Lou Filippo died

Lou Filippo,83 years, a California referee and judge for more than 30 years and member of the World Boxing Hall of Fame, died Monday in Los Angeles.

Filippo boxed professionally as a lightweight from 1947 to 1957, exclusively in Southern California after that became one of the top ring officials and refereeing and judging dozens of world championship bouts. The World War II veteran compiled a professional record of 23-9-3 with 8 KOs.

He gave his Boxing career with a pair of fights against Hall of Famer and former lightweight champion Carlos Ortiz, a nine-round no-decision followed by a seventh-round knockout loss.

Filippo's presence in the ring led to numerous television and film appearances, including parts as a referee in the second, third, fourth and fifth installments of the "Rocky" films.

Filippo started refereeing and judging in the mid-1970s, working primarily in Southern California. But he was also associated with the WBC, which held a moment of silence and a 10-bell count in Filippo's honor during its annual convention, taking place this week in Jeju, South Korea.

Perhaps Filippo's most famous judging assignment came in 1987, when he served on the panel for the controversial Sugar Ray Leonard-"Marvelous" Marvin Hagler middleweight championship fight in Las Vegas.

Boxing fans still argue to this day about who deserved to win the fight, although Leonard was awarded a split-decision victory. It was Filippo who scored the fight for Hagler 115-113.