Victor Patrick Lucca (2 June 1920 – 11 August 2006) was an Australian professional boxer and referee. Patrick was born to an

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

farmer and took up boxing in 1940 to earn money. He first fought under the name Alf Edwards, so that his mother would not know he was boxing. He won his first 18 bouts, 17 of them by

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

. He then lost to

Tod Morgan Albert Morgan Pilkington (December 25, 1902 – August 3, 1953), better known as Tod Morgan, was an American Boxing, boxer who took the World Jr. Lightweight Championship in 1925 in Los Angeles and held it for an impressive four years. His mana ...

via an unintentional foul, but won their next bout, along with the national lightweight title. He defended it two months later, again against Morgan, and in 1942 captured the Australian welterweight title. He kept the lightweight title until retirement in 1948, but relinquished the welterweight title in 1946. After retiring Patrick had a long career as a referee. He also played himself in a boxing documentary '' Fighting Blood (1951 film)''. In 1986 he was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

as an athlete, and in 1996 upgraded to "Legend of Australian Sport". In 1987 he was awarded the Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

, and in 2003 inducted into the

Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame was founded in 2001 and began inducting boxers into the Hall of Fame in 2003. Since then annual induction dinners have been held across Australia. Inductees are nominated and then voted upon by a panel of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patrick, Vic 1920 births 2006 deaths Australian people of Italian descent Australian male boxers Lightweight boxers