Howard Cossell

ferocity · Post by **ferocity** » 28 Feb 2006, 20:33

Why did he leave boxing?

I ask without knowing that he left boxing too soon, but read a post where a fighter that fought Homles, got Cossell out of boxing. Was it because of the beating the fighter was taking at the hands of Holmes, that caused Cossell to leave boxing?

Also why is it that Atlas say that Cossell "was bad for the sport aregont..." somthing along those lines Atlas said about Cossell and I really don't understand that. I always thought it was Cossell who gave boxing one of its boost in prime time tv.

Another thing why did Cossell leave footballs anaylist team, if Cossell is so well talked about in football circles especially the early years - that im aware of.

theone · Post by **theone** » 28 Feb 2006, 20:50

Cossell was just tired of calling fights and used the Holmes/Cobb fight as an excuse. Cossell in my opinion was the most entertaining commentator and called the fights better than anyone in history.

DoubleM · Post by **DoubleM** » 28 Feb 2006, 23:29

I always thought he was full of shit.

Collins2000 · Post by **Collins2000** » 01 Mar 2006, 00:02

DoubleM wrote:I always thought he was full of shit.

He certainly had little idea what was happening in the ring during a fight.

I thought he was very good at interviewing fighters; they seemed to open up to him.

mattyp151 · Post by **mattyp151** » 01 Mar 2006, 08:59

Collins2000 wrote:
DoubleM wrote:I always thought he was full of shit.
He certainly had little idea what was happening in the ring during a fight.

I thought he was very good at interviewing fighters; they seemed to open up to him.

He had been around for a while so you knew what he was about. I think it was him that interviewed Ali before he fought Lyle....if so, great interview, high comedic value.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 01 Mar 2006, 12:47

Cossell seemed to grow jaded with boxing in the early 80s... one thoery I have is that he maybe became disenchanted when he saw what was happening to Ali at this time... Cossell seemed to have a genuine affection for Ali...

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 01 Mar 2006, 13:44

Cossell always seemed to have his favourites though and at times was biased towards or against certain fighters at various times.

mattyp151 · Post by **mattyp151** » 01 Mar 2006, 13:59

KOJOE90 wrote:Cossell always seemed to have his favourites though and at times was biased towards or against certain fighters at various times.

Same could be said about Larry Merchant, except the opposite in that he doesn't like any fighters....

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 01 Mar 2006, 16:34

The mouth that roared......

A legend in his own mind, yes, but he did add a certain big fight atmosphere with that slow measured delivery of his.

It's not what you say, it's how you say it, because he really talked a load of crap half the time.

I liked listening to him on the whole though -

DOWN GOES FRAZIER!! DOWN GOES FRAZIER!!!!

KO Artist · Post by **KO Artist** » 01 Mar 2006, 16:41

MightyWarrior wrote:The mouth that roared......

A legend in his own mind, yes, but he did add a certain big fight atmosphere with that slow measured delivery of his.

It's not what you say, it's how you say it, because he really talked a load of crap half the time.

I liked listening to him on the whole though -

DOWN GOES FRAZIER!! DOWN GOES FRAZIER!!!!

Yeah, I dont like to speak ill of the dead but Cossell wasnt a good commentator nor did he love boxing. He loved himself and he unashamedly kissed Ali's backside.

Larry Holmes had it right when he referred to Cossell as a front running phoney.

Cossell, nor Merchant for that matter are anywhere near the league of someone like Reg Gutteridge.

But that goes for a lot of so called "boxing jornalists" Look at Jeff Powell in todays Daily Mail, talking about Ali. What a load of rehashed tripe.

DoubleM · Post by **DoubleM** » 01 Mar 2006, 18:59

KO Atrist wrote:Cossell, nor Merchant for that matter are anywhere near the league of someone like Reg Gutteridge.

Well said. Reg was a great commentator. Very rarely made mistakes, level-headed, respectful, open-minded and he had a good voice.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 01 Mar 2006, 20:20

Harry Carpenter was always my favourite.... I think Don Dunphy was the best American commentator, but Cosell was good at times... better than he is generally given credit for these days I think...

Expug · Post by **Expug** » 01 Mar 2006, 20:25

silkov wrote:Harry Carpenter was always my favourite.... I think Don Dunphy was the best American commentator, but Cosell was good at times... better than he is generally given credit for these days I think...

I really enjoy listening to Dunphy also, Silkov , do you know who it was who called the 6th Robinson -Lamotta fight ? He would have been the regular announcer for the Pabst Blue Ribbon Bouts I guess. I liked his call of that fight. Also, I started a thread in The Current scene asking who was the best and worst ringside announcer. I dont think Cosell was even mentioned . Surprising.

DoubleM · Post by **DoubleM** » 01 Mar 2006, 21:31

Yea Dunphy was good. Never thought much of Carpenter. I noticed he was very biased towards the British fighters.

