Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
TOUGHMAN CONTESTS
TOUGHMAN CONTESTS. Related to boxing, participants in toughman contests while not professional boxers earned prize money after eliminating opponents in a series of matches. Initially there was difficulty in drafting an ordinance that distinguished between toughman contests and acceptable forms of professional boxing. Concerns about the event which was labeled legalized barroom brawling eventually focused on the form of competition, specifically, the elimination tournament.
In April 1991 the Dubuque City Council banned toughman contests from the city-owned FIVE FLAGS CIVIC CENTER following severe injuries suffered by an individual in a similar contest in Potosi, Wisconsin. At the same time, the council directed the city attorney to draw up an ordinance that would ban the contests citywide. The action was criticized by some Five Flags commissions and community members as censorship.
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Source:
1. Gilson, Donna. "Council to Address Citywide Toughman Ban," Telegraph Herald, June 2, 1991, p. 3A