§85. Definitions; construction

            As used in this Chapter:

            (1) "Amateur" means any of the following:

            (a) Contests or exhibitions of armed or unarmed combat or any combination thereof conducted by or participated in exclusively by any state-accredited middle school or high school, college, or university, or by any association or organization of a school, college, or university, when each participant in the contests or exhibitions is a bona fide student in the state-accredited middle school or high school, college, or university.

            (b) Any boxing contest or exhibition if it is registered and sanctioned by United States Amateur Boxing, Inc., or Golden Gloves of America as an amateur boxing contest or exhibition.

            (c) Any contest or exhibition which specifically has been named by the commission as an amateur event.

            (2) "Club" means any club, corporation, association, or individual under the authority of the commission.

            (3) "Commission" means the Louisiana State Athletic Commission.

            (4) "Exhibition" means:

            (a) As applied to boxing and mixed technique events, any event in which the participants show or display their skills without necessarily striving to win.

            (b) As applied to professional wrestling events, bouts for entertainment purposes wherein there are no dangerous blows intended to be struck and the result of each bout is predetermined.

            (5) "Mixed technique event" means contests in which contestants attack and defend with wrestling or grappling and with the fists and other parts of the human body, including but not limited to the foot, knee, leg, elbow, or head, wherein dangerous blows are intended to be struck with full contact. The term "mixed technique event" shall not include nor shall the provisions of this Chapter apply to any contest, competition, or exhibition of any of the recognized martial arts, including but not limited to karate, judo, kung fu, tae kwan do, jujitsu, kickboxing, tang soo do, or any substantively similar tradition.

            (6) "Professional boxer" means any person who competes for a money prize or teaches, pursues, or assists in the practice of boxing or wrestling as a means of obtaining a livelihood or pecuniary gain.

            (7) "Professional wrestler" means any person who does not qualify as an "amateur" and who participates in staged matches wherein no dangerous blow is intended to be struck and where there is a predetermined winner, whether or not the participant competes for a money prize or pecuniary gain.

            (8) "Professional wrestling event" means any event which does not qualify as either a mixed technique event or amateur or boxing contest and which features in any way a professional wrestler and which qualifies as an exhibition under Subparagraph (4)(b) of this Section.

            Acts 1974, No. 553, §1; Acts 2007, No. 90, §1; Acts 2025, No. 290, §1.