Medic in the Green Time

Mills Bee Lane III (November 12, 1937 – December 6, 2022) was a Marine Corps veteran, American boxing referee and professional boxer, a two-term Washoe County, Nevada district court judge, and television personality. He was 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.

As a referee, Lane started boxing matches by declaring “Let’s get it on!” which became his catchphrase.

Lane was born in Savannah, Georgia to a prominent Georgia family: his grandfather founded the largest bank in Georgia, Citizens & Southern National Bank. He attended Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts, where he played American football as a linebacker and ice hockey as a goaltender. He joined the Marines in 1956, becoming the All-Far East welterweight champ.

The Official Military Personnel File of Miles Lane unfortunately makes no reference to his boxing activities while in the Marines.

Discharged from the Marines in 1959, Lane enrolled at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he boxed and won the national NCAA championship in 1960. His overall amateur record was 45 – 4. He was honored as Nevada’s Athlete of the Year in 1960. In the 1960 US Summer Olympic Trials he was defeated in the semifinals by Phil Baldwin. He turned pro while in college, eventually earning a 10–1 record. He graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with a business degree in 1963.

Graduating from law school in 1970, Lane joined the bar in Nevada. Nine years later he became Chief Deputy Sheriff of Investigative Services at the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. He served as one of fourteen witnesses to Nevada’s last gas chamber execution. He was elected District Attorney in 1982 and District Judge in 1990. His no-nonsense approach in the courtroom would mirror his manner in the ring. His legal background gave him a unique perspective when officiating high-profile fights.

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. He refereed the controversial second fight between WBA Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield and challenger Mike Tyson on June 28, 1997. Billed as the Sound and the Fury, it afterwards became known as The Bite Fight.

After Tyson bit Holyfield’s ears twice, Lane disqualified him. The incident became famous in sporting history, cementing Lane’s reputation as a referee who could maintain control in the most heated situations. He sold his blood-stained shirt to a memorabilia collector that same night.

Less than three weeks later Lane refereed the Lennox Lewis vs Henry Akinwande match, which also ended in disqualification. Lane cited Akinwande for excessive clinching and ignoring repeated orders to stop. After refereeing Hearns vs Snyder on November 6, 1998, Lane retired as a referee.

Outside of boxing and the courtroom, Mills Lane became a pop culture icon. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he hosted the reality court show Judge Mills Lane, where his sharp wit and stern rulings entertained audiences. He also lent his voice and likeness to the Claymation series Celebrity Deathmatch, where his catchphrase, “Let’s get it on!” became legendary.

Lane appeared in a 1998 episode of WWE Raw on the Titantron. He was also the guest referee for a boxing match between “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Buff Bagwell.

A debilitating stroke in March 2002 left him partially paralyzed and virtually unable to speak. His 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 named after him. In 2013 he was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In August of that year he was inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame.

Mills Bee Lane III died on December 6, 2022. He was 85.

According to Publisher’s Weekly Lane’s autobiography, Let’s Get It On: Tough Talk from Boxing’s Top Ref and Nevada’s Most Outspoken Judge, “is a strange mixture of convincing advice to adhere to all the old maxims of self-reliance, honesty and respect for others, as he laments the current state of the judicial system, the family and professional boxing—all this mixed with his near-worship of the Marines. A few observations are so exaggerated as to border on the hysterical (the banning of intercollegiate boxing by the NCAA was “a sad day for mankind,” while those who oppose professional boxing are “‘mentally challenged.” There are reminiscences of great fights where he officiated and boxers he has known, especially Muhammad Ali, a great favorite. An interesting memoir for boxing fans.”
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