my favorite commentator: larry merchant

[man]

his work in round one of JMM-PAC1 was classic. i cannot
remember him saying something really stupid, but i
remember a couple of situations where he got it spot on.
i read here on the board some critical statements about
him, but i have no idea how a boxing commentator could
be any better.

[JMac]

his work in round one of JMM-PAC1 was classic. i cannot
remember him saying something really stupid, but i
remember a couple of situations where he got it spot on.
i read here on the board some critical statements about
him, but i have no idea how a boxing commentator could
be any better.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

[Goodnight, Irene]

his work in round one of JMM-PAC1 was classic. i cannot
remember him saying something really stupid, but i
remember a couple of situations where he got it spot on.
i read here on the board some critical statements about
him, but i have no idea how a boxing commentator could
be any better.

Merchant will always be polarising --- even within myself, my opinion of him is polarised.

Merchant is, at times, arrogant, rude & offensive to the point of near irredemable. His air of superiority has been outright revolting on many occasions. He has no regard for the fact he never boxed at the level some of his co-workers have, & that's dangerous.

With that much said, Merchant is a dying breed --- the type you can hang your hat on to ask the hard questions, make the brutally honest statements, & tell it straight-up. When so many others, like Lampley & Kellerman, are (understandably, mind) towing the company line for HBO, & donning the cheerleaders outfit for the house fighter, Merchant has been a final bastion of objectivity.

I go back to a moment which split a lot of people. Merchant was interviewing Vernon Forrest, immediately following his, "victory," over Ike Quartey. Everyone knew it was bullsh!t, & Forrest was thanking people left & right for his camp. "Would you like to thank the judges?" Merchant blurted out. Many people at the time found that typically rude. I have to say, it needed to be asked, & whenever there's a question which truly yearns to be heard, Merchant is the man to make it happen.

I love Larry Merchant --- considerable warts & all. The man has some rather severe faults (& his constant mistaking one fighter for another was amaturish, frankly, as were his endless efforts at an immortal soundbyte with all manner of awkward phrases), but the best of him makes him a special figure in any commentary team, & sadly, an increasingly rare one.

[Scottrf]

I like him, he's old school. He will always rub people up the wrong way, but that's because he has a personality. Better than these faceless people we normally get on TV towing the company line. He crosses the line sometimes though and can be either rude or ignorant. Pretty much agree with GI here.

[yancey]

his work in round one of JMM-PAC1 was classic. i cannot
remember him saying something really stupid, but i
remember a couple of situations where he got it spot on.
i read here on the board some critical statements about
him, but i have no idea how a boxing commentator could
be any better.

Merchant will always be polarising --- even within myself, my opinion of him is polarised.

Merchant is, at times, arrogant, rude & offensive to the point of near irredemable. His air of superiority has been outright revolting on many occasions. He has no regard for the fact he never boxed at the level some of his co-workers have, & that's dangerous.

With that much said, Merchant is a dying breed --- the type you can hang your hat on to ask the hard questions, make the brutally honest statements, & tell it straight-up. When so many others, like Lampley & Kellerman, are (understandably, mind) towing the company line for HBO, & donning the cheerleaders outfit for the house fighter, Merchant has been a final bastion of objectivity.

I go back to a moment which split a lot of people. Merchant was interviewing Vernon Forrest, immediately following his, "victory," over Ike Quartey. Everyone knew it was bullsh!t, & Forrest was thanking people left & right for his camp. "Would you like to thank the judges?" Merchant blurted out. Many people at the time found that typically rude. I have to say, it needed to be asked, & whenever there's a question which truly yearns to be heard, Merchant is the man to make it happen.

I love Larry Merchant --- considerable warts & all. The man has some rather severe faults (& his constant mistaking one fighter for another was amaturish, frankly, as were his endless efforts at an immortal soundbyte with all manner of awkward phrases), but the best of him makes him a special figure in any commentary team, & sadly, an increasingly rare one.

Well said. Agree.

[Ezzard]

Yes, on balance I like him.

It's important not to have only ex-pros because they won't always ask those questions...

[gilgamesh]

I'm a big fan of Merchant. Because like someone said, he asks the tough questions and he speaks his mind. Yes he is on occasion a little rude with the way he goes about it, but at least he's not the unprofessional douche that Jim Gray is. Merchant says what's on his mind, and it's refreshing to hear. I'll damn sure miss him when he's gone.

[IRLangmaid25]

You may not always agree with what Larry Merchant says, but you always know where you stand because he will caught as he sees it, if he rubs people up the wrong way, that's life we are going to do it at some point in our lifes and I will miss hearing him to when he hangs up the headphones for the last time.

[Diamond WEAPON]

I'm a big fan of Merchant. Because like someone said, he asks the tough questions and he speaks his mind. Yes he is on occasion a little rude with the way he goes about it, but at least he's not the unprofessional douche that Jim Gray is. Merchant says what's on his mind, and it's refreshing to hear. I'll damn sure miss him when he's gone.

I agree with you and all of the comments above yours about his positives. I think one good thing though is that Kellerman seems to be trying to emulate some of Merchant's style, which has helped his own calls immensely because he sounds more professional as he goes whereas before he sounded a bit too much like a starstruck fanboy.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Call me crazy, but I more or less like Kellerman. His enthusiasm is a nice touch, & even though he forces the history references a little too much sometimes, it's still a nice thing to see some historical aspects or parallels brought to contemporary bouts, fighters, & scenarios. Of course, it doesn't hurt my take on him that we share similar views on the ABC orgs, & the greatness of Pernell Whitaker ( Eh, WEAPON? )

[Diamond WEAPON]

Call me crazy, but I more or less like Kellerman. His enthusiasm is a nice touch, & even though he forces the history references a little too much sometimes, it's still a nice thing to see some historical aspects or parallels brought to contemporary bouts, fighters, & scenarios. Of course, it doesn't hurt my take on him that we share similar views on the ABC orgs, & the greatness of Pernell Whitaker ( Eh, WEAPON? )

Yeah, I like how Kellerman injects some fanaticism and historic knowledge into bouts, and like I said, he's improved as the years have passed in his delivery and creativity.

[man]

i do think that a combination of a larry-type commentator and a
pro-boxer is best you can have. boxers are not necessarily good
commentators - i mean by that you are not necessarily a good
observer just because you were a great doer. with all the respect
i have for the man i sometimes for example thought that foreman
was far from what happened.

the marquez-pac fight was typical for larry imo. he pointed out
that marquez had a more aggressive stance than he used to, before
the first knock down. and then he was the first to realize that marquez
was not shot after the third knock down. class act.

i like that he does not smile, just because there is a camera and
that he asks painful questions that need to be asked. and i am not
so sure if this breed is dying ... kellermann is not a bad guy at all.