When Sherrod Seward started practising law five years ago, he received two phone calls; the first from someone looking for a green card and the second from a boxer in need of a visa. Seward took a keen interest in the latter and hasn't looked back since.
Seward is the founder of Sherrod’s Sports Visas, one of the few US-based law firms which specialises in sports immigration. While Seward was in law school, he managed fighters from the North American Allied Fight Series, which produced UFC champions Stipe Miocic and Cody Garbrandt. Seward now organises visas for top fighters in the boxing and MMA world.
WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and undisputed super-middleweight king Canelo Alvarez are examples of two fighters Seward has secured US visas for to compete in blockbuster fights. For such fighters hoping to compete in the US, whether it be boxing or MMA, there are one of two types of visas they need to obtain.
A P-1 is the most common visa Seward organises for fighters. This type of visa - which starts at $3,500 - is extremely nuanced and "carefully articulated petitions" are key for applications to be approved by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). In recent years, promotions only organise P-1 visas for fighters who are already signed and have an upcoming fight. This is because P-1 visas have become much harder to obtain approvals for due to longer validity times.
For fighters who are not signed to a promotion, a P-1 visa is often hard to obtain. Seward explained this recently changed after his firm won a federal lawsuit which gives unsigned fighters easier access to P-1s. “Part of the P-1's terms is you have to have an itinerary that requires the participation of Internationally recognised athletes. If you’re signed to a promotion, they’ll have you on their website and then it’s easy to prove to USCIS that you are going to have fights with that promotion," he told Mirror Fighting .
"If you’re not [signed to a promotion], it’s more difficult to argue that a fighter will eventually be competing for that promotion. We just won a federal lawsuit to give unsigned fighters easier access to P-1 Visas to fight in these promotions. Usually, USCIS want you to be already signed by a promotion before you get your Visa, but we won the lawsuit which says that is not necessary."
O-1 visas - which start at $5,500 - are another choice for fighters and are typically more sought after. This is because a fighter doesn't have to grapple with the itinerary problem of the P-1 and they are open to other paid opportunities on an O-1. Fighters who acquire an O-1 are usually world champions or they have other business ventures going on, such as professional wrestling appearances and movie roles.
But while the process of getting a visa is the same for boxers and MMA fighters, the way Seward obtains them for his clients is different. Generally speaking, MMA promotions are scarce compared to the number of boxing promoters in the combat sports world. Seward explained that boxing promoters typically pay for a fighter's visa who is competing in one of their upcoming events. In MMA, Seward works with agencies such as First Round Management and Paradigm Sports to organise visas.
"Boxing promoters who are putting on the show usually pay for the visas but in MMA, since there are fewer promoters, a lot of times I am working to organise the visas through the fighter's manager," he added. "The advantage for MMA fighters is if you already have your visa, you are more sellable to the promotions to bring you in on short notice.
“Sometimes boxing is easier because there’s a definite ranking system, Boxrec, but in MMA it’s harder to show International ranking because Fightmatrix or Tapology may not be looked at with the same type of regard as a sport like wrestling, that is governed by an Olympic body. That can make it tougher for MMA fighters more than boxers to prove they are Internationally recognised athletes.”
For MMA fighters with a lack of professional fights, the job title Seward uses on their visa application is also important. Titling a fighter as a "combat sports professional" rather than a "mixed martial artist" is more advantageous because that way, Seward can cite qualifications a fighter has from other sports such as combat sambo or jiu-jitsu, in the hopes of verifying the fighter as an Internationally recognised athlete.
