A Louisiana senator is opposing a bill that would close loopholes in a state cockfighting ban, saying it threatens the legitimate, less bloody sport of “chicken boxing.”

The criticism from Republican Sen. Elbert Guillory, of Opelousas, seemed to confuse senate judiciary committee members who clearly had no idea what chicken boxing was and that it even existed. 

Guillory represents an area of rural Louisiana that fought to keep cockfighting legal prior to the ban. He said chicken boxing is a sport that uses some of the paraphernalia involved in cockfighting, but he said the matches aren’t fought to the death.

He described chicken boxing as similar to human kickboxing, with chickens kicking at each other while wearing rubber “gloves” that cover the spurs on their legs. The chickens face each other in rounds of 10 minutes each, and Guillory said there’s little chance of serious injury with veterinarians on hand to monitor the matches.

“Instead of a blade or exposed spur, they hit each other with these boxing gloves on, which is quite safe,” Guillory said after the hearing. “There’s no blood.”

In an email, he said that chicken boxing “is just a creative excuse the cockfighters have come up with to mask their real agenda, which is to maintain the weakest penalties for cockfighting possible.”