It is my pleasure, on behalf of the Boxing Promoter's Association (BPA), to congratulate our sport, particularly the IBF/USBA boxing organization on receiving the highest score in the recently conducted drug testing analysis report. Below is a recent article taken from fightnews.com, explaining the drug analysis conducted. The International Boxing Federation/United States Boxing Association received the top score in an analysis conducted recently by a panel of experts arranged by the Wall Street Journal on Drug Testing policies of sports organizations throughout the world. "I am extremely pleased that we received the highest score among so many notable sporting organizations," noted Marian Muhammad, IBF President. The IBF/ USBA came in number one with a score of 94.75 and scoring significantly higher than other major organizations such as the NFL (72.5), NBA (57.5), NHL (57.5) and MLB (56.2). The score was based on the presence of a policy, public accessibility to the policy and its administration, as well as the severity of the sanctions on the code's offenders. Along with the analysis report the Wall Street Journal published an article regarding the prevalence of doping scandals in sports that has resulted in skepticism from fans towards all athletes that give stellar performances. Essentially the purpose of the examination was to assuage this skepticism and enlighten sporting fans on drug testing policies throughout the world.

On January 11th from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Boxing Promoters Association (BPA) will hold it's third meeting and first of the new year. At the meeting the BPA expects to move forward with the continued development and betterment of the sport. President Joe DeGuardia released the agenda today. Items on the agenda include: - Establishing a National Boxing Convention to take place in the 2010 - Announcement of various collaborative projects amongst promoters - Addressing pending U.S. Boxing Legislation currently in the U.S. Congress - Addressing the proliferation of bad decisions and taking steps to ensure the competency and integrity of judges and elevate the credibility of the sport At the first meeting in the summer, more than 30 of the United States top promoters met to discuss the current state of boxing. After an all day meeting the promoters agreed to form the Boxing Promoters Association and signed the BPA Declaration. The second meeting, which took place during the fall, saw the BPA set a course of action, determine a set of by-laws, and select a Board of Directors, the President, Secretary and Treasurer of the Association.

It is my pleasure, on behalf of the Boxing Promoter's Association (BPA), to congratulate our sport in once again showing that BOXING is truly desired by fans. In as much the recent Mayweather-Marquez boxing event on HBO/PPV produced over a million buys and generated over $52 million dollars, it is clear that those that underestimate the appeal of BOXING are mistaken. What is particularly interesting is that the BOXING match went head to head with UFC 103, which was also a PPV event. Many sports reporters incorrectly predicted that the UFC/MMA event would exceed the sales of the BOXING event. While the exact amount of buys for UFC 103 hasn't been made available by UFC President Dana White, all estimates are under 500K buys, less than one-half as the Mayweather-Marquez BOXING broadcast. I am proud on behalf of the BPA to congratulate everyone involved in the successful show, particularly our fellow promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, as well as HBO/PPV and the boxers, Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez. Their successful collaboration is consistent with the theme of the BPA, providing yet another example of how various parts of the sport working together can create huge successes. We look forward to future collaborations and successes for the great sport of BOXING. Sincerely, Joe DeGuardia President Boxing Promoters Association

Boxing is a martial art and a combat sport in which two people, male or female, generally of similar weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one- to three-minute intervals called rounds. There are three ways to win. Victory is achieved if the opponent is knocked out and unable to get up before the referee counts to ten seconds (a Knockout, or KO) or if the opponent is deemed too injured to continue (a Technical Knockout, or TKO). If there is no stoppage of the fight before an agreed number of rounds, a winner is determined either by the referee's decision or by judges' scorecards.