British Eurosport Commentary...WTF?

[marcianofan]

Okay so I watch a lot of British broadcasts despite living in America. Sometimes I just catch individual fights, and miss the intros and all that, so I apologize for not knowing the bloke's full name. But what is up with this Steve guy from British Eurosport? If it weren't for the fact that I wanted to hear the punches landing, I'd have muted him instantly. Probably the most arrogantly ignorant commentator I've ever heard. As we speak, I'm watching the Solis-Larsen broadcast from this past weekend, and before the bell ever sounded, this guy had already spent 3 or 4 solid minutes basically telling us that Odlanier Solis was a good amateur but absolute shit as a pro, and that he can't figure out what happened to him. Never mind that in his only loss he was acquitting himself relatively well against a dominant #1 contender before suffering a freak injury. Nevermind that he's otherwise undefeated and has convincingly beaten a top 20 opponent in Ray Austin. Nevermind that he's never actually looked like shit at all. I mean he wasn't flashy against Konstantin Airich, but he was also coming off multiple knee surgeries and a year of inactivity.

Then in round 4, he declares matter of factly that Solis is badly hurt from a punch that was mostly blocked on the arm before it lightly landed, even though there was no sign whatsoever that he was wobbled in the least. And then he stated with absolute certainty that Larsen dominated the round despite the fact that Larsen didn't land another punch the rest of the round, while being controlled and regularly landed on to the body and head by Solis. In round 6, Larsen got completely dominated and landed nothing clean whatsoever, and good old Steve calls it a clear Larsen round. That's the point at which I got fed up enough to pause it and write this diatribe.

Oh, and let's not forget that despite Solis being a bag of garbage in his opinion, he considered Larsen so worthless as an opponent that he was unlikely to make it past 2 or 3 rounds. Nevermind that he's an undefeated top 50 fighter. Steve, if the fight is as worthless as you seem to think, just cut the feed to the truck and save us all the trouble. Or at least cut the power to your mic...

EDIT: Round 8, where Larsen actually does have a good round for the first time and maybe wins it, he starts praising "Sollis," and wonders out loud if Larsen can make it through. WTF????

EDIT #2: Round 9. Solis easily carries the round. Of course Steve gives it to Larsen, and talks his partner Richie into doing the same. He's got "Sollis" one round up, with "three to play," despite the fact that it's a 10 round fight, as the Eurosport graphics clearly stated at the beginning. And despite the fact that there's no way it's closer than 89-82.

Edit #3: Okay, so apparently somebody other than Steve got this messed up, because the announcer apologizes and lets everybody know that they are going to do 2 more afterall, after someone yelled "12 rounds! 12 rounds! It's a world title fight!" Even though it's not. Solis seems bothered by the extra rounds, and Larsen easily wins the round. Steve and Rich score their first round correctly in quite a while.

[Dan Dares]

Okay so I watch a lot of British broadcasts despite living in America. Sometimes I just catch individual fights, and miss the intros and all that, so I apologize for not knowing the bloke's full name. But what is up with this Steve guy from British Eurosport? If it weren't for the fact that I wanted to hear the punches landing, I'd have muted him instantly. Probably the most arrogantly ignorant commentator I've ever heard. As we speak, I'm watching the Solis-Larsen broadcast from this past weekend, and before the bell ever sounded, this guy had already spent 3 or 4 solid minutes basically telling us that Odlanier Solis was a good amateur but absolute shit as a pro, and that he can't figure out what happened to him. Never mind that in his only loss he was acquitting himself relatively well against a dominant #1 contender before suffering a freak injury. Nevermind that he's otherwise undefeated and has convincingly beaten a top 20 opponent in Ray Austin. Nevermind that he's never actually looked like shit at all. I mean he wasn't flashy against Konstantin Airich, but he was also coming off multiple knee surgeries and a year of inactivity.

Then in round 4, he declares matter of factly that Solis is badly hurt from a punch that was mostly blocked on the arm before it lightly landed, even though there was no sign whatsoever that he was wobbled in the least. And then he stated with absolute certainty that Larsen dominated the round despite the fact that Larsen didn't land another punch the rest of the round, while being controlled and regularly landed on to the body and head by Solis. In round 6, Larsen got completely dominated and landed nothing clean whatsoever, and good old Steve calls it a clear Larsen round. That's the point at which I got fed up enough to pause it and write this diatribe.

