Boxing was in mourning when Mills Lane, the legendary referee passed away.
In Reno, Nevada, Lane’s long and storied career in the sport he loved began when he stepped into the ring for his fight against Artie Cox on April 7, 1961.
However, rather than lacing gloves, Lane became more famous for the blue shirt and black bowtie combination he sported as boxing’s most famous referee.
That’s why there was such an outpouring of grief when he passed away on Tuesday at the age of 85.
He was the man in charge of keeping order when Mike Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear, when the ‘Fan Man’ rammed Holyfield against Riddick Bowe and when Oliver McCall stopped fighting Lennox Lewis and went. collapsed in the middle of the fight.
His catchphrase “Let’s Get It On” became his signature and was the basis for MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch and he was eventually inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame.
But his association with boxing began many years before all that.
He even avoided a career in banking to pursue his dream.
A FAMOUS NAME
Born into the money on November 12, 1937, thanks to his grandfather, Mills B. Lane, who founded the largest bank in the state of Georgia, he fled the riches offered to him and enlisted in the Marines in 1956.
There’s even a Mill B Lane Boulevard in Savannah, Georgia.
A SAILOR
Lane thinks his greatest accomplishment was becoming a Marine.
“He said it taught him the discipline he’s based his whole life on,” his son Terry told the Las Vegas Review Journal. “He also started boxing when he was in the Marines.”
During his time as a Marine, he won the All-Far welterweight title before winning the NCAA Tournament at the University of Nevada, which he entered after being discharged in 1959.
But a career as a professional fighter was not on the cards as he found out when Cox dropped him in the first round.
He defeated Cox again, with his debut being his only loss.
“I took a year off, started all over again in the gym, came back and fought 12 more times,” he said. “When I quit I was 11-1-1.”
JUDGE MILLS LANE
Rather than getting punched in the face for a living, he attended law school and worked as a district attorney and then district attorney and served as a district court judge.
Predictably, he was not known for his leniency and this last job even landed him his own TV show later in life – Judge Mills Lane – where his no-nonsense approach made many criminals cowered in the courtroom between 1998 and 2001.
His serious demeanor meant you never knew which way the ax would fall – a good trait to have for this avid poker player.
“Being a referee, whether in the courtroom or in a fight ring, that’s who I am. That’s where my passion lies and I don’t know any other way to describe it” , he writes in his book, Let’s go.
LET’S GO
It’s right up there with Michael Buffer’s “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble.”
Lane’s simple statement was first heard in 1982 before Gerry Cooney fought Larry Holmes in a WBC heavyweight title fight.
“I wanted to say something different,” he later explained, as his signature pre-fight ritual of touching noses and thumbs-up was for a dear friend of his with cancer. .
HIS FIRST FIGHT
A man named Lonnie Toleno beat Jimmy Ahmed at the University of Nevada gymnasium under his watchful eye, although Lane got his first taste of boxing success in the fight capital of the world in 1978.
And what an introduction it was to Caesars Palace when Larry Holmes defeated Ken Norton in 15 rounds, which has since become one of the most epic battles in the heavyweight division.
THE “BITE” FIGHT
In 1996, Holyfield emerged victorious in his first fight against Tyson against all odds. The rematch, in 1997, was supposed to be different – it was certainly memorable – and it ended up thrusting the referee into the mainstream.
It has since become known as the “Bite Fight” due to Tyson’s decision to rip a piece out of his opponent’s ear TWICE.
Microphones picked up Lane telling ‘the baddest man on the planet’ that he bit off Holyfield’s ear and when Tyson responded telling him it was a punch he replied ‘bull ****”.
Lane wasn’t even supposed to be there and only got called out when Tyson’s camp protested the decision to appoint Mitch Halpern as the third man.
Tyson had gotten used to Lane’s tough as nails attitude.
He was in the ring when he became the youngest heavyweight champion in history in 1986 and was there to oversee his fight against Peter McNeeley, his first after his release from prison in 1995.
“My dad always loved Mike, and he ended up doing nine of his fights,” Lane’s eldest son, Terry, told Ring magazine.
HIS LAST FIGHT
He signed his career alongside another legend at Tommy Hearns. One of the “Four Kings”, Hearns was 40 when he fought Jay Snyder at Joe Louis Arena in Michigan on November 6, 1998.
He only needed 88 seconds to win, but maybe should have followed Lane out of the ring.
“He was a fair and honest guy,” Hearns said. “He allowed you to do what you were supposed to do in the ring.
“I had a lot of respect for Mills Lane. I always liked it when he said, ‘Let’s go!’ »
Mills was gone from the ring but certainly not forgotten.
CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH
Millions of non-boxing fans later knew Lane from the claymation version of himself where he provided his “Let’s Go” catchphrase on the MTV show.
He was much more forgiving here as the show saw celebrities literally ripping their heads off, which was often accompanied by Lane saying “I’ll allow it!”
HALL OF FAME
“The whole boxing referee fraternity owes him a lot,” former referee Joe Cortez told the Las Vegas Review Journal.
“He was a top referee. He was very consistent and very fair with the fighters, but very firm.
Having retired in 1998, Lane suffered a debilitating stroke in 2002 which left his right side paralyzed and made it difficult for him to speak.
And his family revealed their surprise when he told them he wanted to attend his Hall of Fame induction in 2013, joining esteemed boxing journalist Colin Hart, announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr and warrior of blood and Arturo Gatti guts.
“Because he usually doesn’t want people to see him like this. He’s a proud guy,” Tommy Lane told The Ring ahead of an appearance where he was showered with the kind of love reserved for boxers.
And there was a lot more of that affection when the sad news broke.