NEW YORK—Judge Philip Maier presides over labor disputes during his day job as an Administrative Law Judge serving New York City, Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk counties. By night, the 49-year-old Brooklyn resident takes off his white collar and tie and steps in the ring with other desk dwellers like himself who the love the workout, love the stress relief, and love a good fight.
It's called white collar boxing, and Maier was in 70 fights before official matches were banned in New York in 2005. These days Maier said he still spars with friends on a weekly basis.
In white collar boxing, boxers wear padded headgear, and of course, padded gloves. Boxers go at it for three two-minute rounds and no winner is declared to take out the competitive, and potentially dangerous element. There are exceptions, like the time that Maier knocked out a crazy Texan who was "trying to kill" him.
Epoch Times (ET): What is white collar boxing in your own words?
Philip Maier (PM): White collar is the type of fight that was started at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn about 20 years ago. It's fights between people who are not either amateurs or pros, and they are usually businessmen. Unfortunately it has been banned by the Athletic Commission.
ET: Do you think it should be legal?
PM: I definitely think it should be legal, and hopefully the State legislature will pass a law allowing it to be engaged in by different people who want to do it. I have never seen anybody seriously hurt while they were white collar boxing.
ET: As a judge connected to the city, have you thought about advocating for a change in the law?
PM: I can't do that as part of my position, but I've met with different State and local representatives, along with other people talking to them about white collar boxing, and giving them my personal opinion as to why it should be legal.
ET: What do you like about white collar boxing?
PM: I guess what I like about it the most is the fact that Gleason's is ending up being like a community center for me. There are a lot of people who are nice down there, I've made a lot of friends down there. It's a great way of staying in shape. White collar boxing is just a way to sharpen your skills both mentally and physically.
ET: You've said you aren't there to hurt someone, so what are you there to do?
PM: Basically not to get hurt my self… You're going in there really just to kind of practice what you have been working on in the gym for the last month or so, cause they use to hold fights every month. Just basically practicing what you've learned.
ET: Would you recommend white collar boxing to other people?
PM: Well, I would recommend boxing to other people, because you don't necessarily have to spar. I think in terms of an overall workout for you body and for your mind also boxing is unparalleled cause it keeps you in shape physically and its good for your cardiovascular systems, it's good for your reflexes, it's good for muscle tone and it's good for you mentally. If you don't want to get hit you don't have to get hit, you can just hit the bag and get a good workout just doing that. It's also a good way of building confidence.
ET: You've said before that you also like taking photos…
PM: I think New York is a beautiful city and I like being able to capture some of the natural beauty that's been developed through the architecture, and I like taking pictures of the different people in street scenes… Pretty much every weekend for the last ten years maybe I've been walking around taking pictures on the weekends, so I've been able to sell a few pictures through a company… that turns them into posters and sells them on line. I also set up my own website so I've been able to continue with it.
ET: What do you like about New York City?
PM: I like the energy. I like the fact that people have different interests; there are a lot of different things to do. There is a lot of diversity in the city. There are a variety of ways you can learn to express your self and different outlets where you can grow as an individual and interact with other people.
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