Oh, and let's not forget that despite Solis being a bag of garbage in his opinion, he considered Larsen so worthless as an opponent that he was unlikely to make it past 2 or 3 rounds. Nevermind that he's an undefeated top 50 fighter. Steve, if the fight is as worthless as you seem to think, just cut the feed to the truck and save us all the trouble. Or at least cut the power to your mic...

EDIT: Round 8, where Larsen actually does have a good round for the first time and maybe wins it, he starts praising "Sollis," and wonders out loud if Larsen can make it through. WTF????

EDIT #2: Round 9. Solis easily carries the round. Of course Steve gives it to Larsen, and talks his partner Richie into doing the same. He's got "Sollis" one round up, with "three to play," despite the fact that it's a 10 round fight, as the Eurosport graphics clearly stated at the beginning. And despite the fact that there's no way it's closer than 89-82.

It was a 12 rounder. Must have been the Eurosport Graphics that were wrong. As I understand, Solis was confused about it too.

[Old bones Ian]

I'd agree with Steve on Solis, he looked awful for someone that says he's going to be world champion.
There's no fitness there at all.

I don't mind Holdsworth so much, he's honest at least . Its a hard one to call on commentators, for me i can't stand Teddy Atlas, and i have to turn down the sound when he's on.

[marcianofan]

Okay so I watch a lot of British broadcasts despite living in America. Sometimes I just catch individual fights, and miss the intros and all that, so I apologize for not knowing the bloke's full name. But what is up with this Steve guy from British Eurosport? If it weren't for the fact that I wanted to hear the punches landing, I'd have muted him instantly. Probably the most arrogantly ignorant commentator I've ever heard. As we speak, I'm watching the Solis-Larsen broadcast from this past weekend, and before the bell ever sounded, this guy had already spent 3 or 4 solid minutes basically telling us that Odlanier Solis was a good amateur but absolute shit as a pro, and that he can't figure out what happened to him. Never mind that in his only loss he was acquitting himself relatively well against a dominant #1 contender before suffering a freak injury. Nevermind that he's otherwise undefeated and has convincingly beaten a top 20 opponent in Ray Austin. Nevermind that he's never actually looked like shit at all. I mean he wasn't flashy against Konstantin Airich, but he was also coming off multiple knee surgeries and a year of inactivity.

Then in round 4, he declares matter of factly that Solis is badly hurt from a punch that was mostly blocked on the arm before it lightly landed, even though there was no sign whatsoever that he was wobbled in the least. And then he stated with absolute certainty that Larsen dominated the round despite the fact that Larsen didn't land another punch the rest of the round, while being controlled and regularly landed on to the body and head by Solis. In round 6, Larsen got completely dominated and landed nothing clean whatsoever, and good old Steve calls it a clear Larsen round. That's the point at which I got fed up enough to pause it and write this diatribe.

Oh, and let's not forget that despite Solis being a bag of garbage in his opinion, he considered Larsen so worthless as an opponent that he was unlikely to make it past 2 or 3 rounds. Nevermind that he's an undefeated top 50 fighter. Steve, if the fight is as worthless as you seem to think, just cut the feed to the truck and save us all the trouble. Or at least cut the power to your mic...

EDIT: Round 8, where Larsen actually does have a good round for the first time and maybe wins it, he starts praising "Sollis," and wonders out loud if Larsen can make it through. WTF????

EDIT #2: Round 9. Solis easily carries the round. Of course Steve gives it to Larsen, and talks his partner Richie into doing the same. He's got "Sollis" one round up, with "three to play," despite the fact that it's a 10 round fight, as the Eurosport graphics clearly stated at the beginning. And despite the fact that there's no way it's closer than 89-82.

It was a 12 rounder. Must have been the Eurosport Graphics that were wrong. As I understand, Solis was confused about it too.

Yeah we crossed in the edits on that one.

Apparently the pawing jab that never landed was as big a factor to the notoriously accurate German judges as it was to Richie and Steve, since two of them had it in the same ballpark. The other one was still clearly too close in my opinion at 117-111, and of course the commentators took issue with it being far too wide (I was hoping for more of a Teddy Atlas-style outburst for comedic purposes, but it wasn't to be). Larsen won either 1 or 2 rounds. I don't think he had the slightest argument for any more than that. He won the 11th, and the 8th was a tossup. The only other one that was even competitive was the 12th.

[handsofstone]

I didnt watch the fight but ive seen a lot of Odlanier Solis including the Konstantin Airich win but ive never been that overly impressed with him,like most Professional Cuban boxers he just never looks intrested and seems to fight within himself,he,s obviously got the tools but maybe after living,eating,sleeping boxing back home,maybe he knows he should fight if he wants to be successful/rich but maybe his hearts just not really in it,seems to be a Cuban trait

[marcianofan]

I'd agree with Steve on Solis, he looked awful for someone that says he's going to be world champion.
There's no fitness there at all.

