Santarpia sustained an injury to his left eye forcing him to make unwanted adjustments for his future vocation.
During his career as a referee he has been in the ring with many greats such as Marvelous Marvin Hagler, James "Bonecrusher" Smith, Vinny Paz (Panzienza), Pernell Whitaker, Howard Davis, Jr. to name a few.
[4] In 1993, at Madison Square Garden, Santarpia officiated the big title fight between Riddick Bowe and Michael Dokes.
[5] He stopped the contest at 2:19 in the first round to give Bowe the victory amidst general criticism, a decision the former referee continues to defends.
[6] In April 2000, he refereed the fight that ended when Wladimir Klitschko knocked out David Bostice[7] also at Madison Square Garden.