Mills Lane, referee of Holyfield-Tyson ‘bite fight’, dies at age of 85

• Lane was also a Marine, boxer, prosecutor and TV judge
• Referee had been in poor health since suffering stroke

Mills Lane, the referee who disqualified Mike Tyson for biting Evander Holyfield's ears in the 1997 world heavyweight title fight, has died at the age of 85.

Lane's son, Tommy, told the Reno Gazette-Journal that his father, who had been in poor health since suffering a stroke 20 years ago, died peacefully at a hospice in the Nevada city on Tuesday.