Authur Mercante, Sr. (January 27, 1920 – April 10, 2010)

I think the first time I heard the words Arthur Mercante, my dad was telling me a story about Arthur's volunteering and helping out with the PAL back in the day. The first time I remember seeing him was at the Floyd Patterson and Ingemar Johansson fight. There is no way in the world I would call Arthur a dear friend of mine but what I can say is that he was an extremely special person. He was a true gentleman- never heard a bad word out of his mouth and never heard a bad word about him. He's one of the few referees that his honesty and sincerity were never in question. He had a love affair with boxing and he always made sure he took care of the boxer to minimize any possible damage. Even though we didn't talk very often, there would always be a little smile of acknowledgment. I guess I should say that the boxing world has lost a great statesman, but what I would rather say that the world has lost one beautiful gentleman.