DRAKULICH TO REFEREE PACQUIAO-DIAZ FIGHT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 24 Jun 2008
Respected referee Vic Drakulich will be the third man in the ring when Filipino boxing icon and WBC super featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao battles WBC lightweight king David Diaz at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer informed Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today that the judges named to handle the ?Lethal Combination? battle of champions are CJ Ross, Gary Merrit and Paul Smith.
Drakulich refereed the last fight in the epic trilogy between Pacquiao and Erik ?El Terrible? Morales which Pacquiao won via a devastating third round knockout. He also refereed several other big fights including Joan Guzman vs Jorge Barros, Oscar De La Hoya vs Felix Sturm, Morales-Carlos Hernandez, Jeff Lacy-Scott Pemberton and Eagle Kyowa vs Rodel Mayo among others.
Former NSAC executive director Marc Ratner one told the Reno Gazette-Journal ?Vic has become very much a world-class referee. He?s much more confident in himself and his decision-making is quicker.?
Drakulich, a Reno attorney , grew up as a fight fan but never boxed. However, there was an article which said Drakulich as a law student sparred with then semi-pro football player Rod Mackenzie.
After graduating from McGeorge, Drakulich reportedly started working the corner for a friend who was an amateur boxer, then began judging amateur bouts and eventually turned pro. Semi-retired from a very successful law practice Drakulich has been quoted as saying ?I couldn?t get away for boxing matches and fight seminars if I was practicing law full-time.?
Ross was a judge in the Brian Viloria title defense against former champion Jose Antonio Aguirre which Viloria won a unanimous decision in a back-and-forth battle. He also officiated in the May 2007 WBO super bantamweight mandatory eliminator between Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista and Sergio Manuel Medina.
Merrit who is from Indiana was someone who said he became ?hooked on boxing? since his father and grandfather loved the sport and ?it rubbed off on me.? He started judging pro fights in 1979 and was the first Ring Magazine correspondent in Indiana in the late 70?s.
Merrit told the website Indiana Fighting that his first high profile fight was the February 6, 1988 IBF lightweight championship between Vinny Pazienza and Greg Haugen at the Convention Center in Atlantic City in which Pazienza won a controversial decision.
Smith was a judge in the Morales-Marco Antonio Barrera third fight which Barrera won in a close and exciting battle while he was also a judge in the first Bernard Hopkins-Jermain Taylor showdown which Taylor won in a controversial decision.
Smith was also involved in a controversial decision (115-113) that favored Oscar De La Hoya over Felix Sturm. In a WBO middleweight title fight in June 2004 where Drakulich was the referee.
Top photo: Las Vegas referee Vic Drakulich (R) pushes Manny Pacquiao to a neutral corner in this bit of action from the third fight between Pacquiao an Morales in Las Vegas.
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