In what was surely one of the biggest boxing matches to come through Wantagh, N.Y., Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) stepped into the ring on Saturday night for a fundraiser to support a local boxing gym, Newsday reports.
King, 68, squared off against a local accountant and former kickboxing champion, "Irish" Josh Foley, 31, at Mulcahy's Pub. The match, which ended in a draw, attracted about 400 people to the pub.
"Great fight," King wrote on his Facebook page after the match. "More importantly, I survived!"
The event raised the eyebrows of government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which pointed out that House rules prevent members of Congress from favoring specific businesses.
"Is it the most serious ethics violation in the world? No," the group's director Melanie Sloan told Newsday. "But you're not allowed to do that."
"Lending my time to a local gym and pub in the community in which I have absolutely no financial interest is part of my job as a congressman," King said, according to The Hill.
PIX11 reports that there was one notable spectator missing: King's wife, Rosemary.
"It's her birthday and she hates boxing," King told the Associated Press ahead of the match. "She's already told the police not to bother to come and get her if anything happens to me."
Watch a clip of the boxing match above.
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