I don't mind Holdsworth so much, he's honest at least . Its a hard one to call on commentators, for me i can't stand Teddy Atlas, and i have to turn down the sound when he's on.

I used to like Teddy, but he's getting on my bad side lately. I feel like his scorecards are getting less accurate, and he's getting more sure of himself in defending them, which is a bad combination. The Usmanee-Barthelemy commentary still sticks in my craw.

Solis obviously doesn't look as good as Joe Frazier or Muhammad Ali, but can you name 5 heavyweights tested at a similar level that consistently look better? I can't. He faded in the last couple rounds, but I think it's because he paced himself for 10. Aside from him, I can only think of a few top 20-level heavyweights that can go a (relatively) hard 12 without fading badly, and only one or two that can punch (Tyson Fury and Chris Arreola come to mind), Klitschkos aside.

In my opinion his best performance was against Ray Austin, and that one wasn't televised everywhere. He looked pretty darned good against the best opponent he's faced (aside from Vitali). He was very close to stopping Austin, which is why he fouled his way out of the fight.

[Horse]

Apparently the pawing jab that never landed was as big a factor to the notoriously accurate German judges as it was to Richie and Steve, since two of them had it in the same ballpark. The other one was still clearly too close in my opinion at 117-111, and of course the commentators took issue with it being far too wide (I was hoping for more of a Teddy Atlas-style outburst for comedic purposes, but it wasn't to be). Larsen won either 1 or 2 rounds. I don't think he had the slightest argument for any more than that. He won the 11th, and the 8th was a tossup. The only other one that was even competitive was the 12th.

It was a close fight. Solis was very unimpressive.

[loaded_gloves]

If your mind has been softened by 20 years of HBO and Showtime selling fights and fighters to you, it must be a shock to the system to have a bloke actually telling you the truth. You are watching crap.

[lefty]

I'd agree with Steve on Solis, he looked awful for someone that says he's going to be world champion.
There's no fitness there at all.

I don't mind Holdsworth so much, he's honest at least . Its a hard one to call on commentators, for me i can't stand Teddy Atlas, and i have to turn down the sound when he's on.

Oh i agree regarding Atlas. I despise his commentary! He thinks he knows a lot more than he actually does.

[TheWigwam]

I agree I found the commentating rather annoying, more or less agreed with what he was saying but he kept repeating it over and over, working himself up on a point anyone could've made. Usually like Eurosport commentary with Steve and Ritchie though to be fair

[marcianofan]

If your mind has been softened by 20 years of HBO and Showtime selling fights and fighters to you, it must be a shock to the system to have a bloke actually telling you the truth. You are watching crap.

I don't buy what anyone sells me when it comes to boxing. I keep my own very thoroughly considered set of rankings and publish them. It's my #1 hobby, in fact. But whether or not you're impressed with him, he's a proven borderline top 10 heavyweight. If that's not good enough for you it's because the division sucks. I don't think you can be that critical of a guy and be considered fair unless you also acknowledge his relative standing. If Steve would have said something like "I think Solis is shit, but he's one of the top 10 or 15 in a shitty division" I could respect that. But to just bash him from before the fight even started was way over the top. A casual observer would have had no choice but to conclude that he is a pro flop of the magnitude of an Audley Harrison or- to keep it Cuban- maybe Yordanis Despaigne, when in fact he has shown himself at least very capable as a pro. You can knock his apparent conditioning and maybe his activity level and level of competition compared to a select few others, but he's accomplished enough to deserve much better than that, and certainly to be given credit for rounds he's clearly winning.

[Old bones Ian]

Maybe Solis needs a bit of fear in him to train right, I'd like to see him take on Pulev. There's a guy who can go at a good pace till the late rounds. Not sure that the fight would be made though as i don't know about the promotional differences between the camps.

[black panther]

Steve Holdsworth watches a lot of amateur boxing. Solis as an amateur was some 50lbs lighter and was so effective due to a fantastic punch output and fast feet. I think Steve was
comparing Solis to his former self. For sure Solis is a top ten HW but he had the potential to be so much more. Why do you think he had knee problems? Perhaps because he's carrying at least 30lbs excess weight.

