Veteran referee Drakulich excited for return to ring

It has been five months since Vic Drakulich refereed a boxing match. But the 61-year-old veteran from Reno is coming back to the ring this week in style.

Drakulich will work on the undercard of Saturday’s megafight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden.

He’s also scheduled to work Friday’s Top Rank card at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

Drakulich has been battling a rare form of abdominal cancer for three years. He spent a week in January at M.D. Anderson in Houston, undergoing eight hours of surgery to remove the cancerous tissue in the abdomen.

“I’m doing very well,” Drakulich said Friday from Reno. “I can’t wait to get back in the ring next week. It’s been a long time, and I missed all the excitement and energy that comes with working a fight.”

Drakulich’s recovery went faster than expected. He was supposed to remain hospitalized for at least two weeks after the Jan. 20 operation, but he was released in six days.

“My doctor, Dr. Paul Mansfield, is the best when it comes to abdominal cancer,” Drakulich said. “He did an amazing job.”

Drakulich has been working out, regaining his strength and getting his mind right to work in the ring.

“I’ve been taking it day by day,” he said. “It’s been a long process, but I feel I’m ready to get back to work.”

Drakulich said he’s honored to be part of the biggest card boxing has seen in decades and is eager to watch his friends and colleagues work that night. Kenny Bayless will referee Mayweather-Pacquiao.

“It’ll be a great night for boxing, and I’m grateful just to play a small part of it,” he said.

■ ROC NATION APPROVED — The commission unanimously approved Roc Nation Sports’ application for a promoter’s license in Nevada.

The company, founded by rap and entertainment star Jay-Z, has branched out into boxing in the past couple of years. Among its highest profile clients are world middleweight champion Miguel Cotto and super middleweight champ Andre Ward.

A promoter’s license might be the toughest to obtain in Nevada, but Roc Nation sailed through the process with only a couple of questions from the commissioners about the company’s financial wherewithal to do business in the state.

“I thought we did a good job in preparing our application,” said David Itskowitch, Roc Nation’s chief operating officer of its boxing division. “We know the commission takes these matters seriously, and we were very careful and thorough with our application.”

Itskowitch said the hope is to have Roc Nation’s first Nevada card this year, perhaps with Ward headlining.

“One of the things Andre said to us when he signed is that he wants to fight in Las Vegas,” Itskowitch said. “We’re going to do everything we can to make that happen.”

Cotto, the most recent Roc Nation acquisition, defends his World Boxing Council title against Daniel Geale on June 6 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

■ LOMACHENKO OFFICIALS — Las Vegas’ Robert Byrd will referee Saturday’s World Boxing Organization featherweight title fight between champion Vasyl Lomachenko and Gamalier Rodriguez at the MGM Grand Garden. The fight is on the pay-per-view undercard of Mayweather-Pacquiao.

The judges will be Jerry Roth and Patricia Morse-Jarman, both from Las Vegas, and John McKaie of New York.

■ MOLINA SUSPENDED — John Molina Jr. had a tough night at the MGM Grand Garden on March 7. Not only was he handled easily by Adrien Broner on national TV, but he also tested positive for the banned diuretic Furosemide after the fight.

On Tuesday, Molina was placed on temporary suspension by the commission pending a disciplinary hearing in May or June. He faces a suspension of up to one year and up to a 30 percent fine of his $450,000 purse.

Molina (27-6) lost a 12-round unanimous decision to Broner as part of the debut of Premier Boxing Champions on NBC.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.