Announcement for the Office of Combative Sports

COVID-19 guidelines

The Office of Combative Sports requires that any promoter requesting to conduct an event must also adhere the COVID-19 Guidelines for Minnesota Combative Sports. These guidelines are subject to modification based on the course of the pandemic and guidance from the Minnesota Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Executive Orders issued by the Governor’s Office.

This fluid situation is continually being monitored and adjusted which may result in rapid guideline modifications. Promoters and all other licensed participants in combative sports events are responsible to adhere to the most up-to-date guidance. View current guidelines here.

Minnesota Combative Sports Advisory Council meeting

June 26, 2023, 10 a.m.

The next Advisory Council meeting is 10 a.m., June 26, 2023. The meeting is in the Washington Room at the Department of Labor and Industry, 443 Lafayette Road North, St. Paul, MN  55155. The purpose of the meeting is for the council to review and discuss Office of Combative Sports issues including recent legislative changes.

New licensing system launches May 8

The Office of Combative Sports (OCS) is retiring its current licensing system at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 4, 2023. As of Monday, May 8, 2023, all online application and renewal activity for OCS license types will move to the new system:  iMS. OCS will provide directions to promoters about how to apply for or renew a license using the new system. View more information about the change.

Application changes

The Minnesota Office of Combative Sports will no longer accept paper applications that include credit card information. Any older versions of applications received by our office that include credit card information will not have the card processed for payment.

Annual license fee changes as of July 1, 2019

• Referee License fee reduced to $25

• Judge License fee reduced to $25

• Timekeeper License fee reduced to $25

• Ringside Physician License fee reduced to $25

• Managers no longer need a license in Minnesota

• Announcers no longer need a license in Minnesota

ABC boxer identification number (ABIN) to replace boxing federal IDs

Sept. 7, 2018

Minnesota Office of Combative Sports has changed how it identifies professional boxers as it transitions to BoxRec being the "official record keeper" of the ABC.

In the past, a federal identification number was issued to applicants seeking to become or continue as professional boxers. This system has become outdated and is in conflict with the system provided by BoxRec.

U.S. professional boxers will now be identified by their ABC boxer identification number (ABIN). The ABIN will be made up of a fighter's global ID number, plus the addition of the issuing state's abbreviation (for example, if fighter X’s global ID number is 469964 and fighter X applies for his ABIN in New York, the ABIN number is NY469964). For previously identified fighters, the expiration of the ABIN will be the expiration date of their existing federal ID. New applicants will not be issued expirations in excess of four years past the issuance date.

The federal ID of previously identified fighters will not be discarded and will be kept on BoxRec's system until they expire (if BoxRec has been provided federal ID numbers and expirations). If you are manually submitting results, the ABIN is the number to be attributed to the fighter's record.

Why is this important?

Every fighter in the BoxRec system has already been given a global ID number, but federal ID information may not have been shared with them, despite BoxRec previously being the co-official record keeper for the ABC. Since these numbers are more complete than the federal ID numbers, it is in our best interest to move forward using the global ID as part of the ABIN.

What if the federal ID expiration information is not on the fighter's profile?

Obtain a copy of the fighter's federal ID, then contact the issuing commission and have them enter it into BoxRec (if you are unable to manually add the information in yourself).

The ABIN application has been created and will immediately be added to both ABCboxing.com and BoxRec.com.