Ex-New York boxing commissioner says the sport has become ‘more a ballet’ and urges tighter care for fighters

Randy Gordon, a former New York State Athletic Commission chairman and Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, said the modern version of boxing is cleaner and more choreographed than in earlier decades but warned that repeated blows to the head remain a serious problem and that fighters need better financial safeguards.

Gordon, who was appointed commissioner by Gov. Mario Cuomo, traced his own life to the sport: a severe childhood injury, months in a wheelchair and an early obsession with televised fights that, he said, led him into journalism, announcing and a long career around boxing. “Boxing brought my life back,” he told the New York Post in a recent interview, describing how watching and imitating fighters helped him recover from a burn injury suffered at age 10.

Gordon said many of the rougher elements that defined boxing in earlier eras have diminished. “Once, mobs had control. Now cameras, many people, too many watchers. The sport’s cleaner,” he said, and added that the visual evidence available today changes how bouts are managed and scrutinized. He noted changes in how fights play out in the ring: fewer gashes, less visible scar tissue and, in his view, more emphasis on movement and technique. “Today it’s more a ballet,” he said.

Despite those changes, Gordon emphasized long-term health risks tied to repeated head trauma. He singled out the lasting effects of blows to the head and recalled efforts to encourage medical testing for fighters. “Hitting on the head is not a good thing. Get opinions and commentary,” he said, recalling an attempt to persuade Muhammad Ali—who had dozens of amateur fights—to undergo medical evaluation. The commissioner said the accumulation of head trauma can have consequences for fighters after their careers end.

Gordon also voiced concern about fighters’ finances. He observed that top boxers can earn hundreds of millions yet are vulnerable to overspending and exploitation: “Easy to overspend on sports cars, homes for friends, girlfriends, jewelry. Spending but not investing.” He called for structural protections that would ensure fighters are cared for financially after they retire.

He proposed changes to the way fights are contested and regulated, including shortening round lengths to less than three minutes. Gordon said such a change, combined with improved oversight and financial safeguards, would better protect fighters’ long-term health and welfare.

On questions of the sport’s greatest fighters, Gordon named Sugar Ray Robinson as the all-time best, a common choice among many historians and former officials.

Gordon’s observations reflect a broader, ongoing conversation about how to balance the competitive and commercial aspects of boxing with athlete safety. Over the last several decades, advances in medical knowledge, improved broadcasting and stronger regulatory scrutiny have altered how fights are promoted and policed, but debates persist over brain injury protocols, retirement benefits and the economics that surround elite fighters.

As the sport evolves, former regulators like Gordon continue to press for reforms that address both the immediate safety needs of fighters in the ring and their long-term health and financial security outside it. He said his concerns are shaped by a lifelong connection to boxing that began with his recovery and extended through decades of reporting, announcing and regulatory work.

"I’d like the rounds shortened, under three minutes, and to see they’re cared for financially," Gordon said, summarizing his recommendations for the modern era of the sweet science.