Who was that really annoying guy though? The one who pronounces his 'r's really strong. He's done quite a few later commentaries over older fights, American. The best I can give you is he said "ripping punches" quite a lot. Did the Louis-Schmeling rematch and a few Joe Frazier fights among others.

Jaclem · Post by **Jaclem** » 02 Mar 2006, 02:41

..i could dig the lamotta/robinson 6 tape out...and i've seen excerpts recently, but i think the announcer was russ hodges, who did the pabst calls around that time. don't worry..if it wasn't hodges there are numerous posters here who love the chance to correct me...and it happens so rarely...that they'll jump in here right away and say who it was...and you shall find out promptly.

dunphy was a great announcer. cosell..good memory....thought by rattling off the date of which fight took place where or when in history made him an expert...but he probably thought a left hook was a fishing term until he was into boxing for a while....and then was a poor announcer....."Can holmes take cooney's power much longer....will holmes be able to continue for another round...how many of those left hooks can holmes take.........cooney is down! cooney is down! he's all finished......" paraphrased, but close. i get that one out from time to time just to listen to cosell sound like an idiot.

actually, it was no secret from the press boys that for most of his fights ..at least the early to middle ones...he had someone who knew what he was seeing hand him notes as the fight progressed and he transfered the information into his own special announcing style.

i will give him this..he was the first announcer to call a fight a bad one when he thought so...the networks used to insist the announcers be as positive as possible. (dunphy called them the way he saw them..radio and tv.) alas, too often cosell didn't know a bad fight from a good one. like the horse's ass larry merchant he didn't recognize the more subtle aspects of a good technical boxing match.

Chuck1052 · Post by **Chuck1052** » 02 Mar 2006, 03:29

I was not a big fan of Howard Cosell, who had a huge
ego and could be a pain. In addition, he knew very
little about the fine points of many sports. This was
especially true in regards to boxing, especially when
it came to style matchups.

On the plus side, he did convey the drama of an
important event to the audience very well and
was a tremendous interviewer. Regardless of
his strengths or weaknesses, there hasn't been
any American sportscaster who generated such
strong personal emotions.

- Chuck Johnston

kick asner · Post by **kick asner** » 02 Mar 2006, 20:39

Not much question that Cosell was the arrogent sort, and there have been more knowledgable commentators. The one thing I did like about his style was his candidness. I remember during the Corro, Antufurmo fight, (a fight that was about as interesting as an Al Gore speech,) Cossell saying this has not been an exiting fight and we're not going to try and tell you it has been. He did'nt give a dam how his statement would affect ratings, he just said what was on his mind.

Jaclem · Post by **Jaclem** » 02 Mar 2006, 21:41

..kickass..that is precisely what i said. my point was that often howard didn't appreciate a good fight when he saw one.

Chuck1052 · Post by **Chuck1052** » 02 Mar 2006, 22:36

Yes, Howard Cosell could be frank, but he was quite
a shill for the farcial ABC-Ring Magazine Tournament
to crown U.S. national champions in the pro ranks
during the late 1970s. Moreover, he was always
knocking the sleaziness in boxing, but NEVER
criticized Roone Arledge or ABC for their part
in putting together the many outrageous
mismatches to be shown on network television
during the 1970s and 1980s.

- Chuck Johnston

Jaclem · Post by **Jaclem** » 03 Mar 2006, 02:35

...that isn't journalism...it's dramatizing.

re: cosell and cobb/holmes. howard kept saying the fight was a disgrace and should be stopped....okay...but then, with seeming disgust he said for that reason "there will be no interview after the fight"...as if he was walking away from a distasteful situation. two days later the a sports columnists revealed documentation that there was not going to be an interview...a decision made BEFORE the fight evan began because of the time factor...cosell had another engagement that he would not have been able to make if the fight had gone the distance. apparently howard was counting on holmes to stop cobb and got fooled...so he used the "disgust" factor to pretend that was why he was leaving.

cobb later said if his getting a beating was enough to get cosell out of boxing he'd take a battering every night to keep him out.

bollox · Post by **bollox** » 03 Mar 2006, 22:13

Was it Cosell commentating for Foreman - Lyle? I think it was

Never trust a man that wears a wig. Or a beard. It's obvious that he has something to hide

bollox · Post by **bollox** » 04 Mar 2006, 01:06

Decagon wrote:Jesus had a beard and he was always full of shit, but you can't ignore what he did.

Are you implying that Howard was god?

thez0rk · Post by **thez0rk** » 05 Mar 2006, 17:47

Howard ended up leaving football because of his "look at that little monkey run" comment...I think he'd pretty much lost his mind by that point

Nile4000 · Post by **Nile4000** » 06 Mar 2006, 11:27

Howard Cosell was egostical, but he brought that something to fights.His voice, however, reminded me somewhat of John Wayne.

Howard Cossell

Howard Cossell

Re: Howard Cosell

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