Arthur Mercante Sr. (January 26, 1920 – April 10, 2010) was an American boxing referee. His career lasted from the 1960s until 2001. Mercante's son also became a noted referee. In his youth, Arthur Mercante Sr. was a member of the Merchant Marines. His first title bout was the second fight between

Floyd Patterson Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in his ...

and

Ingemar Johansson Jens Ingemar "Ingo" Johansson (; 22 September 1932 – 30 January 2009) was a Swedish professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1963. He held the world heavyweight title from 1959 to 1960, and was the fifth heavyweight champion born outside ...

. Johansson had won the world heavyweight title in the first fight. In the second fight, Patterson became the first fighter to regain the heavyweight title.Arthur Mercante Sr., Hall of Fame Boxing Referee, Dies at 90
The New York Times, April 11, 2010 Mercante was also the referee for many notable bouts, including the first Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight on March 8, 1971, the first bout between

George Foreman George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champio ...

and

Joe Frazier Joseph William Frazier (January 12, 1944November 7, 2011), nicknamed "Smokin' Joe", was an American professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1981. He was known for his strength, durability, formidable left hand, and relentless pressure ...

, the fight between Jerry Quarry and Earnie Shavers, the first bout between Alexis Arguello and Alfredo Escalera, the Wilfredo Gomez-Lupe Pintor fight, the first bout between

Edwin Rosario Edwin "Chapo" Rosario Rivera (; March 15, 1963 – December 1, 1997) was a Puerto Rican professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 1997. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC lightweight title from 1983 to 1984, ...

and Jose Luis Ramirez and Rosario's bout with Hector Camacho Sr. Mercante was born in

Brockton, Massachusetts Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population is 105,643 as of the 2020 United States Census. Along with Plymouth, it is one of the two county seats of Plymouth County. It is the sixth-largest city in Massac ...

and moved with his family to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, beh ...

at age 7. During his teenage years, he fought in the

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nationa ...

as a

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

and graduated from Boys High School in 1938. He earned

Bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

and

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

degrees from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, t ...

in 1942 and 1947 respectively, the latter after serving in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during World War II as a boxing instructor as part of a physical training program headed by heavyweight champion

Gene Tunney James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1923 ...

. After the war he refereed Golden Gloves and college bouts and became varsity boxing coach at the

United States Merchant Marine Academy The United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA or Kings Point) is a United States service academy in Kings Point, New York. It trains its midshipmen (as students at the academy are called) to serve as officers in the United States Merchan ...

until the sport was phased out at the intercollegiate level.Van Gelder, Lawrence. "Long Islanders: The Man in the Middle Recalls a Life in the Ring," ''The New York Times'', Sunday, July 21, 1985.
Retrieved July 7, 2021 His refereeing career began professionally in 1956 and ended in 2001 at the age of 81. In 1995 he was inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...

in Canastota,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...

. He was the first contestant on the June 26, 1960 edition of the television game show ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a Panel show, panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebr ...

'' Refereeing was his avocation and the line the panel looked for was his vocation; that of beer salesman.''What's My Line?'' Sunday, June 26, 1960 – YouTube (via What's My Line?).
Retrieved July 7, 2021 He worked with Rheingold at the time and later moved to Schaefer in a similar capacity.

References

Literature

* ''Inside the Ropes: Arthur Mercante.''Arthur Mercante, Bert Randolph Sugar, Phil Guarnieri, 2006 * ''Der dritte Mann im Ring - Arthur Mercante: Mein Leben als Boxrichter.'' Arthur Mercante, Bert Randolph Sugar, Phil Guarnieri, Aus dem Amerikanischen von Patrick Bartsch, Zürich 2012, Römerhof Verlag,

External links

Biography and record from Boxrec
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercante, Arthur American boxing referees Boxing referees 1920 births 2010 deaths People from Brockton, Massachusetts United States Merchant Mariners United States Navy personnel of World War II