Legendaty referee Frank Cappuccino passed away on Monday at age 86 in Pennsylvania, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.
“When he was in his prime, there is no doubt he was one of the top five referees in the world,” said Greg Sirb, the executive director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, who knew Cappuccino well and assigned him to the fights he worked in the state since 1989.
“When he was reffing, he was poetry in motion,” Sirb said. “He had as much respect from the fighters as any referee there is. I just think they liked his style. He was straightforward. When you got Frank Cappuccino assigned to your bout, you knew you made it.”
“When you had Cappuccino, it was one less thing I had to worry about,” Sirb said. “Of all the times I assigned him to a fight, I never once had a single person call me to say they didn’t want him assigned to their bout. It never happened.”
“That was Frank, Philly-style,” Sirb said. “He was a die-hard Philly guy. He loved boxing. I’d ask Frank to do the little shows — make that three- or four-hour drive to the places like Allentown or Scranton for shows. He was there. He did all the club shows as well as the world title fights.”
