Mitchell Howard Halpern (July 14, 1967 – August 20, 2000) was an American boxing referee who officiated some of the sport's biggest matches. Early career Halpern began his career in March 1991 and went on to referee 87 championship fights and hundreds of non-title fights around the world. Mitch also volunteered for a foundation that grants wishes for children that are suffering with life-threatening medical conditions. Halpern was trained and mentored by veteran boxing referee Richard Steele. "I taught him everything I knew," said Steele. "He took what I had taught him, and with his great natural ability, made himself a great referee." Marc Ratner, who was the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission during the time that Halpern was a referee commented, "There are certain officials in certain sports who are naturals...Mitch has a real feel for it." Steele said that Halpern approached him one night after Steele had just finished refereeing a fight and told him that he wanted to be a referee. Steele recounted, "I have had numerous people come to me and say that. I always tell them, 'I will meet you at the gym Monday.' He was there Monday. Most other guys never show up. He worked hard. He worked harder than anyone I had ever seen. He wanted to be the best." As part of the learning process to become a world-class boxing ref, Halpern asked Steele to get in the ring with him and box. They ended up boxing every day. Steele remembered, "He wanted to know how it felt to have a bloody nose and be hurt...He wanted to get the fullness out of being a boxer so he could make the right decisions...It really helped him to be the best referee of all time." Tyson–Holyfield I Halpern was assigned many of the highest-profile fights in Nevada. These included the first Mike Tyson–Evander Holyfield fight for the WBA Heavyweight title at the MGM Grand Garden in 1996 in which Holyfield won by TKO in the 11th round in a surprise upset. The fight was voted by Ring magazine as both Fight of the Year and Upset of the Year. Others beside boxing insiders began to take note of Halpern during this fight. Marc Ratner recounted: "...Until Mitch got the first Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield fight, nobody knew how good he was." Halpern was scheduled to referee Holyfield–Tyson II, what would come