Boxing referee Arthur Mercante dies at 90

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Arthur Mercante, referee for the first Ali-Frazier fight and more than 100 other world title bouts, has died. He was 90.

Mercante died Saturday at his home in Westbury, N.Y., said Edward Brophy, executive director of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Mercante refereed 145 world title fights, the most famous on March 8, 1971, when Joe Frazier defeated Muhammad Ali in ‘The Fight of the Century’ at Madison Square Garden.

We’ll have more later at latimes.com/obituaries.

--Associated Press