Best referee in your opinion?

Some time after the first Tyson fight. He was heartbroken because his wife or girlfriend left him. He was a good ref, and at that time he was young. Damn that’s effed up. Appreciate the info on it

I agree about Frank Capuccino, I remember watching the Gatti Ward tribute and ol Frank said he knew if he stopped Gatti v Ward he would never live it down. I think he even said that he knew if he stopped it his career would be over! I didn’t know Halperin commutes suicide.? When was that Some time after the first Tyson fight. He was heartbroken because his wife or girlfriend left him. He was a good ref, and at that time he was young.

I agree on Harvey Dock, he's the best current referee. Surprising that he wasn't mentioned in this thread yet.i agree! I didn’t read through all of the posts before posting. After you mentioned the fact that he hadn’t been brought up I read them all. A lot of peeps are just bashing and not respecting them. It’s a very hard job, especially if you are dealing with the lighter weights

I have to go with Smoger on this one. Of course I am partially biased because I hail from the east coast. Me too. Smoger would let a fight go on unless someone was really in deep trouble, as in a eye falling out of the socket. But my current is definitely Harvey Dock. He seems very unbiased, regardless of race cole or creed...which is very important now days.

No Capuccino, no Ward/Gatti fight the way it evolved. He will let them fight. Mitch Halpern was an excellent ref, too bad he committed suicide. I agree about Frank Capuccino, I remember watching the Gatti Ward tribute and ol Frank said he knew if he stopped Gatti v Ward he would never live it down. I think he even said that he knew if he stopped it his career would be over! I didn’t know Halperin commutes suicide.? When was that

I have to go with Smoger on this one. Of course I am partially biased because I hail from the east coast.

No Capuccino, no Ward/Gatti fight the way it evolved. He will let them fight. Mitch Halpern was an excellent ref, too bad he committed suicide.

MY Bad!! It's Benji Estevez and not Cortez. Thanks for the reminder. Right now my favorite, and seems to to be least biased is most definitely Harvey Dock, who was an amateur boxer in his day. Beyond that they fall in this order for me; Richard Steele, Arthur Mercante, Eddie Cotton, Steve Willis aka Crazy Eyes, Howard Foster. Best of all time, Mills Lane and Joe Cortez....before Cortez started having vision problems. By far Harvey Dock is currently the best. Tony Weeks is schit. Kenny Bayless is ok, it just seems like he doesn’t like too much in fighting and seems to pick a favorite a lot of times. All Hail Harvey Dock. Also like Benji Esteves. But don’t like Jack Reiss at all. I completely forgot about Harvey Dock. Yes I totally agree, Harvey is an excellent ref and I give him high marks as well. I don't think Jack Reiss is all that bad, but he does seems to slow the pace down some and break fighters up moreso then ordering them to fight out of a clinch. But both Benji and Harvey have never left me with that "WTF????" feeling during or after a fight.

Right now my favorite, and seems to to be least biased is most definitely Harvey Dock, who was an amateur boxer in his day. Beyond that they fall in this order for me; Richard Steele, Arthur Mercante, Eddie Cotton, Steve Willis aka Crazy Eyes, Howard Foster. Best of all time, Mills Lane and Joe Cortez....before Cortez started having vision problems. By far Harvey Dock is currently the best. Tony Weeks is schit. Kenny Bayless is ok, it just seems like he doesn’t like too much in fighting and seems to pick a favorite a lot of times. All Hail Harvey Dock. Also like Benji Esteves. But don’t like Jack Reiss at all. I agree on Harvey Dock, he's the best current referee. Surprising that he wasn't mentioned in this thread yet.

Right now my favorite, and seems to to be least biased is most definitely Harvey Dock, who was an amateur boxer in his day. Beyond that they fall in this order for me; Richard Steele, Arthur Mercante, Eddie Cotton, Steve Willis aka Crazy Eyes, Howard Foster. Best of all time, Mills Lane and Joe Cortez....before Cortez started having vision problems. By far Harvey Dock is currently the best. Tony Weeks is schit. Kenny Bayless is ok, it just seems like he doesn’t like too much in fighting and seems to pick a favorite a lot of times. All Hail Harvey Dock. Also like Benji Esteves. But don’t like Jack Reiss at all.

My personal vote goes to Tony Weeks because of big fight experience and overall reliability. I'm asking for modern/current referees, but feel free to mention any historical 3rd men. :wtf1::wtf1::wtf1:

I prefer to see Jack Reiss in big fights

Don’t know about the best referee, but Ian John Lewis is the best weferwee.

They all suck. Except when my fighter is winning.

Goldstein Mercante Sr. Bogash Cotton Capuccino Lane Smogger Curtis Ortega Most of the north east coast officials did great jobs. An exception was Rhode Island and eastern Mass, they were political (corrupt) as all hell in the amateurs and pros. Ray

Smoger, Willis, Mills Lane are a few of the best. Byrd is one of the worst.

Active. Steve Willis and Benji Cortez (think thats his name. ) Inactive. Steve Smoger.

Smoger is/was my favorite. He really let fighters fight.

Smoger. No BS calls, No BS stoppages, just let the guys fight it out.

Arthur Mercante Sr. hope I ain't rolling over as to my age? Inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame "Expanded Category" (Referees, Judges & Timekeepers) in 1987. He called the first fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier on March 8, 1971 at Madison Square Garden. In the 10th round, Mercante endured what he called one of the most embarrassing moments of his refereeing career when he accidentally poked Frazier in the eye while he was breaking a clinch. Frazier and his corner were furious at Mercante, but Frazier went on to win the fight by a 15-round unanimous decision. Refereed more than 140 world title fights fights involving boxers Floyd Patterson, Emile Griffith, Sugar Ray Robinson, Carlos Ortiz, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Muhammad Ali, Roberto Duran, Wilfred Benitez, Ken Norton, Alexis Arguello, Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Mike Tyson, Julio Cesar Chavez, Roy Jones Jr., Felix Trinidad, Kostya Tszyu, Shane Mosley, and Ricardo Lopez. Glad someone mentioned an old school ref. Arguably greater than any of today. From the three fights last night, Weeks did a good job, but has to work his way back after that Kovalev debacle. Bayless is consistently decent, not spectacular by any means. Dude in the DeGale fight was pretty bad. Did some good things that Weeks didn't do though, but that comes down to the fighters as well in terms of clinch scenarios