Mills Lane

Mills Bee Lane III (born November 12, 1937) is an American former boxing referee and professional boxer, a two-term Washoe County, Nevada, District Court Judge, and television personality.

Lane is best known for having officiated several major heavyweight championship boxing matches in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and for starring in the syndicated court show Judge Mills Lane. On June 9, 2013, Lane was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and was likewise inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame on August 10 of the same year.

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.

After his graduation from Middlesex School, Lane joined the United States Marine Corps in 1956. Subsequently, he enrolled at the University of Nevada, Reno, from which he graduated with a business degree in 1963. He then attended the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney College of Law, graduating with the class of 1970.

Lane became a boxer while serving as a Marine, becoming the All-Far East welterweight champ. He was an NCAA boxing champion. He turned pro while in college, eventually earning a 10–1 record as a professional. In the US Olympic Trials in San Francisco for the 1960 Summer Olympics, Lane was defeated by Phil Baldwin in the boxing semifinals.

In 1979, Lane 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.

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.

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. Mitch Halpern was supposed to referee the fight, but Tyson's camp protested. So, Lane was brought in at the last minute. 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.

Less than three weeks later, Lane refereed the match between Lennox Lewis and Henry Akinwande. Just like Tyson vs. Holyfield, it ended in disqualification when Akinwande used illegal tactics, these being excessive clinching and ignoring Lane's repeated orders to stop.

After the fight between Thomas Hearns and Jay Snyder on November 6, 1998, Lane retired as a boxing referee.

In 2013, Lane was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. On August 10, 2013, he was also inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame.

Lane presided over the court show, Judge Mills Lane. The court show lasted for three seasons, from 1998 to 2001. 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. Lane accepted the offer and 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.

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

Lane titled his autobiography Let's Get It On: Tough Talk from Boxing's Top Ref and Nevada's Most Outspoken Judge.

Lane suffered a debilitating stroke in March 2002, which left him partially paralyzed and virtually unable to speak. With his blessing, this led to his Celebrity Deathmatch alter-ego being voiced by Chris Edgerly (who played Nick Diamond) for the MTV2 revival.

Lane's adopted city of Reno proclaimed December 27, 2004, as “Mills Lane Day'”. In May 2006, Lane made his first public appearance in years at the dedication of a new courthouse in Reno which is named after him. The Mills B. Lane Justice Center houses the Reno Municipal Court and the Washoe County District Attorney's Office.