BoxRec

I'm interested in opinions on who are/were the best co-commentators on live fights that once fought.

Some examples would be :

Roy Jones Jr. - could be the pick of them (when he's not bigging himself up);
George Foreman - I like George but don't agree with a lot of what he says;
Sugar Ray Leonard - could be a bit smug at times but his insights were interesting - very professional;
Barry McGuigan - off the boil these days but when he's not under instructions to promote someone he can be good;
Ken Norton - pre throat problems - he was quite insightful & articulate ;
Jeff Fenech - tends to get too excited like he wants to be back in there (which is understandable).

Any other examples? Tyson in days gone past was interesting when interviewed during a fight and I always thought DeLa Hoya would have been good commentating but promoting obviously pays a lot more.

I forgot the Easton Assassin Larry Holmes . Always enjoyed Larry and you could tell he had a real appreciation of boxing talent - especially the lower weight divisions.

Decagon wrote:Foreman was terrible.

Yes I agree but he does have a certain charm. he can make me laught at times . . . whether it be with him or at him.

Jim Watt is a very, very good Boxing commentator in my opinion.

As a former World Champion he has a great in-sight into the game and notices things during a fight many fans and commontators woundn't.

He also doesn't 'suck up' to the house fighter.

Lennox Lewis is good... I like when Tyson talks because he knows his boxing. He may be hard to understand, but he knows his material.


~A.W.F~

Sean Ogrady I thought was damm good, Murry Sutherland also was good. Ray Mancinni was another one who did a good job. I was thinking that Bobby Czyz tried his hand at it if my memory serves me correctly and was unbelievably dull. Just happend to catch Scott Ladoex in passing and he seemed oakay.

Kevin Kelley did a great job not too long ago.

I heard Dana Rosenblatt has been doing some ring side work lately too.

Decagon wrote:Foreman was terrible.

Please elaborate.

KOJOE90 wrote:Jim Watt is a very, very good Boxing commentator in my opinion.

As a former World Champion he has a great in-sight into the game and notices things during a fight many fans and commontators woundn't.

He also doesn't 'suck up' to the house fighter.

How could I forget about Jim Watt. Probably the best of British commentators at the moment. I tend to find myself agreeing with most of his comments and he never hypes a fight if it doesn't deserve it.

Roy Jones is not one of my favorites. When Lampley ask for insight Jones responds with a "Yup".

Jerry Quarry was a terrific boxing commentator for CBS
who had a very good feel for what was going on in the
ring and conveyed it well to the viewers.

- Chuck Johnston

Chuck1052 wrote:Jerry Quarry was a terrific boxing commentator for CBS
who had a very good feel for what was going on in the
ring and conveyed it well to the viewers.

- Chuck Johnston

Did he commentate at the same time he was still fighting? I know Leonard and a few others did. I don't think I've heard Quarry as of yet.

Ingemar Johansson and Steffen Tangstad where commentators on Scandinavian TV in the 80's and 90's and in my mind they were both pretty good, also Paolo Roberto has started out but all he does is scream all the time.

I know that neither one of these two were former fighters but since we are on the subject of comentators just thought I would mention the worst team ever where Dan Dierdorf and Alex Wallu, these guys were terrible and I would get embarrassed for them every time I heard them do a fight.

James Brown The Godfather of soul did some commentating during the Wepner - Ali fight .
Great on stage. Not so good ringside.
And I believe that James had some fights. Ive heard that although I dont know if there is any confirmation of this around.

If you are talking about comentators who just stood in for one fight I remember Gil Clancy and Tim Ryan or someone at CBS had the ill conceived idea to have Mike Weaver sit in. All I can remember is he would occasionally mumble some incoherent jibberish.

I never liked sporting events where they would have guest celebrity commentators. They almost always ended up unbelievably dull. Fortunatly I didn't get to here James Brown.

I think that was it . The guest commentator thing .It was done for awhile back in the 70s early 80s .
Ill have to think back and see if I can come up with some more "celebrity experts".

expug wrote:I think that was it . The guest commentator thing .It was done for awhile back in the 70s early 80s .
Ill have to think back and see if I can come up with some more "celebrity experts".

I think Burt Lancaster did a spot on Ali v Frazier I didn't he? He was a friend of Joe's supposedly. He was very ordinary as a commentator though.
I remember the James Brown stint in the Wepner fight. He didn't add anything relevant but you gotta love the Godfather.

kick asner wrote:If you are talking about comentators who just stood in for one fight I remember Gil Clancy and Tim Ryan or someone at CBS had the ill conceived idea to have Mike Weaver sit in. All I can remember is he would occasionally mumble some incoherent jibberish.

I was thinking more of ex or current fighters that actually sat in on the full fight more than once as part of a contractual thing with a network.
Let's face it, most boxers aren't the most articulate of characters but it's always good to hear their comments when they come from direct experience.

el tigre del sur wrote:

kick asner wrote:If you are talking about comentators who just stood in for one fight I remember Gil Clancy and Tim Ryan or someone at CBS had the ill conceived idea to have Mike Weaver sit in. All I can remember is he would occasionally mumble some incoherent jibberish.

I was thinking more of ex or current fighters that actually sat in on the full fight more than once as part of a contractual thing with a network.
Let's face it, most boxers aren't the most articulate of characters but it's always good to hear their comments when they come from direct experience.

I here ya, I was just expanding on the topic a bit. Couldn't help but recall the Mike Weaver comentary or lack their of however because it was the worst thing I ever heard.