Prominent Referee Halpern Dies in an Apparent Suicide

Despite being the third man in the ring for some of the biggest fights in recent boxing history, referee Mitch Halpern shunned attention, preferring to be the strong, silent type.

But that silence was shattered Monday with the shocking news that Halpern had been found dead in his South Las Vegas home Sunday evening from what police lieutenant Wayne Peterson described as “an obvious, self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Halpern was 33.

Metro Police, responding to a telephone call, found Halpern’s body. They also found two people in the home when they arrived. Peterson declined to share other details or say whether Halpern left a suicide note.

“When Mitch refereed, he never lost control in the ring,” said promoter Bob Arum, reinforcing the public image of Halpern as a man of great emotional strength. “Everybody knew what great integrity he had. He was one of boxing’s greatest referees. It will be a loss to the sport as well as to his family.”

Among Halpern’s biggest assignments were Evander Holyfield’s upset victory over Mike Tyson in 1996, and two of last year’s most memorable bouts--Felix Trinidad’s victory over Oscar De La Hoya and Lennox Lewis’ triumph over Holyfield in their rematch.

Halpern, who got his start in 1991, was the referee for 87 championship fights and hundreds of other bouts all over the world.

While he was not concerned about sharing the spotlight with the fighters, he was concerned with doing a good job.

Even when it was only a make-believe job.

Portraying a referee in the movie “Play It to the Bone,” Halpern, after a scene was shot, would ask onlookers if he seemed realistic on film.

As if Halpern could be anything but realistic in the role of a referee.

After it was announced that Halpern would be back in the ring for Holyfield-Tyson II in 1997, Tyson’s handlers howled in protest because they felt Halpern hadn’t done enough to protect their fighter from what they perceived as Holyfield’s dirty fighting in the first match.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission refused to remove Halpern. At the 11th hour, however, Halpern removed himself--losing a $10,000 payday by stepping aside. But, to him, it was a small price to pay for keeping himself out a spotlight he felt belonged to the fighters.

“Everyone knows that Mitch was one of the finest boxing referees in the world,” said Dr. Flip Homansky, a Nevada commission member. “But his greatest qualities were displayed outside the ring where he was one of the nicest and most caring people I have ever met.”