My obituary of the boxing referee Arhtur Mercante is in today's Independent, you can link to it here. That the boxing matches Mercante reffed, and there were many other title fights which I'd listed but didn't make it into the final copy, are now elements of nostalgia, both personal and collective, makes me stop and think (code for 'feel old'). It is a shame that there are few boxers and fights as compelling as those from the 1950s through, what, the early 90s? I blame it on the effects of television (and later, and more significantly, pay per view) money, which first led networks to endorse the alphabet soup of phony titles in half-weight classes, and then destroyed the market for up and coming fighters. The days of building a fighter on TV, as was done with Mike Tyson, disappeared because the money was all in the PPVs once he became a success.I also liked Mercante's life style in Long Island (or 'on' Long Island if you look at it as being a sort of desert island)...working at the Merchant Marine Academy, for Schaefer Beer, one of the worst ever committed to tin can (Philadelphia magazine once reviewed a number of beers and mentioned that Schaefer
was the only one that tasted better in cans, because the tinny aftertaste improved it) and then in Parks & Rec in Hempsted. The appeal of a parks & rec job has always been strong for to someone whose best days in college were spent working on buildings & grounds...There is an ambiguity to refereeing in boxing which has always been challenging, and I say that from experience of working within the business. It was just another reason why I appreciated Arthur Mercante and was glad to help remember him...
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