[marcianofan]

Steve Holdsworth watches a lot of amateur boxing. Solis as an amateur was some 50lbs lighter and was so effective due to a fantastic punch output and fast feet. I think Steve was
comparing Solis to his former self. For sure Solis is a top ten HW but he had the potential to be so much more. Why do you think he had knee problems? Perhaps because he's carrying at least 30lbs excess weight.

That's a good point. I took it as him being ignorant of the pro version, but I didn't know his background. Now that you mentioned it, he was talking about having photos taken with Felix Savon, so that makes sense. I think maybe he scores pro fights with amateur criteria too though, to be honest. Not that I thought Larsen did much better in terms of amateur scoring punches than he did under pro standards- but I guess maybe someone loosely scoring an amateur fight would be more impressed with the wasted activity he was seeing from Larsen than someone looking for effective shots as part of the criteria.

[iamasadlittleboy]

After round 9 the referee suggested it was the final round I think, hence leading to a shit load of confusion in Larsen's corner, with the referee and with the commentary.

[Horse]

Solis isn't a top 10 heavyweight, in my opinion.

[black panther]

Steve Holdsworth watches a lot of amateur boxing. Solis as an amateur was some 50lbs lighter and was so effective due to a fantastic punch output and fast feet. I think Steve was
comparing Solis to his former self. For sure Solis is a top ten HW but he had the potential to be so much more. Why do you think he had knee problems? Perhaps because he's carrying at least 30lbs excess weight.

That's a good point. I took it as him being ignorant of the pro version, but I didn't know his background. Now that you mentioned it, he was talking about having photos taken with Felix Savon, so that makes sense. I think maybe he scores pro fights with amateur criteria too though, to be honest. Not that I thought Larsen did much better in terms of amateur scoring punches than he did under pro standards- but I guess maybe someone loosely scoring an amateur fight would be more impressed with the wasted activity he was seeing from Larsen than someone looking for effective shots as part of the criteria.

Steve was a decent amateur himself( ABA semi-finals) but didn't amount to much as a pro. Admittedly he isn't the greatest commentator, is usually biased towards one fighter and often doesn't seem to be giving a fair reflection of what's happening in the ring. However he voices his honest opinion as opposed to going with the consensus which I like.

I grew up listening to him on Eurosport so he's grown on me. Ive learnt to take his mis-reading of fights with a pinch of salt and enjoy his stories about his experiences within boxing. Totally understand if you're watching him for the first time and find him annoying though!

[marcianofan]

After round 9 the referee suggested it was the final round I think, hence leading to a shit load of confusion in Larsen's corner, with the referee and with the commentary.

Yeah but the ring announcer (in German) announced it as the 10th and final, as well, and the Eurosport graphics from before the fight said "Heavyweights, 10 rounds." It seems like everybody except the commentators and one other guy at ringside seemed to think it was 10 rounds until the end of the 10th round.

[marcianofan]

Steve was a decent amateur himself( ABA semi-finals) but didn't amount to much as a pro. Admittedly he isn't the greatest commentator, is usually biased towards one fighter and often doesn't seem to be giving a fair reflection of what's happening in the ring. However he voices his honest opinion as opposed to going with the consensus which I like.

I grew up listening to him on Eurosport so he's grown on me. Ive learnt to take his mis-reading of fights with a pinch of salt and enjoy his stories about his experiences within boxing. Totally understand if you're watching him for the first time and find him annoying though!

Thanks for the perspective. For all I know I've heard him lots of times and just didn't take particular notice of him. I don't really know any of the British commentators by name/voice except the Scottish guy on (I think) allegedly or (maybe) Sky. Jim Watt, if I'm not mistaken. I can't read George Groves' name in print without hearing his voice say "Groves" in my head. I probably haven't heard Steve much, though, since most of the Eurosport fights I can remember watching were in Polish, I think.

[iamasadlittleboy]

After round 9 the referee suggested it was the final round I think, hence leading to a shit load of confusion in Larsen's corner, with the referee and with the commentary.

Yeah but the ring announcer (in German) announced it as the 10th and final, as well, and the Eurosport graphics from before the fight said "Heavyweights, 10 rounds." It seems like everybody except the commentators and one other guy at ringside seemed to think it was 10 rounds until the end of the 10th round.

About 4 minutes in to this video (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xyeuio ... VDVMDswCaU) Holdsworth clearly stats "we have potentially 12 rounds" don't know about any graphics though.

[marcianofan]

About 4 minutes in to this video (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xyeuio ... VDVMDswCaU) Holdsworth clearly stats "we have potentially 12 rounds" don't know about any graphics though.

