A. The commission may by rule require insurance coverage for each licensed professional boxer, professional kickboxer, professional martial artist, professional mixed martial artist or sports entertainment wrestler to provide for medical, surgical and hospital care for injuries sustained while preparing for or engaged in a professional contest, in an amount of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) or more payable to the boxer, kickboxer, martial artist, mixed martial artist or sports entertainment wrestler as beneficiary.B. In lieu of or in addition to the insurance provided for in Subsection A of this section, the commission may establish a voluntary injury fund in the state treasury to provide for the medical care of a professional boxer, professional kickboxer, professional martial artist, professional mixed martial artist or sports entertainment wrestler injured in the course of a professional contest. The fund shall consist solely of voluntary contributions by promoters equal to two percent of the gross receipts of the professional contest. The funds may be expended upon vouchers signed by the chair of the commission and warrants drawn by the secretary of finance and qual to two percent of the gross receipts of the professional contest. The funds may be expended upon vouchers signed by the chair of the commission and warrants drawn by the secretary of finance and administration.History: Laws 1980, ch. 90, § 17; 2024, ch. 30, § 6.ANNOTATIONSDelayed repeal. — For delayed repeal of this section, see 60-2A-30 NMSA 1978. The 2024 amendment, effective May 15, 2024, amended existing provisions to include professional kickboxers, professional martial artists, professional mixed martial artists and sports entertainment wrestlers within the scope of the section, and increased the amount of insurance coverage that may be required by the athletic commission for each licensee; in Subsection A, after each occurrence of 'boxer' deleted 'wrestler' and added 'professional kickboxer, professional martial artist, professional mixed martial artist or sports entertainment wrestler' and after 'in an amount of' deleted 'one thousand dollars ($1,000)' and added 'two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) or more'; and in Subsection B, after 'boxer,' deleted 'or professional wrestler' and added 'professional kickboxer, professional martial artist, professional mixed usand five hundred dollars ($2,500) or more'; and in Subsection B, after 'boxer,' deleted 'or professional wrestler' and added 'professional kickboxer, professional martial artist, professional mixed martial artist or sports entertainment wrestler'.
New Mexico Legal Code