Amir Khan wants fighters to have someone in their corner outside the ring.
The Global Fighters’ Association, which Khan co-founded in 2022, has launched a Crowdfunder campaign with an initial target of £500,000. The money will help fund its push for trade union certification and an independent inquiry into how combat sports treat their athletes.
Khan explained why the group exists.
There has to be an organisation that’s above everything, that we can all report to when something goes wrong. Whether that’s in training, at a weigh-in, in a contract, or in retirement. The GFA is that organisation.
The inquiry will be led by Jonathan Caplan KC, a leading UK barrister in health, safety and regulatory law. It will blend a public inquiry with the question-and-answer style of a House of Commons Select Committee.
The GFA said testimony will come from across the sport, including:
- Fighters, coaches and physios
- Doctors and surgeons
- Referees and judges
- Promoters, managers and venues
- Boards of control and governing bodies
- Media commentators
- Friends and families of fighters
The first report will focus on health, safety and education. Later reports are expected to cover judging and scoring, doping, governance, contracts, insurance and retirement.
Former fighter Paul Smith co-founded the group with Khan, Martin O’Shea, Stephen Smith, Bernard Dunne, Phil McCauley and Paul Maloney. Maloney, the former GMB South leader, is acting general secretary, and former Jockey Club chief executive Simon Bazalgette is chair designate.
Paul Smith put it bluntly.
Every week, somewhere in this sport, a fighter is hurt, exploited or forgotten, and the only safety net is whatever the boxing community can scrape together after the fact. That’s not a system. That’s a failing.
The GFA is open to both boxers and MMA fighters and is based in Liverpool.