Yeah I heard him say that at the time, and was thinking he was off his rocker or had misspoken, since I saw the graphic and typed spaces for 10 rounds in my scorecard spreadsheet. You'll just have to trust me on that.

[Horse]

It was an IBF Inter-Continental title fight, they are always 12 rounders.

[Bricks]

Okay so I watch a lot of British broadcasts despite living in America. Sometimes I just catch individual fights, and miss the intros and all that, so I apologize for not knowing the bloke's full name. But what is up with this Steve guy from British Eurosport? If it weren't for the fact that I wanted to hear the punches landing, I'd have muted him instantly. Probably the most arrogantly ignorant commentator I've ever heard. As we speak, I'm watching the Solis-Larsen broadcast from this past weekend, and before the bell ever sounded, this guy had already spent 3 or 4 solid minutes basically telling us that Odlanier Solis was a good amateur but absolute shit as a pro, and that he can't figure out what happened to him. Never mind that in his only loss he was acquitting himself relatively well against a dominant #1 contender before suffering a freak injury. Nevermind that he's otherwise undefeated and has convincingly beaten a top 20 opponent in Ray Austin. Nevermind that he's never actually looked like shit at all. I mean he wasn't flashy against Konstantin Airich, but he was also coming off multiple knee surgeries and a year of inactivity.

Then in round 4, he declares matter of factly that Solis is badly hurt from a punch that was mostly blocked on the arm before it lightly landed, even though there was no sign whatsoever that he was wobbled in the least. And then he stated with absolute certainty that Larsen dominated the round despite the fact that Larsen didn't land another punch the rest of the round, while being controlled and regularly landed on to the body and head by Solis. In round 6, Larsen got completely dominated and landed nothing clean whatsoever, and good old Steve calls it a clear Larsen round. That's the point at which I got fed up enough to pause it and write this diatribe.

Oh, and let's not forget that despite Solis being a bag of garbage in his opinion, he considered Larsen so worthless as an opponent that he was unlikely to make it past 2 or 3 rounds. Nevermind that he's an undefeated top 50 fighter. Steve, if the fight is as worthless as you seem to think, just cut the feed to the truck and save us all the trouble. Or at least cut the power to your mic...

EDIT: Round 8, where Larsen actually does have a good round for the first time and maybe wins it, he starts praising "Sollis," and wonders out loud if Larsen can make it through. WTF????

EDIT #2: Round 9. Solis easily carries the round. Of course Steve gives it to Larsen, and talks his partner Richie into doing the same. He's got "Sollis" one round up, with "three to play," despite the fact that it's a 10 round fight, as the Eurosport graphics clearly stated at the beginning. And despite the fact that there's no way it's closer than 89-82.

Edit #3: Okay, so apparently somebody other than Steve got this messed up, because the announcer apologizes and lets everybody know that they are going to do 2 more afterall, after someone yelled "12 rounds! 12 rounds! It's a world title fight!" Even though it's not. Solis seems bothered by the extra rounds, and Larsen easily wins the round. Steve and Rich score their first round correctly in quite a while.

Number 1 Solis does look like shit, fat coffee shit coloured shit.
Number 2 he didnt have the arsehole to fight Klicthko and his loss in the first was pathetic
Three Steve Holdsworth is a genius commentator he can hold a 3 hour telecast on his own much like bunce can hold a studio on his own, and both can tell a great story.

[Bricks]

I'd agree with Steve on Solis, he looked awful for someone that says he's going to be world champion.
There's no fitness there at all.

I don't mind Holdsworth so much, he's honest at least . Its a hard one to call on commentators, for me i can't stand Teddy Atlas, and i have to turn down the sound when he's on.

Atlas is boxings biggest bully and keyboard warrior. Really scummy trailer trash at heart pretending his dad was a doctor and that he himself is some genius psyciatrist. He didnt have the balls to fight a decent amateur career or fight as a pro yet ad nauseum he questions the courage and "character" of fighters every telecast and rambles on like a bully putting down fighters. Atlas is a well connected bum. and the way he hates on tyson on those espn greatest heavyweights shows refusing to give tyson any credit as a fighter is just pathetic and shows Atlas is a biased partizan shameless excuse for a "journalist". Someone send him to journalism school so he learns about character himself and integrity

[whiskey]

Solis is suffering "Joan Guzman" syndrome - except he is not having to fight the scales, thus is as fat as f***.

He will join the huge annual influx of talent from impoverished countries, who discovers burger bars and suddenly thinks they have made it by owning a 1-bed apartment and a 10-year old BMW.