Arthur Mercante Sr.

Arthur Mercante Sr. (Born January 27, 1920 in Brockton , Massachusetts ; † April 10, 2010 in Westbury , New York ) was an American professional ring judge at NYSAC . From 1954 to 2001 he directed over 140 title fights for the boxing associations NYSAC, WBA , WBC and IBF . Most of his ring pairings took place in New York. But also in other American states and in Central America , Europe and Asia ( Mexico , France , Italy , Japan , Thailand ) he appeared at professional boxing events.

Live and act

The son of Italian immigrants was a childhood friend of the famous heavyweight world champion Rocky Marciano and came to boxing through a family role model: his uncle Joe Monte was a professional boxer and was in the ring in New York in 1928 against Max Schmeling , who won him in his first fight on American soil in the defeated eighth round by knockout. In 1942 Arthur Mercante sen. the US Navy. There he was trained as a boxing coach under the former heavyweight world champion Gene Tunney and was henceforth responsible for the athletic training of soldiers. After the end of his military service in 1946 he worked as a boxing trainer at the Academy of the American Merchant Navy. During this time he began to act as a referee at the National Association for University Boxing and continued this activity in the amateur field until he received his professional license in 1954.

Since Arthur Mercante sen. when a professional ring judge could not make a living, he was employed full-time at a New York brewery, where he was responsible for sales and marketing. In the early 1960s, Mercante starred in the film Faust in the Face (Requiem for a Heavyweight) together with Cassius Clay , Jack Dempsey , Anthony Quinn and Jackie Gleason in front of the camera. In this film about the end of the career of a burned-out professional boxer, he appeared in a supporting role as a referee. He also advised the film team on designing the boxing scenes.

He experienced the golden age of heavyweight boxing up close in the 1970s and was the third man in the ring with Muhammad Ali , Joe Frazier , George Foreman and Ken Norton . But also fights of numerous other boxing legends such as Floyd Patterson , Sugar Ray Robinson , Sugar Ray Leonard , Marvin Hagler , Mike Tyson , Roy Jones junior or Lennox Lewis are recorded in his judge pass. His most famous skirmishes include the first meeting between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier on March 8, 1971 in Madison Square Garden , New York, and the meeting between Joe Frazier and George Foreman on January 22, 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica.

In 2006 he published his memoir Inside the Ropes (English title: The Third Man in the Ring ), in which he describes the developments in professional boxing over the last five decades from the perspective of a referee, describes his experiences in professional boxing and his assessment of numerous legendary boxers and fights there.

In 1995 Arthur Mercante sen. inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York.

His son Artur Mercante jun. followed in his footsteps and also became a referee in 1984. However, he is not as undisputed in this profession as his father always was.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Referee Arthur Mercante Jr in center of controversy after Yuri Foreman's corner threw in towel. New York Daily News June 7, 2010.

literature

• Inside the Ropes: Arthur Mercante. Arthur Mercante, Bert Randolph Sugar, Phil Guarnieri, 2006
• The third man in the ring: Arthur Mercante - My life as a boxing judge. Arthur Mercante, Bert Randolph Sugar, Phil Guarnieri, From the American by Patrick Bartsch, Zurich 2012, Römerhof Verlag, ISBN 978-3-905894-09-7

Web links

• Richard Goldstein. "Arthur Mercante Sr., Hall of Fame Boxing Referee, Dies at 90". New York Times. April 11, 2010.
• Arthur Mercante Sr. on BoxRec .