Boxing could be lifted off the canvas by regulation The Sonny Bill Williams-Francois Botha debacle was another black eye for boxing. In the aftermath of the Botha-Williams charade, Australian boxing looks destined to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century by the boom sport of mixed martial arts, writes Phil Lutton. Before most bouts, boxing referees give fighters the kind of advice shady types around the fringes of the sport tend to take literally: "Cover up and protect yourselves at all times." There has been no shortage of cover ups in boxing over the years, nor a deficiency of shonky deals, bent fights and broken contracts that have required a good sweeping under the carpet. As Alex McClintock summed up nicely in this piece for the national broadcaster, boxing's history of grift and links with organised crime have been well documented. In the glory days, it almost added to the fascination of the sweet science. Celebs loved (and still relish) going to the fights and rubbing shoulders with undesirables and glorified heavies. At the very least, the carpark deals and the questionable characters have inspired some of the finest writing about the fight game, if not all of sport. Now that lustre has all but disappeared, particulary as those who use the sport as a money pit bloody their fingernails scraping the last cent off the bottom of the barrel. Locally, it's hopelessly sad for genuine champions like Daniel Geale and Michael Katsidis, who had to retire this week after his rumbles with the very best in the game took too much of a toll on his wellbeing. It's easy to hate the pantomime villains but better to direct your angst towards the game, which has done little but sigh heavily as its reputation burrows towards the centre of the planet. In Queensland especially, where there is no organised commission to oversee the integrity of combat sports, the resistance to reform has been marked. The state has become frontier country in the absence of a Wyatt Earp. But not for much longer. Boxing, on a whole, has shown no real desire to clean up its act and now faces being dragged towards reform by mixed martial arts, a sport that craves more regulation, not less. In a short space of time, the UFC, the single body which runs the world's peak MMA competition, has shown boxing how to take care of business, picking up stadium-loads of fans along the way. Now the UFC wants to shake up the governance of combat sports in Australia, with a view to helping establish a national body to oversee all disciplines. Boxing will have little choice but to tag along, or continue to flop around in its own mess. The UFC is interested in contributing and supporting any moves to bring consistent regulation to our sport. Ever since the current owners of the UFC took over the organisation in 2001, our mantra has been to "run to regulation,"" says Tom Wright, the UFC's director of operations for Australia, New Zealand and Canada. We see that as fundamental to the consistent and safe development of our sport. It's ironic that the UFC has become the leading proponent for combat sports reform, given the sport remains branded by many of those in boxing as barbaric, lacking history and finesse. But the UFC's fight to be recognised as a real sport, cleanly run, has succeeded beyond its wildest dreams. While boxing remains fragmented by the famed alphabet soup of organisations, the UFC rules the roost with spectacular clarity. Wright will meet with a variety of state politicians when he visits Australia next week to continue a dialogue towards a recognised national combat authority. Anything at all would be welcome in Queensland in the wake of the Sonny Bill Williams-Frans Botha saga. Absolutely, we would be supportive of that kind of development. Currently, the UFC is supporting the efforts of the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF), which is working with countries around the world to establish the kind of regulatory consistency and oversight that is being contemplated for Australia," Wright says. First and foremost, we would be happy to participate in any open dialogue or conferences that may be established regarding the regulation of our sport. Boxing reform has been considered in Queensland before but it's hardly surprising that a large proportion of those within the game don't want any red tape or unwanted eyeballs on their business. Those days have gone. The UFC, which can sell out arenas in Australia the way boxing can only dream of these days, has become the major player. Fight fans can only hope the sweet science can join the movement before it's too late.