Can anything be done about Adam Smith on commentary?

[TheLeprechaun]

We've endured this guy for far too long.

He ruins fight after fight, week after week.

We are all absolutely exhausted.

[Riddick Bowie]

Once he's gone we'll need AI to erase his commentary from nearly three decades of fights.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Can we all complain to DAZN?like a petition. Get so many signatures.

[Boxerbeetle]

I can certainly see why broadcasters like him - he knows nothing about the sport and can’t read a fight, so he basically just acts like a cheerleader for the home fighters throughout the show. Broadcasters know bits of fights will be clipped for social media, so why not have Smith droning on about how brilliantly the A side is performing, regardless of the evidence in front of his eyes. It’s like constantly being bombarded with an advertisement.

[JamesPhilips]

We've endured this guy for far too long.

He ruins fight after fight, week after week.

We are all absolutely exhausted.

It’s nuts to me, if you’re DAZN, that you couldn’t just search online and see how disliked his commentary is, yet still employ him…. Or indeed just watch footage of him commentating… I mean you’d be hard pushed to find anything positive on the tool.

Also I see he’s releasing a book on Ricky Hatton - bet he couldn’t wait to get in there - and no doubt it will be full of anecdotes about himself and Ricky. I still found it odd they used Smith for the eulogy. I can’t recall Smith being that close to Hatton….

[SeanBrennan]

And he’s now written a book about Ricky Hatton. I wonder how much is going to the foundation and how much is going to Betfred via his back pocket.

[Muttley]

Once he's gone we'll need AI to erase his commentary from nearly three decades of fights.

He must be doing something right to last 30 years.

[Coco]

Once he's gone we'll need AI to erase his commentary from nearly three decades of fights.

He must be doing something right to last 30 years.

Whatever it is which he has done right, it's certainly not commenting

[TheLeprechaun]

Whats frightening is that he's probably in his mid 50s. We could be stuck listening to the pr*ck ruining fights for the next 15-20 years

[THEBUTCH]

It seems the mute button is the only option

[Ruthless-RKO]

Shall we all tweet our frustration? Tag DAZN and Smith?

It’ll start trending.

[Frostieballs]

Lots of Emperors new clothes here as well.

People in the sport and media big him up relentlessly.

Talksport are the worst. Every time he is on they call him the legendary voice of boxing and scour rose petals at his feet.

[Glass Joe]

Shall we all tweet our frustration? Tag DAZN and Smith?

It’ll start trending.

We need a bingo board, Katie Taylor themed one

[MightyWarrior]

Once he's gone we'll need AI to erase his commentary from nearly three decades of fights.

He must be doing something right to last 30 years.

Yes he is doing something right: endlessly kissing arse to anybody who comes within 50 yards of him. That’s all he does. That’s why everyone is “a great guy”

He spends his whole life trying to get people to like him, and he’s become quite good at it. Everybody except the fans who have to listen to the f*cking idiot while he is commentating.

Hearn opened up an “ask me a question” on WhatsApp a few weeks ago, I never go on anything like that, but I did this time, just to tell him how terrible Smith is, which I did repeatedly, in various ways. He never replied of course, only to those who were saying how great Eddie is. I doubt it got through to him how despised smith is. Of course, as always, there was some idiot on there saying that Smith is actually the best going

[Terminator666]

They have him on talksport and treat him like he’s some kind of boxing God

[stujones]

I completely agree this "god like" status that he gets on talksport seems a bit much. Particularly when they have their own "voice of boxing" who I always looks like he is redundant when they do post fight analysis at the end. They could (and perhaps should) use more of John Rawling's journalistic and knowledge to promote talksports live events as opposed to Smith.

That being said - I do think this "hatred" for Smith is a bit much. Yes, he is a level below the Darkes, Gutteridge, Carpenter's etc not disputing that - but I don't find him awful and, I think when he works alongside some of the great co-commentators, there have been some memorable moments and lines that we should credit Smith for - again not in the same category as "it happened, it happened" (George Foreman) or "How do you like it, HOW DO YOU LIKE IT" (for Leonard vs Hagler) but some memorable lines.

And for me, maybe people will disagree, he was involved at a strategic level of a bit of a golden era in terms of boxing coverage and Sky at the peak. Sure we are lucky now also - but it doesn't feel like a golden era of TV coverage, it feels more like one man's pet project.

[forcefraser]

I completely agree this "god like" status that he gets on talksport seems a bit much. Particularly when they have their own "voice of boxing" who I always looks like he is redundant when they do post fight analysis at the end. They could (and perhaps should) use more of John Rawling's journalistic and knowledge to promote talksports live events as opposed to Smith.

