Larry Merchant is a terrible commentator

[mrbassie]

In his hbo days he was the best on the panel by far, unless you give it to Foreman for the weird, sometimes hilarious things he came out with. Jim "There Must Not Be An Instant Of Silence" Lampley was and is the really terrible one.

The best commentator I've ever heard was Don Dunphy. Came out with a few facts and just watched the fight until there was something worthy of comment. Take note everybody else in the profession.

I'd like to give Wayne Alexander a mention, heard him doing co-commentary a while ago, thought he was excellent.

[Datsue]

Bob Sheridan is the worst war-crime amidst the gallery of atrocities that is boxing commentating.

He sucks up to the house-boy, seems desperate to keep a lid on the narrative of the fight (which he, or more likely someone else has decided beforehand) no matter what is transpiring in front of your eyes, he's clichéd, he has this kind of "Aw-shucks" pretend dumb-arse thing going on that makes me think of a childlike but brutal enforcer on a chain gang from a Paul Newman movie, & is, more than any other commentator I can think of, totally obvious in his shilling. Remember the Mijares vs Munoz unification fight from a few years back? Spent five rounds talking about how great Don King was (guess who Munoz was promoted by) & how Munoz deserved credit for trying to fight, when Mijares was standing him on his head. About the tenth round of a one-sided boxing lesson he starts to make excuses for the judges, in case their cheques cleared & were gonna give it to Munoz.

& the pudendum calls himself "The Colonel". My dog.

[Boxing Prospect]

No idea who the Thai guys doing Yodmongkol/Kogawa were but they were fantastic...I don't understand a word of Thai but...they were fantastic!

[Datsue]

No idea who the Thai guys doing Yodmongkol/Kogawa were but they were fantastic...I don't understand a word of Thai but...they were fantastic!

I love watching Japanese boxing for the same reasons. Also, occasionally they have Fighting Harada on doing the co-commentary.

FIGHTING. FVCKING. HARADA.

I mean, fvck. The bloke beat Eder Jofre, for fuck's sake... I'm not about to let my lack of understanding of Japanese get in the way of listening to a legend.

Also also: Mexican TV commentary rules too. & in a tangential link to the Japanese commentary with legends I alluded to above, I got to meet Finito Lopez (or rather, Finito Lopez's bodyguards) last year, which was as thrilling for him as it was for me, I'm sure.

[orbtastic]

I love 90s Japanese commentary, they get so carried away. Hai every 5 seconds and wooooahhhhahhhhhh that rises up from the stomach.

[MightyWarrior]

Larry is a legend, he may be a bit past it and likes a drink or two, but he's sharp as a tack and obviously can't stand being forced to sit alongside a blow hard bull shitter like Sheridan.

Sheridan is an absolute clown, he spends the whole time kissing the arse of which ever promoter has paid for his latest gig, talks a load of bull shite and spends the rest of the time dropping as many names as possible.

He's not to be taken seriously, and it's obvious Larry finds him an absolute joke.

[Datsue]

I love 90s Japanese commentary, they get so carried away. Hai every 5 seconds and wooooahhhhahhhhhh that rises up from the stomach.

[mrbassie]

I've got a vhs of the kingvision broadcast of Lewis v Holyfield 2 with Sheridan commentating and some basketball player or something as the sidekick. Nearly every round is two minutes and forty seconds of discussing how Lewis is doing nothing efferctive and then twenty seconds of orgasmic bellowing when Holyfield tries to steal the round, which according to Sheridan and co. he does. Plus an occasional aside about how great "the folks at Don King Production's" are. This happens all the way to the end until at the end of the twelfth he suddenly has it very close.

The guy's a joke, which is actually a shame as I think if he wasn't ad-libbing along to somebody else's script all the time he'd actually be good.

[Anzi]

I've got a vhs of the kingvision broadcast of Lewis v Holyfield 2 with Sheridan commentating and some basketball player or something as the sidekick. Nearly every round is two minutes and forty seconds of discussing how Lewis is doing nothing efferctive and then twenty seconds of orgasmic bellowing when Holyfield tries to steal the round, which according to Sheridan and co. he does. Plus an occasional aside about how great "the folks at Don King Production's" are. This happens all the way to the end until at the end of the twelfth he suddenly has it very close.

The guy's a joke, which is actually a shame as I think if he wasn't ad-libbing along to somebody else's script all the time he'd actually be good.

I find allegedly commentators the most biased, especially with their home prospects.

[mrbassie]

I find allegedly commentators the most biased, especially with their home prospects.

Their basically in the exact same boat, they're doing what they're payed to do. Sheridan is at least competant as far as speaking into a microphone goes and he genuinely gets excited. He may be bent but he's really a boxing guy. There are no competant or even midly informed boxing commentators from these shores with the exception of Ian Darke and maybe Jim Watt (Watt's at least well informed). Al Bernstein's good when he's over for channel five but then he's got to play second fiddle to yet another know nothing.

[Anzi]

I find allegedly commentators the most biased, especially with their home prospects.

