Hall of Fame referee Steve Smoger, stalwart of major fights, dies
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Steve Smoger, one of boxing’s best referees during his 35-year career, died on Monday after a long illness. It was unclear how old Smoger was, either 72 or 79 depending on the source.
Smoger, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015, refereed professionally from 1986 to 2021 and was the third man in the ring for more than 200 title fights.
He officiated bouts around the world but was known mainly for working in his Northeast home base.
Smoger was known for not getting in the way of a good fight but also for taking control when necessary and stopping fights just at the right moment. And when he would step in to stop a bout, he often did so with a dramatic flair that made him a fan favorite — a stiff wave of an arm over his head to signal the end of the fight often followed by a kiss on the cheek of the beaten fighter.
“For more than three decades Steve Smoger was the third man in the ring for many of boxing’s most high-profile bouts, including over 200 title contests that earned him a reputation as one of boxing’s most respected officials,” International Boxing Hall of Fame executive director Edward Brophy said. “The Hall of Fame offers our condolences to the Smoger family and joins the boxing world in mourning his passing.”
Smoger is the second Hall of Fame referee to die this month, passing away two weeks after the legendary Mills Lane died at age 85.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Smoger was called on to work numerous major fights. He was the referee for 2001 Ring magazine and ESPN fight of the year between junior welterweights Micky Ward and Emanuel Augustus and for the James Toney-Vassiliy Jirov cruiserweight title fight voted 2003 fight of the year by the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Smoger was the referee on the night Bernard Hopkins memorably knocked out Felix Trinidad to become the undisputed middleweight champion in 2001; when Kelly Pavlik knocked out Jermain Taylor in a classic battle to become the unified middleweight champion in 2007; when Miguel Cotto retained his junior middleweight title and stopped Antonio Margarito to exact revenge in their 2011 rematch; and when Andre Ward outpointed Carl Froch to unify super middleweight titles, also in 2011.
Among other significant fights Smoger refereed: Shane Mosley-Vernon Forrest I, Roy Jones Jr.-Hopkins I, Hopkins-Keith Holmes, Trinidad-Ricardo Mayorga, Danny Garcia-Zab Judah, Gennadiy Golovkin-Gabriel Rosado, Ward-Chad Dawson, Cotto-Carlos Quintana, Cotto-Paulie Malignaggi, Amir Khan-Malignaggi, Joel Casamayor-Diego Corrales II, Mosley-Phillip Holiday, Vinny Pazienza-Roberto Duran II, Mike McCallum-Toney I and Larry Holmes-Ray Mercer.
Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Smoger eventually moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and settled in nearly by Ventnor, New Jersey. He became interested in boxing as a child thanks to his father, with whom he watched the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports, which featured boxing.
Beginning in the early 1970s, Smoger worked as a referee, judge and timekeeper for Police Athletic League amateur bouts in Atlantic City. He served as an inspector for pro fights there from 1978 to 1983 and in 1984 began working as a professional referee. He worked his first world title fight in 1986 in South Korea, the Bi Won Jung-Jong Kwan Chung for the IBF flyweight title.
Smoger, who is also a member of the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame, Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame, Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame and Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame, worked as the unofficial scorer and rules expert for Premier Boxing Champions cards that aired on NBC in 2015 and 2016.
Besides his work as a referee, Smoger was also an attorney. He served as a city prosecutor in Atlantic City in the early 1980s before being appointed to the Atlantic City Municipal Court bench. He later worked as an attorney in private practice.
But it was his election to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York, that was the highlight of his career.
“I’m eternally grateful. It’s really the highest honor and it’s the culmination of a lifetime in the great sport of boxing,” Smoger said when his election was announced in December 2014. “I’m humbled, honored and overwhelmed. Words can’t express my gratitude.”
In 2015, Smoger said of his Hall of Fame election: “It was like achieving the Emmy, the Oscar and even the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Photo: WBC
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Selflessly my favorite referee, as he’d let guys fight it out and sometimes go a wee bit long, but he always had command of the ring and you trusted that he would get it right.
The kiss on the cheek from Smoger was acknowledgment of respect to the losing fighter that he gave it his all, and likely not an insignificant consolation.
Class guy and great referee… he made my favorite sport better.
I had the privilege of meeting him once and he was amazing to speak to. He was very kind. He gave me his business card and even signed it for me. I was a little awestruck at meeting someone I had watched referee so many great fights, but he was very cordial and generous with his time. RIP SS!!