April 25, 2000
The so-called Provo Fight Club is hanging up its gloves.
The club did not meet last night, and there will be no more of the controversial boxing matches involving college-age men in Utah County.
News Specialist Sam Penrod explains why the fight club is disbanding.
The club's organizers say they were still having fun, but decided the potential for liability was too risky to keep their fights going.
The fight club started out as some roommates boxing for fun. But as it gained popularity it turned into an underground boxing group that hosted short boxing matches on Monday nights. The locations were kept secret and announced to club members just a couple of hours before the event began.
The club even started a website, publishing photos from fights.
Last Monday night, 400 people reportedly attended, and almost half were girls.
The founders, about a dozen UVSC and BYU students, say they considered many factors before deciding to stop the Monday night fights.
James Anderson/Fight Club Co-Founder: "WE STARTED TO REALIZE AND OTHERS BEGAN TO TELL US THAT IF ONE OF THESE GUYS WE DON'T KNOW GETS HURT, THEY COULD COME BACK TO US."
"WE LOVE FIGHT CLUB, WE ALL HAD FUN, BUT IT WASN'T THAT FUN AND WORTH THE WORRY AND THE LAWSUIT THAT MIGHT FOLLOW."
Provo Police say they were keeping their eye on the fight club events, fearing crowd control and noise problems, but say they are not investigating any wrongdoing.
But this may not be the last we hear of the fight club.
The founders say they might consider restarting it in the fall, when many of them return from summer vacation.
