SEATTLE -- State Rep. Jim Clements wants to put a stop to what is believed to be the first professional man-woman boxing match in the United States.

The fight between 5-foot-5, 130-pound Margaret McGregor and 5-foot-2, 125-pound part-time jockey and weightlifter Loi Chow is scheduled for Saturday at the Mercer Arena.

Clements, a Republican and co-chairman of the House Commerce and Labor Committee, says he's less worried about McGregor than the precedent the bout might set.

"I have yet to find any compelling reason to let a man beat on a woman in the ring," he said in an interview. "How many times can you body punch a woman in the ovaries? I just don't know."

Clements vented his concerns Wednesday in a letter to the director of the state Department of Licensing, which OK'd the fight.

"I would like to go on record as opposing this event. I believe a match of this nature would be a grievous error. It would not only be very dangerous, but it also would degrade the profession. It seems to be simply another form of exhibitionism," he wrote.

Clements also referred to "veiled threats made by attorneys and promoters for the boxers that they would sue the department if (it) blocked this fight."

The promoter of the fight, Bob Jarvis, called Clements' 11th-hour worries a well-timed publicity stunt. He said Chow, 34, could be in as much danger as McGregor, 36.

"She (McGregor) is the one who wants to do this, who's pushing for it," he said.

Clements said public hearings should be scheduled "to determine if fair, equal employment rights include the opportunity for a woman to box a man." If they do, he said, he would support action to close what he called a legal loophole.

DOL spokeswoman Suzanne Taylor said the decision to sanction the fight was not based on any pressure from would-be litigants, but that the law obliged the agency to approve the fight because the boxers are well-matched.

"In terms of their experience and history in fighting, they match. In terms of their skill, they match," she said, noting the department still could halt the fight if the fighters do not come in at their contracted weight of 130 pounds at this week's weigh in, or at any point in the fight itself.

"If we denied this fight based on gender, then we would be at risk of a lawsuit," she said.

Clements, 55, announced Sunday he is considering running against incumbent Democrat Gary Locke in the 2000 governor's race.