Former star referee Mickey Vann officiated around 1,500 fights, from preliminary bouts to some of the biggest world title contests in recent history.

A former pro, Mickey was born into the circus – son of a knife throwing father – before finding fame as one of the top refs in the sport.

He's officiated some of the best boxers of the last several generations and was the third man in the ring for Lennox Lewis-Frank Bruno, Michael Gomez-Carl Johanneson and Micky Ward-Shea Neary. He also officiated fights featuring Pernell Whitaker, Herol Graham, Kirkland Laing, Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn, Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe and many more, refereeing in high profile fights around the world.

Here, he talks about fixed fights, how he developed his unique movement, throwing people out of the ring, refusing to accept a towel that was thrown in and much more.

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