Is Agreeing to Fight Someone a Separate Crime in Massachusetts?
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Massachusetts treats a fight two people agreed to in advance as a different offense from a fight that simply broke out. M.G.L. c. 265, sec. 9 reaches a person who, by previous appointment or arrangement, engages in a fight with another person. The statutory ceiling is ten years in state prison or a fine of up to $5,000.
The arrangement is the element
Read the section closely and the operative words are “by previous appointment or arrangement.” That phrase is doing all of the work. Two strangers who start swinging outside a bar with no plan behind it are in ordinary assault and battery territory. Two people who agree beforehand to meet somewhere and settle it have satisfied the element that section 9 is built around.
The licensed-boxing framework in M.G.L. c. 147, sec. 32 to 50 sits outside this section, which is why a sanctioned bout is not what section 9 is aimed at.
What the popular version of this law gets wrong
Lists of strange Massachusetts laws often say a person can still be charged with dueling here. In substance that is not accurate. The general challenge-to-duel provisions, c. 265, sec. 6 through sec. 8, were repealed in 1962. Sections 3 and 4 do survive, but they reach a narrow situation: a Massachusetts resident who leaves the state to fight a prearranged duel and inflicts a wound whose victim then dies inside Massachusetts. That is effectively a dead letter.
The provision that is actually live, and the one the video cites, is section 9.
Reading the penalty correctly
Ten years and $5,000 are the outer limits section 9 sets, stated in the alternative. They describe the top of the range the Legislature authorized, not what a court hands down in a given case. Section 10, covering seconds, promoters and those who advise or encourage a fight, carries its own lower ceiling.
Full transcript of this video
Cold open: Let's take this outside. Right now.
Voice over: A sudden bar scuffle is ordinary assault and battery.
Voice over: Agreeing to it first is a crime in Massachusetts. Chapter 265, Section 9.
Jim Glaser: Agree to meet and fight, and it is a felony. Up to ten years in state prison. Look it up at jimmyknows.ai.
Voice over: Send this to the friend who never walks away.
The actual law
M.G.L. c.265 s.9 (Prize fighting; engaging); context: c.265 s.3, s.4; c.265 s.6-8 repealed on malegislature.gov
Section 9 makes it a crime to engage in a fight with another person 'by previous appointment or arrangement,' outside the licensed-boxing carve-out in c. 147, sec. 32 to 50. The arrangement is the element: a spontaneous scuffle is ordinary assault and battery, but agreeing in advance to meet and fight converts it into this offense. Section 10 separately punishes anyone present as a second, aid or surgeon, or who advises, encourages or promotes the fight.
by previous appointment or arrangement, engages in a fight with another person shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than ten years or by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars.
Penalty as written: Under c. 265, sec. 9: state prison for up to 10 years, or a fine of up to $5,000. Under c. 265, sec. 10, a person present as a second, aid or surgeon, or who advises, encourages or promotes the fight, faces state prison up to 5 years, or a fine up to $1,000 and jail up to 2.5 years. These are statutory ceilings, not typical sentences.
Common questions
What makes section 9 different from ordinary assault and battery?
The arrangement. Section 9 reaches a person who engages in a fight with another person by previous appointment or arrangement. A scuffle that erupts without any advance plan is prosecuted under the ordinary assault and battery provisions instead. The agreement to meet and fight is the element that moves the conduct into this section.
Does this apply to licensed boxing or other sanctioned matches?
No. Licensed boxing sits outside section 9 under the licensing scheme in M.G.L. c. 147, sec. 32 to 50. Section 9 is aimed at fights arranged privately rather than at bouts held under that licensing framework.
Is ten years in state prison the usual outcome?
No. Ten years is the statutory maximum written into section 9, and the statute states it as a ceiling alongside the alternative of a fine of up to $5,000. What any individual case produces depends on the facts, the charging decision, the person's record and the court, none of which the statute predicts.
Can someone who was only watching be charged?
Section 10 is a separate provision covering a person who is present as a second, aid or surgeon, or who advises, encourages or promotes the fight. It carries its own penalty structure, lower than section 9. Whether a given bystander falls inside it is a fact question about what that person actually did.
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This video and the text on this page are general legal information, not legal advice, and do not create an attorney-client relationship. Massachusetts law is fact-specific; telephone Jim Glaser Law about your particular situation. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Attorney advertising under Mass. R. Prof. C. 7.1 to 7.5. Responsible attorney: Jim Glaser, admitted in MA only, of counsel to Keches Law. Principal office: 77 Pond St., Sharon, MA. Most cases referred to other jurisdictionally licensed lawyers for principal liability. This video uses an AI-generated likeness and voice of Attorney Jim Glaser, with his permission.