this narrative, media outlets almost universally suppress specific consequential incidents in Boxing history.
Jack Johnson
In 1913, during the Jim Crow era, when American law enforced racial segregation, the first black heavyweight champion in history, Jack Johnson, was charged with violating the MANN Act. His crime was transporting his white fiancée across state lines. It is widely accepted that this was a blatant use of legislation by whites who could not stand the influence of a black man living with a white woman, reigning in the highest station of boxing, the Heavyweight Championship of the World. Despite being charged for incidents that occurred before the MANN Act was signed into law, an all-white jury convicted Johnson of the crime and sentenced him to prison.
Democratic President Woodrow Wilson allowed this injustice to stand, resulting in a permanent stain on Johnson’s record, which would negatively affect him for the rest of his life. The conviction stood through the subsequent 16 administrations, which included notable civil rights advocate presidents Barack Obama (8 years), Bill Clinton (8 years), Jimmy Carter, John F. Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt (12 years). It wasn’t until 2018 that President Donald J. Trump issued a full posthumous pardon to Jack Johnson, finally clearing the man’s reputation of this political and racially motivated conviction.
Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson’s often troubled career has been very well documented. However, many casual fans may not know that Donald Trump played such a positive role in Mike Tyson’s career and that Iron Mike eventually hired Trump to be his advisor through his legal issues and career moves. After successfully helping Tyson through his management dispute with Bill Cayton and paying Mike his biggest paydays to date, nefarious entities tried to poison the relationship by generating unfounded rumors surrounding Trump and Tyson’s then-wife, Robin Givens. Soon after, Mike Tyson was accused of rape, convicted and sentenced to six years in prison despite overwhelming evidence that the relationship with the alleged victim was purely consensual. During his early years in prison, Mike Tyson had only one advocate and supporter, Donald Trump, who demanded that Mike be allowed to train and is pushing the appeal of his conviction. To this day, Mike Tyson publicly praises Donald Trump as the man who was always there for him, going so far as to call Mr. Publicly supporting Trump in his 2024 re-election bid despite the highly combustible 2024 political atmosphere.
Impact on Boxing
Trump’s impact on boxing
Less than a month before Donald Trump’s inauguration, let’s look at the potential positive impact of having a proven, passionate supporter of Boxing in the White House. First, President Trump can begin strengthening the sanctioning bodies. With each passing year, the word “Champion” is diluted and sold in portions by the entities that hold the power of public perception. There is an apparent conflict of interest in the massive financial benefit for these authorities to have as many fighters as possible wearing belts and paying the associated sanctioning fees. It is another conflict of interest that these sanctioning fees are based on a percentage of a fighter’s purse rather than a flat fee, meaning that it is in the sanctioning bodies’ best financial interest that the boxers with the biggest purses generate the belts wear. rather than simply the best fighters. The results of this resounding clash of interests have the likely potential to sway everything from rankings to scorecards. Here in 2024 we have already reached the point where fighters are losing on the world stage, only to have their “undefeated” records restored through the court systems, Undisputed Champions stripped of belts to make way for undiluted sanction money from the likes of popular fighters like Anthony Joshua, and clear wins for fighters like Tyson Fury are scored as losses to accommodate opponents who still have years left in the sport as the champion. Boxing went from eight weight classes and eight champions to 17 weight classes and as many as 187 “champions”, with many weight classes having two or even three boxers holding the same belt and paying penalty fees. Other consequences of these conflicts of interest even put the safety of the fighters at risk, with popular fighters like David Benavidez and Devin Haney being allowed to enter the ring three or four weight classes heavier than their opponents.
President Trump can end this madness and make Boxing bigger and safer than ever before. With America being the universally recognized authority in Boxing, a US Government Boxing Department could be established. One championship with 13 weight classes could be established. One federal commission could be created, with the authority to override and sanction local commissions that stray from the rules. This commission will oversee weekly weigh-ins and drug screenings beginning six weeks from the fight, with no licenses issued to fighters on short notice of less than six weeks. This commission will also be the universal authority in the selection, training and licensing of all referees and match judges. It would not be necessary to seek to deregulate existing commissions, many of which fall outside of President Trump’s jurisdiction, but rather to create a new commission that would quickly gain public trust and perception as the only authority that counts .
President Trump’s bold and proactive ambitions for America and global influence are further exacerbated by the rumored, much-needed redefinition of the 22nd Amendment, which could pave the way for Trump’s second eight-year term instead of four. Combined with President Trump’s undying love and support for the sport of Boxing, it may only be a matter of time before the idea comes to his attention or is brought to his attention by the advocacy of true Boxing fans worldwide.