That being said - I do think this "hatred" for Smith is a bit much. Yes, he is a level below the Darkes, Gutteridge, Carpenter's etc not disputing that - but I don't find him awful and, I think when he works alongside some of the great co-commentators, there have been some memorable moments and lines that we should credit Smith for - again not in the same category as "it happened, it happened" (George Foreman) or "How do you like it, HOW DO YOU LIKE IT" (for Leonard vs Hagler) but some memorable lines.

And for me, maybe people will disagree, he was involved at a strategic level of a bit of a golden era in terms of boxing coverage and Sky at the peak. Sure we are lucky now also - but it doesn't feel like a golden era of TV coverage, it feels more like one man's pet project.

What memorable lines do we have from Smith? Surely not "Take off for AJ" ? Or "The King is toppled" ?

[Coco]

I completely agree this "god like" status that he gets on talksport seems a bit much. Particularly when they have their own "voice of boxing" who I always looks like he is redundant when they do post fight analysis at the end. They could (and perhaps should) use more of John Rawling's journalistic and knowledge to promote talksports live events as opposed to Smith.

That being said - I do think this "hatred" for Smith is a bit much. Yes, he is a level below the Darkes, Gutteridge, Carpenter's etc not disputing that - but I don't find him awful and, I think when he works alongside some of the great co-commentators, there have been some memorable moments and lines that we should credit Smith for - again not in the same category as "it happened, it happened" (George Foreman) or "How do you like it, HOW DO YOU LIKE IT" (for Leonard vs Hagler) but some memorable lines.

And for me, maybe people will disagree, he was involved at a strategic level of a bit of a golden era in terms of boxing coverage and Sky at the peak. Sure we are lucky now also - but it doesn't feel like a golden era of TV coverage, it feels more like one man's pet project.

What memorable lines do we have from Smith? Surely not "Take off for AJ" ? Or "The King is toppled" ?

And there is the respect

From the mean streets of .....

[mickey1975]

I completely agree this "god like" status that he gets on talksport seems a bit much. Particularly when they have their own "voice of boxing" who I always looks like he is redundant when they do post fight analysis at the end. They could (and perhaps should) use more of John Rawling's journalistic and knowledge to promote talksports live events as opposed to Smith.

That being said - I do think this "hatred" for Smith is a bit much. Yes, he is a level below the Darkes, Gutteridge, Carpenter's etc not disputing that - but I don't find him awful and, I think when he works alongside some of the great co-commentators, there have been some memorable moments and lines that we should credit Smith for - again not in the same category as "it happened, it happened" (George Foreman) or "How do you like it, HOW DO YOU LIKE IT" (for Leonard vs Hagler) but some memorable lines.

And for me, maybe people will disagree, he was involved at a strategic level of a bit of a golden era in terms of boxing coverage and Sky at the peak. Sure we are lucky now also - but it doesn't feel like a golden era of TV coverage, it feels more like one man's pet project.

What memorable lines do we have from Smith? Surely not "Take off for AJ" ? Or "The King is toppled" ?

"He's HERE" when Eubank snr got out of the car with junior before the first Benn fight was a great moment.

[Bercli]

Once he's gone we'll need AI to erase his commentary from nearly three decades of fights.

He must be doing something right to last 30 years.

Yes he is doing something right: endlessly kissing arse to anybody who comes within 50 yards of him. That’s all he does. That’s why everyone is “a great guy”

He spends his whole life trying to get people to like him, and he’s become quite good at it. Everybody except the fans who have to listen to the f*cking idiot while he is commentating.

Hearn opened up an “ask me a question” on WhatsApp a few weeks ago, I never go on anything like that, but I did this time, just to tell him how terrible Smith is, which I did repeatedly, in various ways. He never replied of course, only to those who were saying how great Eddie is. I doubt it got through to him how despised smith is. Of course, as always, there was some idiot on there saying that Smith is actually the best going

Kissing arse is the way of the working world. Networking,call it what you like,he's getting paid very well to sit in the best seat in the house. Fact. Bunce,Oliver,Davis, Cassius,all play the game. Not saying it is the right way,but it works for them and the cheque lands on the Matt at the end of the month.

[Terminator666]

I think it’s more hard core fans who don’t like him- casuals probably don’t have much of an opinion of him

[Coco]

I think it’s more hard core fans who don’t like him- casuals probably don’t have much of an opinion of him

Often folk just accept what they are given, even if it's AI commentating

[Boxerbeetle]

I think it’s more hard core fans who don’t like him- casuals probably don’t have much of an opinion of him

Do casuals even watch boxing anymore? I can’t imagine many of them subbing to DAZN, most people I speak to have no idea when a fight has happened, unless it was on Sky.

[Boxerbeetle]

Shall we all tweet our frustration? Tag DAZN and Smith?

It’ll start trending.

I rather think you overestimate the influence this board has There must only be about 50 regular posters on B&I nowadays, our chances of starting any sort of trend are slim to none.

[keithmoonhangover]

I just let it all wash over me.