Hall of Fame boxing ref Mercante Sr. dead at 90

Boxing Hall of Fame referee Arthur Mercante Sr., who was revered in the sport as a pillar of fair play and sportsmanship, died peacefully in his sleep Saturday morning at home in Westbury. He was 90 years old.

Mercante was widely known as the upright arbiter of 120 title fights, including one of the biggest nights in boxing history, the first fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier on March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden. But Mercante, a 44-year resident of Garden City, also was celebrated locally as the deputy commissioner for youth development and physical fitness for the Town of Hempstead for more than 30 years until his retirement about seven years ago.

In that role, Mercante ran a youth boxing program at Echo Park on Nassau Boulevard in West Hempstead. "There were so many kids that came out of that program," Mercante's son James said Saturday. "My brothers always would meet kids that would say, 'Your father taught me how to defend myself, how to walk right, how to stay in shape, how to be better groomed, how to deal with bullies.' We used to hear this all the time growing up."

Mercante's involvement with youth boxing was fitting because he first was exposed to the sport while growing up in Brockton, Mass. He hung around gyms with his uncles, including Joe Monte, a heavyweight who fought three times against future champion Jim Braddock, later celebrated as "The Cinderella Man," and once against future champion Max Schmeling.

Mercante was proud of the fact that he was one of three people from Brockton to reach the Boxing Hall of Fame, including heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano and middleweight champ Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

During World War II, Mercante served in the Navy as a chief specialist running a recruit training program in Farragut, Idaho, that was overseen by his commanding officer, former heavyweight champion Gene Tunney. Mercante attended NYU and later worked for many years as a physical fitness instructor at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point.

His ring career began with small shows in 1954, the same year he wed his wife of 56 years, Gloria. The couple raised four sons: Glenn, James, Arthur Jr., who also became a well-known boxing referee, and Thomas. They have three grandchildren, Brittany, Dylan and Sophie.

To his children, Mercante was an exemplar of rigorous personal discipline. "His physical bearing was a big part of growing up," James Mercante said. 'The four boys did chin-ups on a bar in the kitchen before we sat down to dinner. Then our father would do one more than whoever did the most."

The first big break of Mercante's ring career came when he was assigned to the heavyweight championship rematch between Floyd Patterson and Ingemar Johansson on June 20, 1960, at the Polo Grounds. The list of fighters whose bouts were refereed by Mercante reads like the honor roll from the Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, N.Y., which inducted Mercante in 1995.

Besides Ali and Frazier, it includes everyone from Sugar Ray Robinson to Emile Griffith, Dick Tiger, Roberto Duran, George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Alexis Arguello, Julio Cesar Chavez, Riddick Bowe, Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson and Hagler. Mercante also broadcast fights along with announcer Howard Cosell and served as a consultant on the movie "Requiem for a Heavyweight," recommending the young Cassius Clay for a role before he became heavyweight champion and changed his name to Muhammad Ali.

"My father only got $750 for Ali-Frazier, but it was a career-making fight," James Mercante said. "He was thrilled to be in the ring. He loved that fight."

Mercante's stature was such that when Tyson spotted him in the Tokyo airport before his fight with Tony Tubbs, he ran to Mercante, hugged him and said: "Are you reffing my fight? Now I know I've made it!"

Funeral arrangements are with Fairchild Sons Funeral Home at 1201 Franklin Ave. in Garden City. Visiting hours are scheduled from 2-4 p.m. and from 7-9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. A funeral mass will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Joseph's R.C. Church at 130 Fifth St. in Garden City.