title match between Ray Mancini and Duk Koo Kim in 1982. Kim was knocked down in the 14th round but got up to beat the ten count. When Green spotted a worrisome dazed look in Kim's eyes, he stopped the match. Kim had sustained serious brain trauma and was carried out of the ring on a stretcher. He died four days later (Green died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head about a year after the Mancini–Kim fight). Halpern was the referee for several notable bouts in 1999: the Lennox Lewis–Evander Holyfield rematch at the Thomas & Mack Center in which Lennox was the winner by unanimous decision; the Oscar De La Hoya–Félix Trinidad welterweight championship fight at Mandalay Bay in which Trinidad won by majority decision (billed as the Fight of the Millennium, the fight set a pay-per-view record for a non-heavyweight fight); also in 1999, Halpern officiated the De La Hoya–Ike Quartey fight in which De La Hoya won by split decision. Halpern was also referee for the first of three meetings between Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera. Film Halpern played a referee in the 1999 film, Play it to the Bone. Reputation Before his untimely death in 2000, Mitch Halpern was considered "a rising star" in the sport. Veteran boxing referee Joe Cortez remarked that he considered Halpern one of boxing's top referees — which appeared to be a common sentiment in the industry. One boxing promoter commented that Halpern "never lost control in the ring". Achieving this requires that a referee maintain respect from the fighters and their corners, and is not swayed into not doing the right thing by politics or audience sentiment. It also involves intelligence to "read a fight" and understand the psychology of a fight's dynamics, which moves very quickly. Dr. Elias Ghanem, who was chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission when Halpern died, characterized him as "a real brave referee." Death Halpern died on August 20, 2000 in his south Las Vegas home from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was 33 years old. Detectives at the scene did not give details, except to say that there were two other people in the house at the time. Halpern had been engaged to be married when he died. Many boxing insiders upon hearing of Halpern's death expressed shock because Halpern had a reputation for being collected and