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Junior lightweight Diana Prazak
was born in
Altona, Melbourne, Australia, to parents Zeljko and Louise, who are of
Croatian and Maltese descent. Prazak - who owns a successful
IT business called DiTec
Solutions - joined the BoxingFit
Gym in Altona in 2008 as a heavy smoker weighing 196 lbs who was
looking to shed some weight through
boxing training. The former bodybuilder became hooked on the
sport and asked gym owner and coach Mick Hargraves if he would train
her to fight. She competed as an amateur and was undefeated in
six fights, winning the Victoria junior welterweight title in her third
fight and the Australian junior
welterweight national title in her fourth.
"I
fell in love with it. I started boxing to lose weight and get fit.
I got a bit addicted to it and after a while they (BoxingFit)
had
a bit of trouble getting rid of me. I told (trainer) Mick
Hargraves that this is it. I want to box. I'm
loving this".
Diana made her pro debut on
March 13, 2010 at the Racecourse Reception
Center in Moonee Valley, Victoria, Australia, weighing in at 138¼ lbs
and losing by a six-round unanimous decision to kickboxing champion and
former Gladiator Sarah "Missy" Howett
(137¼
lbs) of East Ivanhoe, Victoria, who improved to 1-1 as a pro with the
win.
On July 16, 2010 at the Town
Hall in Box Hill, Victoria, Australia, Diana (134½ lbs) TKO'd debuter
Kay
Hodgson (136 lbs) of Ballarat, Victoria at 1:59 in the third round of a
scheduled four-rounder.
On September 17, 2010 at the
Whitehorse Club in East Burwood, Victoria, Australia, Diana (131¼
lbs) won a four-round unanimous (40-35x3) decision over debuter Rachel
Phillips (130¼ lbs) of Victoria.
On October 1, 2010 at the Town
Hall in Cobourg, Victoria, Australia, Diana (133½ lbs) won by a TKO at
1:53 in the fourth round over pro boxing debuter Sarah George
(126½
lbs) of Riverhills, Queensland, Australia. Prazak took a standing eight count in
the third round, but she rebounded to put George down twice in the fourth and
final round.
On November 21, 2011 at the
Reggio Calabria Club in Brunswick, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,
Diana (129¼ lbs) TKO'd Nong Tak Sakrungruang (122 lbs) of
Thailand at 1:00 in the sixth and final round. Sakrungruang
fell to 0-7 with this loss.
On April 10, 2011 at Grand
Star Receptions in Altona North, Victoria, Australia, Diana (135¼ lbs)
TKO'd Malin Morgan (139½ lbs) of Caloundra, Queensland, Australia when
Morgan's corner threw in the towel at 0:32 in the sixth round of a
scheduled eight-rounder for the vacant Australian Junior Welterweight
title. Morgan fell to 1-2 (0 KO's) with the loss.
On May 1, 2011 at the Reggio
Calabria Club in Brunswick, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Dian (134
lbs) KO'd Eilleen Forrest (132¼ lbs) of Coorparoo, Queensland, at 1:09
in the first round of a scheduled six-rounder. Forrest, who
had taken a standing eight count before the bout was stopped, fell to
0-2-1 with the loss.
On June 17, 2011 at Grand
Star Receptions in Altona North, Victoria, Australia, Diana
(129¾ lbs) won a ten-round unanimous (98-90,100-91,98-91) decision over
Bronwyn Wylie (128¼ lbs) of Auckland, New Zealand for the vacant PABA
and WIBA International Junior Lightweight titles.
On August 13, 2011 at
BoxingFit Arena in Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Diana (131½
lbs) TKO'd 18-year-old Sriphrae Nongkipahuyuth (131½
lbs) of Buriram, Thailand at 1:03 in the third round of a scheduled
eight-rounder. Nongkipahuyuth fell to 10-1-1 (3 KO's) with the
loss in her first bout outside Thailand.
On September 24, 2011 at Grand Star Receptions
in
Altona North, Victoria, Australia, Diana (128¾
lbs) won the
WIBA Junior Lightweight title by a TKO over Lindsay
Garbatt (128 lbs) of Oshawa, Ontario, Canada between the
ninth and the tenth rounds.
Prazak improved to
9-1-0 (7 KO's) while defending champion Garbatt, who had previously
posted wins over Jelena
Mrdjenovich, Melissa
Hernandez and Maureen Shea,
fell to 7-4-1 (3 KO's) with the loss.
Prazak's goal for 2012 was to unify the other world
titles in the Junior Lightweight division. She relocated to Miami, Florida to live and train.
On January 19, 2012 at Nicotra’s
Ballroom in the Hilton Garden Inn in Staten Island, New York, Diana
(128 lbs) won a six-round unanimous decision over Laura Larcinese (131
lbs) of Montreal, Canada who fell to 4-8 (0 KO's) with the loss.
On December 7, 2012 at the Route 66
Casino near Albuquerque, New Mexico, multiple world champion Holly Holm (5'8", 138¾ lbs) of Albuquerque dropped down in weight and won a ten-round unanimous (100-90x3) decision over Diana Prazak (138
lbs) for the vacant IBA and WBF
Junior Welterweight titles. Prazak fell to 11-2 (7 KO's) while
Holm, who has fought as high as junior middleweight, improved to 32-2-3
(9 KO's) with the win.
On 14 June, 2013 at the Water Front
Congress SAS Radisson, in Stockholm, Sweden, Diana Prazak (129½
lbs) TKO'd local favorite Frida Wallberg
(128¾ lbs) of Gothenburg, Sweden at 1:19 in the eighth round of a
scheduled ten-rounder for the WBAN and WBC Junior Lightweight
titles. The title fight, on a card promoted by Wallberg's
boyfriend Robert Stridsber, had been much anticipated as it marked
Wallberg's return to competition after a 14-month absence. Prazak, now based in Los Angeles, California and training
with multi-sport former world champion Lucia Rijker, appeared much
better prepared for the ten-rounder once she survived an excellent
start by the technically proficient Wallberg, who had a long amateur
career before she turned pro. Wallberg was able to keep Prazak on
defense at first, but Prazak worked Wallberg's body effectively to wear
her down and the Swedish fighter began to lose her edge in the
sixth. Prazak rocked a tiring Wallberg with a hard left in the
seventh and Wallberg looked shaken up between the rounds.
Prazak's body punching opened the way for a hard left hook to the jaw
that sent Wallberg to the canvas in the eighth. Wallberg made it
back to her feet and was allowed to continue, but she was soon knocked
down again and the referee stopped the fight. Rijker rushed into
the ring to congratulate an ecstatic Prazak but their celebration was
short-lived as Wallberg collapsed in her corner after being examined by
the ring doctor. Rijker rushed to the stricken opponent's corner
and quickly called for further medical attention for Wallberg.
Wallberg was then given oxygen and rushed to hospital where it was
found that she had suffered bleeding between the brain and the
meninges. Wallberg was sedated and needed surgery but appears likely to
make a full recovery; the serious injury may prevent her from boxing
professionally again in Sweden, however.
Prazak moved her professional record to 12-2 (8 KO's) while Wallberg suffered her first pro loss and fell to 11-1 (2 KO's).
Diana Prazak was named WBAN's Fighter of the Month for July 2013 for her defeat of Frida Wallberg.
For
further information about Diana Prazak, contact manager Adam Wilcock at
Fight Card Promotions:
Page
last updated: Monday, July 1 2013.
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