Marc Ratner on Entering Boxing Hall of Fame - It’s Overwhelming

By Thomas Gerbasi

It’s very possible that Marc Ratner is the only person in the fight game that no one has anything negative to say about. That alone should warrant his induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame this Sunday in Canastota, New York.

But what truly earned the Las Vegan a place among the greats of the boxing world is his integrity in a game sorely lacking in it and his work as the Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. And maybe even his humility, as evidenced by his reaction when told of the news earlier this year.

“It’s overwhelming,” he said. “That’s the best word I can use to describe it. I’m in awe of all the people that are in it, so I’m excited. “Halls of fame are not for regulators, so for me, it’s very, very special.”

A member of the NSAC for 21 years, 14 as Executive Director, Ratner didn’t take the job for the glory, but for the love of the game and his desire to create a safe and fair environment for the fighters.

“I wanted it to be an environment that if everything was equal between Nevada and California or New Jersey and New York, that we had a level playing field and the commission treated the promoters and fighters with respect, that they would want to come to Nevada. That was my thinking.”

And though he presided over the biggest fights the sport had over his time with the commission, helping elevate the state to its place in the boxing game as the fight capital of the world, he still deflects praise to his colleagues and predecessors, noting good friend Chuck Minker, who served as Executive Director until his death in 1992. Ratner then stepped in and kept the job until he became the UFC’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs in 2006.

“What I did was just carry on some of the stuff that had been going on,” Ratner said. “We didn’t change anything.”

There’s that modesty again, but there’s no changing Ratner, who had the best seat in the house on fight night, but couldn’t enjoy the fights.

“Not until they were over,” he said. “My biggest fear was somebody getting hurt, which is – to this moment – still the biggest fear we have, and that something crazy didn’t happen in the ring. So I was most happy when the fights were over. I would have a general sense of who I thought was winning and I had the scores right in front of me, but until I really watched it a couple days later, I didn’t get a full appreciation.”

These days though, a look back at ESPN Classic fights or boxing documentaries bring back some good memories.

“Man, look at me, my hair was so dark,” he laughs. “That’s my first thought. But I believe I had the best regulatory job in the world. And it was a hard decision for me to come to the Ultimate Fighting Championship team. It took me a while, and (UFC Chairman and CEO) Lorenzo (Fertitta) finally said, ‘Are you coming or not?’ And that’s over ten years ago, and here I am. I still get to go to fights, I still get to go to boxing events, and what’s great for me is that when we (the UFC) go to some of these foreign countries with no commission, I can run it as if it were the Nevada commission. So it’s a continuation of my experiences, and it’s been great for me.”

And boxing is a better place thanks to people like Marc Ratner, who is being celebrated by the sport he’s loved since the early sixties.

“It’s the one on one,” he said. “It’s not a team sport. You have to depend on yourself, and the courage it takes to get in the ring and to fight, knowing you’re going to get hit, I’ve always been entranced by that. I’ve been a lifelong fan.”