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Nevada Legislature committee hears battered boxer bill
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Craig Moran/Las Vegas Review-Journal File Photo
Boxer Z "The Dream" Gorres sits in a wheelchair at his doctor's office during an interview last year. Gorres was partially paralyzed after a match in Las Vegas and ran up a $600,000 bill at University Medical Center. Gorres met with law students working on a proposal to increase health insurance for fighters. The bill was introduced by Assemblyman Harvey Munford, D-Las Vegas. » Buy this photo
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Testifying during a legislative hearing on the battered boxer bill Monday were, from left, Robert Correales, professor at UNLV's Boyd School of Law; Keith Kizer, state athletic commissioner; and Frank Slaughter, former UNLV boxing coach . Gary Thompson/Las Vegas Review-Journal » Buy this photo
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Assemblyman Harvey Munford, D-Las Vegas, presents a measure that would set up a fund to help pay for injuries to retired boxers and mixed martial arts fighters, during a hearing Monday in Carson City. His proposal would raise the surcharge for fights grossing more than $500,000 from $1 per ticket to $2 and for fights grossing less than $500,000 from 50 cents per ticket to $1. Cathleen Allison/The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Mar. 29, 2011 | 6:53 a.m.
Z "The Dream" Gorres, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a November 2009 fight at Mandalay Bay's House of Blues that left him partially paralyzed, rang up medical expenses of nearly $600,000 during two months of intensive care at University Medical Center.
Because the health insurance the 27-year-old father of four carried into the ring covered only $50,000 of the bill, taxpayers were left to pick up most of the tab run up at Southern Nevada's county hospital.
On Monday, the Assembly Judiciary Committee held a hearing on legislation that would increase the required amount of health insurance on fighters when they're competing in Nevada. The committee heard televised testimony from the Sawyer Building in Las Vegas, where a law professor from the Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; a former UNLV student; and the university's former boxing coach spoke on behalf of the battered boxer bill.
The legislation, introduced by Assemblyman Harvey J. Munford, D-Las Vegas, has as its centerpiece a proposed fund to help pay for injuries to retired fighters and mixed martial arts contestants.
Munford's proposal would raise an existing surcharge on tickets to live professional fights from $1 to $2 per ticket for fights that gross more than $500,000. It would raise per-ticket fees from 50 cents to $1 for fights grossing less than $500,000.
Testifying on behalf of an amendment proposed by Assemblyman Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, law school professor Robert Correales said some money from the increased surcharge would be used to increase the health insurance for boxers fighting in Nevada to $200,000.
While battered boxers and health insurance would receive funding out of the fees, so would organizations that promote amateur contests, which is done now through the current surcharge.
Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, testified against the bill, arguing that it is unrealistic.
He said it would be practically impossible to prove that retired boxers who were suffering from assorted conditions were hurt in Nevada.
"They fight all over the world," he said.
Both former UNLV boxing coach Frank Slaughter and Boyd Law School graduate Jayme Martinez said it was important that boxers have more health insurance so that if they get badly hurt, taxpayers don't have to pick up the bill.
Under the current situation, boxing promoters pay a premium of about $3,100 for health insurance to cover a 10-bout boxing card with 20 fighters. Mixed martial arts promoters pay a $6,300 premium for the same number of bouts and fighters. Each fighter can get up to $50,000 each to pay for injuries under those insurance plans. There is a $500 deductible.
Injuries such as those suffered by Gorres, Kizer said, almost never happen.
From 1995 to 2005, 10 fighters sustained career-ending brain injuries in Nevada, with two boxers, Leavander Johnson and Martin Sanchez Jr., both dying from subdural hematomas, the same brain injury Gorres sustained.
Because of federal privacy laws, Correales said UMC officials are unable to release the medical records of fighters to whom they gave care. "I know there's a lot more than 10 who have been badly hurt," he said after the hearing.
According to a spokeswoman for Cole Insurance in Dallas, a firm that has written insurance for fights in Las Vegas, it is unknown how much it would cost to have the coverage jump to $200,000 per fighter.
"It would be way more," she said. "But we'd have to calculate it."
