Mills Lane, Legendary Boxing Referee, Dead at 85

Mills Lane, a legendary boxing referee who was also a boxer, district attorney and judge, died Tuesday morning, in Reno, Nevada, according to the Reno Gazette Journal. He was 85 years old. His son, Tommy Lane, told the Reno Gazette Journal that his father died after being in hospice for the past week. Previously, Mills Lane suffered a stroke in April 2002. His wife, Kaye, and sons Terry and Tommy were by his side before his death.

“He took a significant decline in his overall situation,” Tommy Lane said. “It was a quick departure. He was comfortable and he was surrounded by his family. You never knew how long he had. We kind of felt like we were preparing for this all along, but there’s no such thing as preparing for this.”

RIP to One of the greatest referrers of all time. What fight stands out to when you think of Mills Lane? pic.twitter.com/zTasMKayu2

— Damien Scott (@MadScientistFF) December 7, 2022

Before Lane become a prominent boxing referee, he was a champion boxer, winning the NCAA welterweight boxing championship in 1960. He narrowly missed the 1960 summer Olympics, losing to Phil Baldwin in the semifinals of the U.S. Olympic Trails in San Francisco. Lane turned pro and finished his boxing career with a 10-1 record. 

Lane then transitioned to being a boxing referee and is known for saying the catchphrase “Let’s Get It On,” which he began saying in the late 1970s. In his career as a referee, Lane officiated over 100 title fights and was the third man in notable fights such as Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield, Lenox Lewis vs. Oliver McCall and Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson which was called the “Bite Fight” where Tyson bit off a piece of Holyfield’s ear. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2013. 

Lane retired from the ring and then starred in the television series Judge Mills Lane from 1998 to 2001. He graduated from the University of Utah’s College of Law in 1970 and began working in the Washoe County District Attorney’s office in Nevada as a prosecutor in 1971. Lane was elected Washoe County district attorney in 1982 and then became a judge of Washoe County’s Second Judicial District Court in 1990. 

Tommy Lane said that no funeral service is planned but the family may have a memorial service shortly. “He hated funerals,” Tommy said. “We might do some sort of send-off, celebration at a bar, or something like that, but not a traditional funeral.”