Say it ain’t so, Sen. Reid

Thanks be to politics, one of the only games with a dirtier rep than the fight game…

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid accepted free ringside tickets to three pro boxing matches from Nevada officials who would have been impacted by pending legislation that would have increased federal oversight into the sport.

Reid, from Nevada, accepted the free seats for Las Vegas fights between 2003 and 2005.

Reid defended the gratis tix, saying the freebies would never influence his position on the boxing bill. Reid said he was simply trying to learn how legislation could affect an important home state industry. “Anyone from Nevada would say I’m glad he is there taking care of the state’s No. 1 businesses,” he told The Associated Press.

“I love the fights anyways, so it wasn’t like being punished,” said Reid, a former boxer and boxing judge.

Senate ethics rules allow lawmakers to accept gifts from federal, state or local governments. But gift stipulations warn against taking gifts when they might be perceived as an effort to influence official actions.

“Senators and Senate staff should be wary of accepting any gift where it appears that the gift is motivated by a desire to reward, influence or elicit favorable official action,” reads the Senate ethics manual.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., paid $1,400 for his ticket when he joined Reid for the 2004 De La Hoya/Hopkins scrap. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., accepted free tickets to another fight with Reid but had removed himself from voting or actions on the boxing bill, because his father was an executive for a Las Vegas hotel that hosts bouts.

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff is in jail, and there has been speculation how often he visited the White House and Bush officials in an attempt to influence administration officials on behalf of his clients, so matters of influence peddling are a hot topic in Washington.

(Email news tips to Michael Woods at Fightwrite@gmail.com)