Chapter Three
CHAPTER THREE
(the referee)
“I would have got killed if I stopped that fight,” referee Frank Cappuccino jovially jested during an interview for HBO’s Legendary Nights series. “Frank Cappuccino really shitted up the place, you know?” he followed, referring to how fans would have responded had he stopped the fight. “They’d have ruined me!”
Frank Cappuccino is beloved in the sport of boxing, and was inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame and the PA Boxing Hall of Fame. Frank was born Frank Capcino on February 7, 1929. Frank grew up in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. Kensington was a tough working class neighborhood in the city, up until the mid-1980’s when the factories began closing down. Over the years Kensington slowly deteriorated into the crime and drug riddled area that it remains today. Frank was an amateur 130 pound boxer from 1951 to 1955. He turned professional under the management of George Katz in 1955 and compiled a record of 6-0 before retiring as a boxer and receiving his referee’s license in 1958.
Frank served as the third man in the ring over a span of 50 years in professional boxing from 1958 to 2008. According to Wikipedia, Frank has officiated in over 25,000 boxing matches, including an estimated 10,000 professional fights since receiving his referee’s license in 1958 until his retirement in 2008. His first recorded fight as referee was on October 16, 1958. That fight was an 8 round decision between Tom Brown and Bernie Ford in Philadelphia, PA, Frank’s home town.
Frank is beloved and highly respected in the sport of boxing for being fair and professional to both boxers at all times. He is most adorned by boxing fans, and boxers themselves, for letting the fighters fight. He was not a fan of the unpopular “technical” knockout, and he tended to allow the fighters to fight their way out of terrible predicaments. He could be considered the polar opposite of referee Richard Steele, who is most known for his premature stoppages. On the other hand, Frank is also known for stopping fights before anyone got hurt, as no boxer was ever seriously injured in the ring while Frank Cappuccino was the referee. He was so beloved in the sport of boxing that he was chosen to portray the referee in Rocky Balboa (Rocky 5).
Obviously, with 50 years of refereeing under his belt, Frank Cappuccino was referee for many notable fights and title fights. Tyson vs Spinks and Ward vs Gatti 1 are the two which are most memorable to boxing fans, not because of him, but for the spectacle that each fight was for its time. Tyson Spinks was the 91 second knockout and pay-per-view blur in 1988 that sent fans calling their cable company for a refund. Except for warning Tyson for a couple elbows in the Spinks fight, Frank Cappuccino had the privilege of giving Michael Spinks a standing 8 count after Spinks went down to one knee in order to stop a barrage of punches Tyson was landing on him in the first round. Seeing that Spinks’ eyes were clear and he indicated he wanted to continue, Cappuccino allowed the fight to continue, and Tyson promptly landed another right to the chin of Spinks that sent Spinks right back to the canvas, only this time on his back. Referee Frank Cappuccino counted him out at 10 as Spinks fell through the ropes, unable to beat the count. It wasn’t until Ward-Gatti 1 that Frank Cappuccino’s decades of experience would be globally appreciated by boxing fans around the world.
On the night of the Ward-Gatti fight, Frank Cappuccino drove himself from his home in Yardley, PA to the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Uncasville, CT in around 4 hours. He arrived in plenty of time to give the fighters their instructions in the dressing rooms. He would only have this one fight to referee tonight, unlike many of his Philadelphia cards, where he would alternate with one other referee for 10 matches on one night. For a fight of this magnitude, being broadcast live by HBO, each bout had a different referee.
Cappuccino played a prominent role by masterful refereeing this tight and savage battle. In the fourth round, Gatti blasts a low punch into Ward’s groin sending him down in pain. Cappuccino calls it a slip and takes a point from Gatti for the low blow. In the ninth round, Ward and Gatti landed an incredible 110 total punches—102 of them power shots. Late in the round, Gatti was enduring a severe beating from Ward; but the seasoned Cappuccino still saw some fight left in Arturo. It was a seminal moment; knowing the monumental nature of this fight, Cappuccino will not end this brawl on some technicality. Indeed, Gatti responded and fought back as the bell sounded. After the round, ring announcer Jim Lampley told a national audience, “The fight is being stopped!” Ward raised his arms in victory and both fighters approached the center of the ring. Cappuccino tells the world, “The fight ain’t over!” The fight resumed for the tenth and final round as people rushed back into their seats. The fight was ruled a majority decision for Ward. Had Cappuccino not penalized Gatti for the punch below the belt, the fight would have ended in a draw. However, the deduction was just as he warned Gatti about punching low several times before. – NJ Boxing Hall of Fame website.
“Now both of you touch gloves, I leave it with you”