Mills Lane

This article is about the boxing referee and television judge. For his uncle, an Atlanta bank executive from 1946 to 1973, see Mills Lane (banker).

Mills Lane
Born	Mills Bee Lane III November 12, 1936 (1936-11-12) (age 75) Savannah, Georgia
Other names	Judge Mills Lane
Occupation	Retired television judge, former lawyer, and former boxing referee

Mills Bee Lane III (born November 12, 1936) is a retired boxing referee, a former boxer, was a two term Washoe County District Court Judge, and television personality. He is best known for having officiated several major heavyweight championship boxing matches in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and for starring in the television show Judge Mills Lane.^[1]

Biography

Lane hails from a prominent Georgia family: his grandfather founded the largest bank in Georgia, and his uncle (and namesake) was the president of Citizens & Southern National Bank. Lane, however, had other aspirations, and joined the United States Marine Corps in 1956, after his graduation from Middlesex School. He became a boxer while serving as a Marine, becoming the All-Far East welterweight champ. After leaving the Marines Corps, he enrolled at the University of Nevada, Reno and became the NCAA boxing champion. He turned pro while in college, eventually earning an 10-1 record as a pro. He was in the 1960 Summer Olympics boxing finals held in San Francisco, California. He was defeated by Phil Baldwin in the semifinals.^[2]

Lane graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with a business degree in 1963, then a few years later enrolled at the University of Utah to attend law school. Lane graduated as a lawyer, and in 1979, he became Chief Deputy Sheriff of Investigative Services at the Washoe County Sheriff's Office. He was elected District Attorney in 1982 and District Judge in 1990.^[1]

Boxing referee

Lane refereed his first world championship boxing match in 1971, when Betulio González had a fifteen-round draw with Erbito Salavarria for the WBC flyweight title.^[1] Lane became a household name in the United States the night he refereed "The Bite Fight" rematch between world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield and challenger Mike Tyson on June 28, 1997. After Tyson bit Holyfield's ears twice, Lane disqualified him. Lane's shirt was stained with blood from the incident, and he sold it to a memorabilia collector on the same night,^[3] Mitch Halpern was supposed to Referee that fight, but Tyson's camp protested him, so Lane was brought in at the last minute.

Television

From 1998 to 2001 his court show, Judge Mills Lane, aired on national television.^[1] In addition to this show, the producers of MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch approached him about having his character and voice used in their show as the referee of their plasticine figure matches.^[1] Lane accepted the offer, and so became an MTV personality. As a referee, Lane started boxing matches by declaring "Let's get it on!", which became his catchphrase. This was reproduced in Celebrity Deathmatch as his character would shout the same phrase to initiate fights.^[1] Lane titled his autobiography Let's Get It On: Tough Talk from Boxing's Top Ref and Nevada's Most Outspoken Judge.^[4]

Lane guest voiced on an episode of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command in which he played a judge.

After TV

After the fight between Thomas Hearns and Jay Snyder on November 6, 1998, Lane retired from being a boxing referee.^[5]

Stroke

Lane suffered a debilitating stroke in March 2002 which left him partially paralyzed, and affected his ability to speak.^[5] This led to his Celebrity Deathmatch alter-ego being voiced by Chris Edgerly (who played Nick Diamond) for the remainder of series' run. His adopted city of Reno celebrated him on December 27, 2004, proclaiming it "Mills Lane Day". In May 2006, Lane made his first public appearance in years at the dedication of a new courthouse which is named after him.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Erickson, Hal (2009). Encyclopedia of television law shows: factual and fictional series about judges, lawyers and the courtroom, 1948-2008. McFarland. pp. 147–148. ISBN 9780786438280. 
2. ^ Moe, Doug (2005). Lords of the Ring: The Triumph and Tragedy of College Boxing's Greatest Team. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 117. ISBN 9780299204242. 
3. ^ Sugar, Bert Randolph (2003). Bert Sugar on Boxing: The Best of the Sport's Most Notable Writer. Globe Pequot. pp. 247–249. ISBN 9781592280483. 
4. ^ Lane, Mills; Jedwin Smith (1998). Let's get it on: tough talk from boxing's top ref and Nevada's most outspoken judge. Crown. ISBN 9780609603116. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Carp, Steve (2008). "Stroke victim Mills Lane, family cope". Las vegas Review Journal. http://www.lvrj.com/news/34166084.html. Retrieved 11/09/2008. 

External links

Biography portal

• Professional boxing record for Mills Lane from BoxRec
• Mills Lane at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Lane, Mills
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 12, 1936
Place of birth	Savannah, Georgia
Date of death
Place of death