Arthur Mercante Sr. (January 26, 1920 – April 10, 2010) was an American boxing referee. His career spanned from 1954 until 2002. 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 (January 10, 1949 – March 21, 2025) was an American professional boxer, businessman, minister, and author. In boxing, he competed between 1967 and 1997, and was nicknamed "Big George". He was a two-time world heavyweig ...

and

Joe Frazier Joseph William Frazier (January 12, 1944November 7, 2011) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1981. Nicknamed "Smokin' Joe", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. He was known for ...

, the fight between

Jerry Quarry Jerry Quarry (May 15, 1945 – January 3, 1999), nicknamed "Irish" or "The Bellflower Bomber", was an American professional boxer. During the peak of his career from 1968 to 1971, Quarry was a popular figure in boxing, featured on the cover ' ...

and

Earnie Shavers Earnie Dee Shaver (August 31, 1944 – September 1, 2022), best known as Earnie Shavers, was an American professional boxer who competed between 1969 and 1995. A two-time world heavyweight championship challenger, he is known as one of the hard ...

, 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 was a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC lightweight title from 1983 to 1984, ...

and

Jose Luis Ramirez Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods * Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean *Jose ben Halafta * ...

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 was 105,643 at the 2020 United States census. Along with Plymouth, Massachusetts, Plymouth, it is one of the two county seats of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, ...

and moved with his family to

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

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

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

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 never has 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 (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degrees from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

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

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 academies, United States service academy in Kings Point, New York. It trains its midshipman, midshipmen (as students at the academy are called) to serv ...

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 career as a referee began in 1954 and lasted almost five decades, when he officially retired. Mercante was fit and in shape well into his 80s, often doing a variety of exercises on a daily basis like the

jump rope A skipping rope (or jump rope) is a tool used in a sport involving rhythmic jumping over a rope swung underfoot and overhead. The activity, practiced both recreationally and competitively, encompasses disciplines such as freestyle routines—f ...

. In 1995 he was inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...

in Canastota,

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

. 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, between 1950 and 1967, on CBS, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent American revivals. The game uses celebrity panelists ...

'' 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