Kizer said increased costs can only hurt the chances of bringing more fights to Las Vegas. He did say, however, that the athletic commission favors coverage for catastrophic injuries. He said he does not believe that the increased surcharge could cover injuries to retired boxers, increased health insurance and promotion of amateur fights.
Pat Lundvall, chairwoman of the Nevada Athletic Commission, told the Review-Journal in 2010 that she envisioned a monetary pool for catastrophic injuries being funded through a small percentage of both ticket sales and pay-per-view sales in Nevada.
"We still got time to put this together," Correales said, adding that it may be wise for committee members to talk more about a pool for catastrophes rather than increased insurance coverage for everybody who enters the ring.
Segerblom said he and Munford will discuss the proposed bill with the athletic commission before any legislative action is taken.
Contact reporter Paul Harasim at pharasim@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2908.
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If my math is correct, that still leaves $400,000 as an example, for tax payers to pick up on the example case. Why not make them pay for a million dollar policy...most carry that as a life of the term policy as a minimum. Amazes me that an existing dollar surcharge affords $50,000, but an added dollar can add $200,000 policies. New Math..bothers me.
why should the gubmit be involved in setting any ticket price ? or becoming some insurance provider ? let the "athlete" in conjunction with the promoters, furnish evidence beforehand, of an all peril insurance policy. the limits to be sufficient to cover some lifetime, 24 hour health care. can't buy the insurance ? then do not conduct the "event". certainly non spectators must have zero responsibility in reimbursing those losses.
LVfacts: calm down. The fighters are adults who make the choice to step into the ring. Animals don't have the luxury. I boxed for a couple of years and had a great time doing it. MMA is a phenomenal sport. If you don't like it don't watch it.
This is not a bad thing. Promotors make the big bucks off the backs of these guys. I don't think it is unreasonable to make sure they maintain health insurance on their boxers in case they get injured in the ring. And this should also apply to those Max X games, and other "high risk" events where the possibility for serious bodily injury can occur. We, the taxpayers shouldn't get stuck with the the bill, while the promoters go to the bank with the venue profits.
The State of Nevada has a constitutional mandate to operate benevolent institutions. Things like state mental hospitals. For bona fide residents. Not "Cadillac" plans to compete with private facilities, in-house $400K specialists, etc. Basic services.
The Nevada government has NO constitutional authority to operate a full-blown public primary care system wherein anyone who walks (or gets wheeled) in the door at UMC -- diseased, injured or psychosomatic -- can receive a virtually unlimited amount of services. Free or otherwise.
If the crooked politicians want to bankrupt us like this let them first seek permission in the form of a constitutional amendment.
Give them the same health insurance Sir Harry has. Is Sir Harry so special he should receive entitlements (benefits) the people of Nevada don't? Let Sir Harry and the other members of Congress pay for their own healthcare so something can be done about healthcare in the future. While you are at it Sir Harry, change the retirement package available to you and your cohorts to look similar to that of the common folk. As soon as your retirement is like most of the people in America, you will look into fixing it. Until you are held to the same standards as the minions, you won't care what happens to Nevadans. Prove me wrong Sir Harry, un-exempt yourself from ObamaCare and pass legislation ending the retirement plan members of Congress get (6 figures yearly after age 50) for only serving one term in office. Who wouldn't love to have a job for six years and be guaranteed a six figure yearly retirement?
And going to war is acceptible? Human nature pure and simple. Blood sports, BDVs, cop brutality, going to hell, FOOTBALL! Legal or not. Don't worry about what one cannot change. Just live your life right.
I have a better idea: ban this despicable "blood" sport! What kind of people are we that we revel in others beating each other to a pulp and scream for more? It appears society is more concerned with how humanely animals are treated before being slaughtered then it is with humans battering each other into zombies! I understand the fighters are looking for fame & fortune, but the blood-thirsty spectators? What's in it for them besides a macabre sensation? And, to add insult to injury, they even bet on the outcome? Those people are truly sick and need mental help.
I dont feel like i should be forced to have health insurance, I think everyone would like to have health insurance if they could afford it. If you need affordable health insurance search online "Wise Medical Insurance" or you dont want to be with out insurance any time.