LEGENDARY REFEREE ATHUR MERCANTE SR PASSES
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 11 Apr 2010
Legendary Hall-of-Fame referee Arthur Mercante Sr has passed away at the age of 90. His career began professionally in 1954 and ended when he was 81 in 2001.
Mercante Sr refereed several top world title fights but among the biggest was the ?Fight of the Century? when Muhammad Ali made a comeback and in his first battle with Joe Frazier lost a decision at New York?s famed Madison Square Garden on March 8, 1971.
He was the third man in the ring in title fights featuring Emile Griffith, George Foreman, Floyd Patterson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Carlos Ortiz, Mike Tyson, Roy Jones Jr, Julio Cesar Chavez and Shane Mosley among others.
The last fight Arthur Mercante Sr refereed was the bout between southpaw Zab Judah and Reggie Green when he was an active 81.
Mercante Sr served in the US Navy during World War II and his commanding officer was heavyweight champion Gene Tunney.
Mercante Sr was inducted into the Boxing Hall-of-Fame in Canastota, New York in 1995. He is survived by his wife Gloria and sons James, Glenn, Arthur and Thomas.
Our condolences to the family of a truly fine referee and a gentleman who will be sorely missed.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
A New King, A New Challenger: Turki Alalshikh Proposes Crawford-Benavidez While Canelo Alvarez Faces Defeat with Humility
By Dong Secuya, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Highly Questionable Title Eliminator
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Yoseline Perez Earns Silver Medal at Inaugural World Boxing Championships
Mon, 15 Sep 202521-year-old Filipino wins at Germany rapid chess tournament
By Marlon Bernardino, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Nagoya Nightmare: Naoya Inoue Notches One-Sided Decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Inoue’s Philippine Connection: Which Pinoy Super Bantamweight Could Challenge “The Monster?”
By Carlos Costa, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Yoseline Perez Advances to the Finals at the World Boxing Championships Perez Set to Face Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao-Wen Huang for 54-Kilogram World Title
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Canelo Gets Outboxed, Loses Undisputed Title to Crawford
By Carlos Costa, Sun, 14 Sep 2025A Masterpiece of Boxing: Terence Crawford Dethrones Canelo Alvarez in Historic Showdown
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025LEWIS CROCKER IS CROWNED THE NEW IBF WORLD WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION
Sun, 14 Sep 2025Battle of Undefeated: Callum Walsh Vanquishes Fernando Vargas Jr.
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025Undercard Inferno: Mbilli and Martinez Deliver a Super Middleweight War Ending in a Thrilling Draw
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025Crawford to defy odds?
By Joaquin Henson, Sun, 14 Sep 2025Clash of Titans: The Final Predictions for Canelo Álvarez vs. Terence Crawford
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025Weigh-In Results: Naoya Inoue vs. Murodjon Akhmadaliev
Sun, 14 Sep 2025