Rep.John Loughlin, a Tiverton Republican, has proposed deep-sixing a boxing rule that requires ending a bout if a fighter is knocked down at least three times in one round.

The Providence Journal Connie Grosch

PROVIDENCE — With boxing in a struggle to maintain its popularity alongside mixed-martial arts –– its younger and flashier cousin –– lawmakers are pushing a proposal that would relax the state’s boxing regulations, allowing for more dramatic fights.

Rhode Island is one of only a few states that still impose a “three-knockdown” rule, which ends the bout if a fighter is knocked down three times in a single round.

A decade ago, many states subscribed to that standard, promulgated by the Association of Boxing Commissions. But in 2000, the organization loosened its regulations, allowing unlimited knockdowns at the referee’s discretion. Soon most states voted to amend their laws to reflect that.

The idea was to prevent accidental knockdowns, instances when a contender simply loses his balance or trips and falls, from ending major fights.

Now Rhode Island House Minority Whip Rep. John Loughlin, R-Tiverton, has proposed changing the Ocean State’s law, too, urging that fight calls be left to the referee’s judgment.

The bill is scheduled for debate Tuesday afternoon, by the full House of Representatives, where it has faced little opposition.

“What we’ve got now is an archaic and somewhat unfair rule to boxers. If they have an unfortunate slip, it’s held against them and their record,” said Richard Berstein, lawyer for the Department of Business Regulation.

More pressing, the restrictive rules apparently make big-time boxers and their promoters –– and the money that comes with them –– less willing to schedule fights in Rhode Island.

“Every time you have a fight here, it brings money to the economy,” said Jimmy Burchfield, one of the state’s best known boxing promoters. “We’ve got a fight at Twin River this Friday with people flying in from Florida and Las Vegas: spectators, promoters, managers, trainers … the more people you bring into Rhode Island, the more it helps the hotels and the restaurants.”

In a struggling economy especially, Burchfield said, Rhode Island should do what it can to attract more of that business.

It’s a matter of consistency, said Timothy J. Lueckenhoff, president of the Association of Boxing Commissions, which oversees boxing standards nationwide. “If you play baseball in Rhode Island or Missouri, it’s the same rules. Why would you have different rules in different states?”

More than two decades ago, in the wake of high-profile fatalities and the disclosure that Muhammad Ali had suffered permanent neurological damage over the course of his career, a team of Rhode Island doctors, supported by the Rhode Island Medical Society and the American Medical Association, called for a statewide ban on boxing, a sport they called a “cruel activity whose only objective is to inflict injury.”

Compromise legislation imposed significantly restrictive boxing rules in this state. In the years since, several of those have been repealed, including one that called for 90-second breaks between rounds as opposed to the standard 60-second interludes.

But the knockdown rule has stayed upright.

Newell Warde, executive director of the Rhode Island Medical Society, said the AMA continues to support an all-out ban, in the absence of which, they say, ringside doctors –– not the state or a referee –– should determine a contender’s ability to fight.

Lueckenhoff defends the referees’ competence to accurately judgethe situation. But he says if Rhode Island wants to attract major fights, it must soften its rules. “I would say most sanctioning bodies would shy away from your state,” he said.

Each year, only a handful of major fights come to Rhode Island, despite successes of past champs such as Vinny Paz and Peter Manfredo Jr.

Observers including Lawrence J. Lepore, executive director of the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, said the dwindling professional boxing market is also connected to the rise of mixed-martial arts, the full-contact sport that is eclipsing boxing in popularity.

Part-wrestling, part-street fighting, mixed-martial arts isn’t yet sanctioned in Rhode Island. A separate bill that would legalize it is making its way through the legislature. But as the sport’s popularity increases, it is believed to be siphoning fans from the boxing ring, ratcheting up pressure on boxing promoters.

Rhode Island’s lack of a full-scale casino hasn’t helped the boxing market either, said Burchfield. (A spokeswoman for Twin River said the venue takes no position on the Loughlin boxing bill.)

Yet Burchfield believes boxing still holds the promise of big money in Rhode Island, provided the state can attract the big fights. “A fight a few weeks ago in Vegas got 22,000 people and 1 million buys on Pay Per View at $49.95 a buy,” he said. “Boxing is not going away. But we have to get rid of these antiquated rules.”

cneedham@projo.com