Current Events > Mills Lane, Hall of Fame Referee, Passes Away at 85

(+) Yeah! (+)

Mills Lane, one of the most well-known and respected referees in professional boxing, celebrated for his no-nonsense demeanor and pre-fight catchphrase Lets Get It On!, passed away Tuesday morning in his hometown of Reno, Nevada. He was surrounded by his two sons, Terry and Tommy, and his wife Kay. He was 85.

His death was confirmed by his son, Tommy Lane, who told the Reno Gazette Journal that his father had been in an hospice for the past week. Mills Lane suffered a stroke in 2002 that greatly incapacitated him, leaving him paralyzed on one side of his body and unable to speak.

He took a significant decline in his overall situation, Tommy Lane told RGJ. It was a quick departure. He was comfortable and he was surrounded by his family.

You never knew how long he had, continued Tommy Lane, who currently advises Chinese heavyweight contender Zhang Zhilei. We kind of felt like we were preparing for this all along, but there's no such thing as preparing for this.

Mills Lane presided over more than 100 world championship fights, from the 1970s to the late 1990s, making him a participant in some of the greatest moments in boxing history, but it was his moral rectitude and intolerance for shenanigans that made him a respected figure inside and outside the ringno small matter in a chaotic sport historically rife with rogues and fraudsters. For many Lane was the epitome of order and clarity.

There was no fight we wouldnt put him in, Marc Ratner, the former executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, told the Los Angeles Times in a 1991 profile on Lane. He was as good as any referee in the world. I dont care if it was a heavyweight fight or smaller guys, when he said, Break and got in between guys, the fighters respected him. Not all referees have that. He was no-nonsense. He took control. There was an aura about him.

Lane credited his reliability inside the ring to his stint in the Marine Corps.

Everything is discipline, Lane once told the LA Times. When Im working a fight, I give the same energy and attention to a four-rounder as I do a million-dollar fight. The way I see it, in either case, on that night, its the most important fight in those fighters careers.

For his efforts and contributions, Lane was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2013.

Mills Lane got an early start in boxing. In 1956, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and started boxing. When he was stationed in Okinawa, he became the All Far East welterweight champion. He started referring fights while he was a student at University of Nevada, Reno. He subsequently picked up a law degree from the University of Utah and embarked on a legal career that saw him start out as a trial prosecutor in Reno and, later, perhaps all too fittingly, a judge.

was he the ref in Celebrity Deathmatch?

was he the ref in Celebrity Deathmatch?

LET'S GET IT AWN!

Yes. Pretty sure he voiced himself too.

Judge Mills Lane?!!!

was he the ref in Celebrity Deathmatch?

... Mills Lane was a real person? I thought he was just a character on Celebrity Deathmatch.

I thought he passed a while ago. It must have been something saying he was sick. RIP.

He was DOING that on purpose.

He had a stroke 20 years ago and never recovered from it.