Jack Reiss announces retirement from refereeing, will still be a boxing judge

After 25 years as a boxing referee, Jack Reiss will no longer be the third man in the ring. But he will continue to serve as one of the three judges around the ring.

Reiss announced his retirement earlier this week to the California State Athletic Commission and then spread the news in an interview with Randy Gordon and Gerry Cooney, the hosts of “At the Fights” on SiriusXM.

“I’m always watching athletes and fighters and officials stay in the game too long and they leave a shell of themselves. I never wanted that for me,” said Reiss, who is 68 years old. “I don’t want to leave the sport with people having bad connotations of me. I left at the top.”

Reiss’ final night as a referee was a world title bout in Los Angeles in early August, when Terence Crawford won a unanimous decision over Israil Madrimov for the WBA junior middleweight belt.

Although BoxRec’s listings for officials may not necessarily be complete, the website says Reiss first worked a pro boxing match as a referee in March 1999 and as a judge in April 1999.

Over the years, he served as a referee in more than 1,100 bouts, including Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury I, Mikkel Kessler-Andre Ward, Vasiliy Lomachenko-Gary Russell Jnr, Leo Santa Cruz-Abner Mares I, Joe Smith-Bernard Hopkins and Errol Spence Jnr-Shawn Porter.

“It’s the right thing to do because Father Time is undefeated. It’s going to be sooner or later when the old body gives out on me. I don’t want to embarrass anybody, embarrass myself or get anybody hurt,” Reiss said. “There’s nothing physically wrong with me. I’m not sick. People are speculating. It’s nothing to it. It’s just the right time. It’s the right thing to do.”

Reiss said he will continue to teach other referees, including through his intensive Sole Arbiter program. And he has been at ringside in recent months, most recently in late October, when Reiss was the judge for five bouts at a show in Indio, California.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter and . He is the co-host of the . David’s book, “,” is available on Amazon.