MITCH HALPERN, who was scheduled to referee tonight's Tyson Holyfield WBA title fight, withdrew from the job yesterday after protests from the Tyson camp. Mills Lane was named to replace Halpern.

"Halpern thought long and hard about the situation at hand and he felt he shouldn't be the focus of one of the greatest boxing events in the history of the sport," Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Marc Ratner said yesterday. "He called me and said he thought about this and felt very strongly that he should step aside, so that the focus is squarely on the fighters."

The commission had voted 4-1 on Thursday to keep Halpern as the referee, turning down the request from Tyson's managers.

Halpern refereed the November 9th fight in which Holyfield stunned Tyson in the 11th round, paving the way for the most anticipated heavyweight rematch of the decade.

At the public hearing on the protest on Thursday, Tyson's comanager John Horne said Tyson felt uncomfortable having Halpern, who stopped the first fight, referee the rematch.

Holyfield said he was happy to accept Lane as referee. "Either one could do the job," he said.