Their basically in the exact same boat, they're doing what they're payed to do. Sheridan is at least competant as far as speaking into a microphone goes and he genuinely gets excited. He may be bent but he's really a boxing guy. There are no competant or even midly informed boxing commentators from these shores with the exception of Ian Darke and maybe Jim Watt (Watt's at least well informed). Al Bernstein's good when he's over for channel five but then he's got to play second fiddle to yet another know nothing.

True, Inside boys from the channel, with boxing industry people brought along for their knowledge.

[Bard of Boxrec]

Biased as hell, but Sheridan was brilliant during the international feed of Tyson-Holyfield I. "I feel like a baby that's been thrown into a bath." "This is why you have to buy every Don King PPV EVER. You just never know!" The bit where Holyfield wins it and he starts roaring before he's worked out which words to use. My mates and I used to watch that one on a loop during our student days.

Haha any footage of this online anywhere?

[stujones]

Larry is part of the furniture, I do like him. It feels like a proper fight when he is around and in his hey day he was the best presenter I can remember. Watch some of the preview shows he used to do for the big 1980's fights on youtube.

What I don't like and I often think what is his problem is when Bunce has a go at the commentating, particularly the interviews. Seems to have a "thing" for Max Kellerman and that new bird. Spends the first minute or so in his analysis of what the guy said focusing on the apparently shite interview technique of the intervier. Just get to the point of what the FIGHTER said.

Although the worst at this was when Adrian Chiles did boxing presenting briefly (with good reason) for the BBC. I remember his presenting of DLH vs Vargas.... just spent about 5 mins dissing Merchant (he didn't have a clue who he was).

[lefty]

No idea who the Thai guys doing Yodmongkol/Kogawa were but they were fantastic...I don't understand a word of Thai but...they were fantastic!

I love watching Japanese boxing for the same reasons. Also, occasionally they have Fighting Harada on doing the co-commentary.

FIGHTING. FVCKING. HARADA.

I mean, fvck. The bloke beat Eder Jofre, for fuck's sake... I'm not about to let my lack of understanding of Japanese get in the way of listening to a legend.

Also also: Mexican TV commentary rules too. & in a tangential link to the Japanese commentary with legends I alluded to above, I got to meet Finito Lopez (or rather, Finito Lopez's bodyguards) last year, which was as thrilling for him as it was for me, I'm sure.

How did that come about mate? lol

[gilgamesh]

I love 90s Japanese commentary, they get so carried away. Hai every 5 seconds and wooooahhhhahhhhhh that rises up from the stomach.

I have one Japanese fight in my collection...don't even remember the fighters, but yeah you are exactly right about the commentators. At one point when the Japanese fighter scores a knockdown they go "AHHHHHHHHH!! DOWN!!! DOWN!!! DOWN!!! DOWN!!!"

Or at least that's what it sounds like.

[gilgamesh]

[Grilling Machine]

C'mon, man, give 'im a fair shake!

[gilgamesh]

I was the one guy in here defending Merchant. I just posted that meme cuz I thought it was funny. I Love Larry.

[Datsue]

I love watching Japanese boxing for the same reasons. Also, occasionally they have Fighting Harada on doing the co-commentary.

FIGHTING. FVCKING. HARADA.

I mean, fvck. The bloke beat Eder Jofre, for fuck's sake... I'm not about to let my lack of understanding of Japanese get in the way of listening to a legend.

Also also: Mexican TV commentary rules too. & in a tangential link to the Japanese commentary with legends I alluded to above, I got to meet Finito Lopez (or rather, Finito Lopez's bodyguards) last year, which was as thrilling for him as it was for me, I'm sure.

How did that come about mate? lol

A combination of me being ringside for Shane Mosley vs Pablo Cesar Cano, my fangirl-esque "SQUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! FINITO!!!! FINITOO!!! EL GRAN CAMPEON!!!! FINITOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" from about eighteen inches behind where he was doing the live TV broadcast commentary, & enough sweet Mexican beer & cheap Mexican weed to sink JCC Jr. I was duly surrounded & asked very politely to calm down. He did shake my hand afterwards & offer to get the ol' piccy snapped but his heavies whisked him away.

[lefty]

I love watching Japanese boxing for the same reasons. Also, occasionally they have Fighting Harada on doing the co-commentary.

FIGHTING. FVCKING. HARADA.

I mean, fvck. The bloke beat Eder Jofre, for fuck's sake... I'm not about to let my lack of understanding of Japanese get in the way of listening to a legend.

Also also: Mexican TV commentary rules too. & in a tangential link to the Japanese commentary with legends I alluded to above, I got to meet Finito Lopez (or rather, Finito Lopez's bodyguards) last year, which was as thrilling for him as it was for me, I'm sure.

How did that come about mate? lol

A combination of me being ringside for Shane Mosley vs Pablo Cesar Cano, my fangirl-esque "SQUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! FINITO!!!! FINITOO!!! EL GRAN CAMPEON!!!! FINITOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" from about eighteen inches behind where he was doing the live TV broadcast commentary, & enough sweet Mexican beer & cheap Mexican weed to sink JCC Jr. I was duly surrounded & asked very politely to calm down. He did shake my hand afterwards & offer to get the ol' piccy snapped but his heavies whisked him away.

brilliant

[orbtastic]

I shook Nacho's hand last year, that was slightly surreal.