Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
A lot of people I notice dislike Larry and his jibes at the boxing world over all the years but imo there is no doubt. Larry Merchant is the greatest analyst and boxing presenter of all time.
Not only does he know the sport of boxing better than Rand McNally knows the world, he brought more colour and humour to the sport than any other commentator in history, totally eclipsing Howard Cosell before him. His long time associate Jim Lampley should also share a piece but without Merchant, the quality of the HBO coverage is not the same.
Max Kellerman could not carry Larry Merchants jockstrap!
If anyone agrees, feel free to share some of his "expert" quotes :)
One of my favourites... "Well if whaling had just been outlawed in Japan... Clearly, Tyson hadn't heard about it!" (After Tyson "harpooned" Tony Tubbs in Tokyo)
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
I was re-watching Livingston Bramble fight Ray Mancini and Al Bernstein is an iconic and quality commentator.
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
Larry was great, but sometimes he would wax poetic/philosophical a bit too much, and of course as he got up there in years he became slower of mind, but yeah in his prime he was great.
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
I disagree. I think he is an arrogant douche who could care less of what it takes to be a fighter. I have seen him dog fighters who just fought their ass off and risk their lives only to be belittled at the end with stupid questions or pointless rhetoric. Larry is smoke and mirrors.
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
Quote:
Originally Posted by
beenKOed
Larry Merchant and Jim Grey should have a duel with assault rifles. IMO
Throw Sheridan in there and make it a three way. Dude just does not shut up.
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
I like Larry best when he was trying to beat up people trying to steal his camera time. I liked him levels above Lampley, not sure that's saying much.
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
He takes an age to put an entire sentance together these days
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Spicoli
I like Larry best when he was trying to beat up people trying to steal his camera time. I liked him levels above Lampley, not sure that's saying much.
It is amazing to me that Lampley has been doing fights forever and still knows absolutely nothing about boxing.
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
Quote:
Originally Posted by
greynotsoold
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Spicoli
I like Larry best when he was trying to beat up people trying to steal his camera time. I liked him levels above Lampley, not sure that's saying much.
It is amazing to me that Lampley has been doing fights forever and still knows absolutely nothing about boxing.
;D Hearing him call fights is like listening to a hyperactive kid full of Mountain Dew read comic books outloud.
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
Quote:
Originally Posted by
IamInuit
Quote:
Originally Posted by
beenKOed
Larry Merchant and Jim Grey should have a duel with assault rifles. IMO
Throw Sheridan in there and make it a three way. Dude just does not shut up.
Yeah Sheridan is proof positive that you don't need to have any real insight to make it behind the mic. I guess he kind of has the drunk uncle at Christmas appeal or something though as people like him. I thought he was particularly bad last night, he has absolutely no idea what the hell he is watching and can't score a round to save his life, he does make Larry Merchant look good though.
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
Al Bernstein is one of my favorites, class act.
as for HBO, the problem with any lineup they put out there is that they are all too willing to be negative. If you watch UFC you'll NEVER hear Joe Rogan say anything bad about a fight, it just never happens or in the cases where it DOES happen the commentator takes a stance siding with the audible fans who are booing the action or lack thereof. At HBO you'd better be 100% action 100% of the time because as soon as there's a lull we'll hear about how bad the fight is, how shit the fighters are, and how "boxing didn't use to be this way".......yes, yes it did. Boxing has always had fights that are good, fights that are bad, and fights that are so-so but what we didn't have are a bunch of Negative Nancy's out there bitching about the product nonstop!
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
UFC knows that commentating is a tied to the marketing of their sport. as much as I dislike Joe Rogan he does an excellent job explaining techniques, strategies, and delivering excitement as the color man. HBO COULD do that, but Merchant is cynical as hell, Lampley is half crazy, Kellerman has not found himself yet (they don't know if he's an analyst or color man), and half the boxers they have call the fights are always comparing what's going on in the ring to what THEY did in the ring, which would be ok if they weren't constantly spouting off with a tone akin to "Yeah, I was better than both of those chumps in the ring"
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
Agreed, it's taken a real turn in the past few years even that I've noticed. I think it must be in part due to the popularity of the UFC, it's like they are trying to provide damage control for the viewers out for blood, who don't want to watch boxing. Their matchmaking and roster of fighters lately tells the same story.
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
Quote:
Originally Posted by
p4pking
Agreed, it's taken a real turn in the past few years even that I've noticed. I think it must be in part due to the popularity of the UFC, it's like they are trying to provide damage control for the viewers out for blood, who don't want to watch boxing. Their matchmaking and roster of fighters lately tells the same story.
And the tragic part is 100% of those guys are smart enough to teach the average Joe Sixpack an enormous amount about boxing.
Just because not every fight is Corrales-Castillo I doesn't mean they're boring. Each fight has different points you can discuss, different strategies, and you can always explain how a boxer is doing well or poorly. It's just cheap and lazy to say "this fight is boring, that fighter is out of shape, I'm bored, what fight is coming up next? Gee I hope it's better than this one".....who will stick around and watch if they do that shit all the time?
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
Quote:
Originally Posted by
El Kabong
Quote:
Originally Posted by
p4pking
Agreed, it's taken a real turn in the past few years even that I've noticed. I think it must be in part due to the popularity of the UFC, it's like they are trying to provide damage control for the viewers out for blood, who don't want to watch boxing. Their matchmaking and roster of fighters lately tells the same story.
And the tragic part is 100% of those guys are smart enough to teach the average Joe Sixpack an enormous amount about boxing.
Yeah of course, and even without that fact it's self defeating thing as you say. MMA is a different sport and a lot of the finer points of it aren't appreciated by it's viewers either, there's a huge chunk of fight fans that just want to see carnage. If a fight happens to be shit it doesn't help to start chastising the boxers or preaching that this isn't what the sport is about:rolleyes: It's almost as backwards as trying to make soccer more competitive with the NFL by having guys up there saying "Oh there's way more contact and goals scored than this in most games, what a let down"
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
Larry Merchant was always high quality. He never compared to Al bernstiens straight forward critical scoring, unbias analyst approach. But I think he brought a lot of that Vegas appeal, fight business mentality to the presentation. He had a great understanding of the game, inside knowledhe and insight into mentality of the fighters, fairly good understanding of the sport of boxing. he had a very good journalistic aesthetic when presenting important moments to the masses. His best work was alongside Letterman and Steward IMO. The best team to present a great era of boxing.
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
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Originally Posted by
imp
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Master
I was re-watching Livingston Bramble fight Ray Mancini and Al Bernstein is an iconic and quality commentator.
Al bernstein is a lovely warm guy.
He appeals to many.
He is on channel 5 and should be at the De Gale fight this weekend.
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
I liked Gutteridge and Carpenter but I also like Ian Darke, alongside a boxer, Glenn McCrory, Barry McGuiggan, Jim Watt etc, Darke is great.
Re: Larry Merchant- GOAT Analyst
Don Dunphy used to do tv fights and hardly say a word during the round- you can see for yourself, after all. Jim Healy didn't say much, except to point out things that, being ringside, were apparent to him, but maybe not to a tv audience. He'd point out that a punch that got the crowd going may not have been that great, or that one guy was moving the other with his punches. They were good commentators, and they worked alone.
Today, you have three jackasses- and they are almost all jackasses- that typically know fuck all about boxing (as in how to do it) and they all feel like they have to be saying something at all times. Even George Foreman, who does know about boxing, ended up staying a lot of stupid crap because he felt like he always had to say something.
