Columnist John Katsilometes: The pugilistic acumen of UNLV’s boxing team

Monday, Oct. 10, 2005 | 9:40 a.m.

Fabulous Las Vegas runs Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at 259-2327 or 812-9812, or by e-mail at kats @ lasvegassun.com.

Last week as boxing fans in Las Vegas and around the country anticipated Saturday night's rematch between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo at the Thomas & Mack Center, a fight card for the very pride of our city was showcased at Big Dog's Cafe & Casino on West Sahara Avenue.

And at the risk of sounding like a homer, our boys -- the members of the UNLV boxing team -- put the hurt on the visitors from UNR, 4-3. The dauntless Rebel fistic practitioners prevailed in the 125-, 132-, 139- and 175-pound classes.

Thus, UNLV wins the coveted Silver State Boxing Title for 2005.

The UNLV boxing team is a club sport, not funded by the school. All of its money is raised by a volunteer board of directors. Tickets for Thursday's fight card went for $100, and the 120-capacity club upstairs at Big Dog's was sold out.

The night's chief contributor/supporter/organizer was Kurt Wiesner, son of the late Tom "Big Dog" Wiesner, who was a major contributor to the city and to UNLV until his death in 2002.

The elder Wiesner was a member of the state Board of Regents and was inducted into the UNLV Athletic Hall of Fame (as a distinguished contributor) in 1994. He was an avid sports fan, particularly of Wisconsin football, where he starred during his college days.

Others on hand on fight night were Nevada Athletic Commission Executive Director Marc Ratner, UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick, former UNLV athletic director Brad Rothermel, Republican National Committee member Joe Brown, Las Vegas land developer Mark Fine, UNLV boxing team founder Bruce Kobrin, former UNLV quarterback (the school's first, actually, in 1968) Bob Casey, and two other former Rebel QBs, Skip Kelp and Orleans Arena general manager Steve Stallworth. Handling the announcing was Ron Frazier , a sports-talk personality at KSHP 1400-AM.

The club operates as a nonprofit entity. The boxers receive no athletic scholarships, but they still have to adhere to the same admission, academic and eligibility standards of any other UNLV athlete. They do it for the love, and today, for the pub.

NoteMart

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