Mickey Vann

Mickey Vann (born 29 December 1943 in London, England) and based in Leeds, ^[1] is a former boxer and British boxing referee. Vann was a 'Class A Star' referee and boxing judge.^[2][3] He arbitrated his first professional bout on 14 January 1985, and since has refereed many World, regional, and national title fights.^[3]

Before becoming a referee, Vann was a professional boxer. He fought 11 times, as a featherweight, winning two and losing nine. His first fight was on 24 April 1969 and his last was on 11 November 1970.^[4]

Vann was involved in controversy on 28 September 2002. He disqualified challenger Stephen Smith, when Ricky Hatton defended his WBU light welterweight title, after Smith's father pushed Vann during the second round.^[5]

Mickey's autobiography, Give Me a Ring was published in 2003 by Mainstream, revealing the colourful story of his childhood. Mickey was the son of Hal Denver, a friend of Elvis Presley, who once threw knives at John Major's mother, and the grandson of The Silver King a showman who included The Elephant Man among his sideshows. Mickey's childhood was spent in fairs, where he appeared as the giraffe necked woman, and a Dickensian foster home.

His career in boxing has seen him take charge of many great champions and he was in charge of the world heavyweight 'Battle of Britain' in Cardiff between Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno.

In his sixties, Mickey qualified to coach rugby league and has worked with Leeds Rhinos Academy. He also hopes to make it onto the veterans over 65s athletic team having competed in events over 60 and 100 metres.

Mickey retired from the British ring at the end of 2008 due to British Boxing Board of Control regulation stating that over 65s are no longer allowed to referee. However, he can still referee international contests and is still regularly used as a judge by boxing's major world bodies.

References

1. ^ "Top Boxing Referee....". http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Top-boxing-referee-will-keep.2043819.jp. Retrieved 2008-09-11. ,
2. ^ "Mickey Vann", Boxrec.com, retrieved 5 April 2008
3. ^ ^{a b} "Mickey Vann", BritishBoxing.net, retrieved 5 April 2008
4. ^ Professional boxing record for Mickey Vann from BoxRec, retrieved 5 April 2008
5. ^ "Hatton wins farce", BBC Sport, 28 September 2002

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Name	Vann, Mickey
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Date of birth	29 December 1943
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