to be known as the infamous "Bite Fight", but Tyson's co-manager, John Horne vehemently opposed. Officially, Tyson's camp did not cite any specific reason to The Nevada State Athletic Commission, only arguing that they wanted a fresh slate. Halpern commented at the time, "The day a fighter can dictate what happens in a fight, I'm gone, because then I don't have any authority anyway." The NSAC stood firm with a 4–1 vote and were not willing to remove Halpern (whom one sports writer referred to as "the unwilling centerpiece of a manufactured controversy"). The day before the fight was to occur, Halpern voluntarily withdrew. In an interview with sports reporter Ron Futrell, Halpern explained his reasoning: "As an official, you don't ever want to be the center of attention, and that's what was happening. These are two great fighters, this is a big, big fight, and I didn't want to take away from that..." Mills Lane was subsequently chosen to be the referee. A little over 4 months later on November 8, 1997, Halpern refereed the rematch between Evander Holyfield and Michael Moorer in which Moorer lost by TKO in the 8th round. Holyfield retained his WBA title, while gaining the IBF Heavyweight belt. Other bouts Halpern refereed the match between Gabriel Ruelas and Jimmy Garcia for the WBC super featherweight title on May 6, 1995. Ruelas won the fight by TKO, but the match is mostly remembered because Garcia died in a hospital two weeks later from brain damage sustained in the fight. In a New York Times article, Ruelas explained that even when he was pounding Garcia with punches, Garcia maintained a composure to not act hurt, and the fight continued on for eleven rounds, with Garcia's father prodding him on in his corner. The doctor and Halpern inspected Garcia in the corner after the 10th round and found him coherent enough to continue, but the fight was stopped by Halpern in the next round. Although Garcia walked back to his corner, minutes later he collapsed and had to be taken from the ring on a stretcher. It is not clear what effect Garcia's death had upon Halpern. Physician-at-ringside, Edwin "Flip" Homansky, who often worked title matches that Halpern refereed, said "Mitch transcended the sport in that he truly cared about the fighters." Halpern's experience was similar to boxing referee Richard Green — who officiated the WBA Lightweight