Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Ratner's distinguished career packs punch

Longtime state boxing head brings lengthy resume to Hall induction

By STEVE CARP
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Boxing memorabilia and fight souvenirs adorn the walls of Marc Ratner's office. The executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission will be inducted into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame on Friday. Photo by Gary Thompson.

Marc Ratner's name is easily recognizable to boxing fans.

As executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, he is involved in every boxing card in the state. He can be seen at weigh-ins, at ringside on fight night and sometimes at the podium after a fight.

But that's not all Ratner does. He is a longtime football official, he oversees all high school officials in Southern Nevada, and he runs the shot clock at UNLV home basketball games. In college, he played baseball at UNLV and was a long jumper at UNR.

Ratner, 60, and local sports have gone hand in hand for five decades, and his contributions have led to his induction into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame. On Friday, he will be honored at Cox Pavilion, along with former baseball star Matt Williams, golfer Robert Gamez, longtime high school baseball coach Lou Pisani and noted sports physical therapist Keith Kleven.

"What's nice about this is that I've seen and known the others who are also going in," Ratner said. "I watched Matty play baseball at UNLV. I knew Robert when he was a star at Clark High School. Keith Kleven has been a friend for years, and Coach Lou and I go back to when I was at Las Vegas High and I had him as my health teacher."

Ratner's love of sports goes back to his childhood. He arrived in Las Vegas at age 13 and immediately gravitated to the area's athletes. Soft spoken and gentle by nature, he had no problem with the violent nature of boxing and football.

"I'm probably the most nonviolent guy you know," Ratner said. "But I always loved boxing. There was just something about it that attracted me to it."

He loved other sports, too. Ratner walked on with UNLV's 1966 baseball team and was a backup right fielder. The Rebels went 1-23 under the late Chub Drakulich, and Ratner made only six plate appearances that season.

He transferred to UNR the following year and joined the track team. He competed in the long jump and had a personal best of 20 feet, 7 1/2 inches.

In 1968, Ratner became a football official. He started in Pop Warner, went on to junior varsity high school, then varsity. In the mid-1970s, he began officiating UNLV football games, then was hired in 1986 by the Pacific Coast Athletic Association.

As UNLV changed leagues, Ratner moved with the Rebels. He worked in the Western Athletic Conference and has been a Mountain West Conference official since the league's inception in 1999. This will be his final season on the field; Ratner will work as a replay booth official beginning in 2006.

"It's been a wonderful experience," he said of working college games, including the 2000 Independence Bowl and the 2003 Hawaii Bowl. "I probably could keep going, but I'd rather be a year early than leave one year late. I don't want people to say, `He can't keep up.' "

Despite his busy schedule, Ratner has managed to find time to watch his son, Heiden, play basketball at Silverado High School, where he's the Skyhawks' leading scorer.

"That's been my greatest joy, to watch my kid play," Ratner said.

Ratner knows he has lived a charmed life when it comes to sports. His friendship with the late Chuck Minker led to almost everything Ratner does today. He also misses two close friends who died several years ago -- boxing referee Mitch Halpern and former senior deputy attorney general Gordie Fink.

"I love everything I do and I've been so blessed," he said. "My one wish was that Chuckie, Mitch and Gordie were here to share this occasion with me and my family."