BoxRec

Ok I know there are many mixed feelings about this man...I really do not like him...

For several reasons...just one minor one is listed below..

I was just watching Byrds KO loss to Ike....

Merchant just wanted to make a big deal about the fact that Byrd was arguing with the referee and then when interviewing Byrd afterwards seemed to take pleasure in rubbing salt into Chris's wounds. Byrd was KTFO.....he had no idea what he was saying or doing, it happens.
On top of that he brushes him off mid sentence so he can have his 'final words' he does this often...

his final words, who cares ! its like listening to a brandy soaked drunk uncle telling you about his opinion which you really do not care for. And he makes as much sense as he stumbles for the right words so as to sound articulate or get that perfect sound byte for futre posterity.

At the end of the day he is just a man that watches, critics and analyses the hard work, sacrifices, pain and triumph of other...better men.

When I was a kid I loved to hear his voice because it was like wow an American commentator. This is really the mecca of boxing. It felt like I was living the dream, watching these fighters I only got to read about in The Ring and KO. Merchant was a big part of that experience when I was 12 years old in the early 80s.

These days there is something annoying about him and the way he makes the same point over and over.

I know you're a fighter Robinson, and a non-fighter making comments can seem unjust, but there is a place for these kinds of guys (albeit better ones than Larry, who has past his sell by date) because they do bring a different viewpoint.

Larry is really there for comic relief. He is one of those people who isn't trying to be funny but often is.

I don't remember the exact quote but once he said something like this:

"Manny Pacquiao's emergence as a great fighter has helped the people of the Phillipines get over their treatment from Spain several hundred years ago".

Another time he mentioned that the heavyweight division reminded him of the Knights of the Round table.

He once compared Oscar De La Hoya's hiring of a new trainer to Abraham Lincoln promoting Ulysses S Grant as his Top General during the Civil War.

Occasionally he actually does make a good point, but more often he is trying to make an analogy that is just silly. Strangely enough, his scoring of fights seems to be pretty accurrate.

I understand and I get the point...but its annoying to hear him at times.

I do try to like him as he is respected and all that.

His scoring of the fights is superflous in a sense, otherwise what is the point of having Harold Lederman ?

i dont have any problem with larry merchant at all but sometimes i do think he is a bit slow but

My Gf thinks he is a bit touched in the head also.

Larry Merchant is a genius.

At his age to be calling bouts the way he does is incredible.

A+ in my book or step up and show me anyone who can do it any better week in week out.


Larry Merchant is a living legend.

He was great when he was younger and he is great today.

The only man that stops Larry ... is Larry.

No one comes close.

If they do name them.

I remember when Roy Jones pulled rank on Larry Merchant.
He was way out of line.
I think Roy was showing his age.
But that was along time ago.

Larry Merchant speaks for many people no matter how many feathers he ruffles.
Yes Larry screws up,we all do.
But Merchant's track record is proven as I see it.

He calls it the way he see's it and has a good eye.

I like George Foreman better. Is he Larry;s age ?

Larry & George can't be the same age. I have a DVD, The Best Of The Heavyweights from 1981 (hosted by the likeably dramatic Kurt Gowdy), & Larry looks at least forty at that time. In 1981, Foreman was only thirty-two &, by rights, should have still been fighting (albeit getting on, considering his pro debut was in the 60's).

I have an opinion I'd like to express on Merchant, but I just have not found the time to get it across on this thread. Keep it alive, Robinson, I'll get there

Edit: A quick Google search says Larry was born in 1931 ( ), making him nearly twenty years Foreman's senior.

Wow that old...then I do respect him in some way.

Kurt Gowdy I remember those old tapes, he had an interesting voice.

Merchant looked old in that 1970s series 'Boxings Best' with the side burns, funky mono tone theme music and faded film stock.

I have mixed feelings on Merchant...

I think it's sickening the way he carries himself at times. The pretense he knows more about the intracacies of the sport than anyone is absolutely palpable during telecasts...even if it were true, it's nauseating, but it isn't, making it all the more wretched.

The desperate dives for the great soundbite are far too forced. The fact that he pulls one off once in a while is great, but it also convinces him to shoot for one every time, which is largely terribly contrived. You get the feeling he wants to make history more than the fighters he's calling.

Larry, wake the f--- up already, will you!? When he's not three steps behind the action, he's calling the wrong fighters, & the more alert Lampley has to fix his mistakes, before Larry snaps out of it, "excuse me, I meant the other guy, etc."

Stop rolling your eyes when fighters make shout-outs during the post-fight interview. Sure, no one cares for it, but the fighters have earned that right. Sorry, how much time does HBO dedicate to bombarding their viewers with up-coming events & promotions? Yet, a fighter can't take ten seconds out of the interview? Gimme a break.

Now, with all this (& the other assaults thrown his way on this thread) in mind, he does have a place. Too many interviewers fall apart when a fighter stands next to them, be it because they're intimidated, or simply star-struck...I've noticed this amongst even more experienced newsmen. Larry steps in, & asks the hard questions...these guys go through twelve gruelling rounds, & some people act like they're china dolls --- were it not for Larry, fight fans would know a whole lot less about their stars.

A perfect example --- Forrest was waffling on about his camp after the fight with Quartey, thanking such & such, & Larry blurted out, "Would you like to thank the judges?"

Who has the balls to do that? It was completely justified, too --- Forrest had just received a gift, & didn't deserve the decision. Most interviewers would just nod their head. As far as condescending goes, yeah, Larry's quite appalling at times, but no one is worse than that know-all lemming mutt, Jim Grey on Showtime. That in mind, it could always be worse.

Larry calls a spade a spade (much like the excellent Al Bernstein), & that is something I will always have time for, especially in this politically-correct time. I am not one who believes fighters automatically know more about the sport than non-fighters (I love him to death, but George Foreman proves my point amply), I think Larry brings plenty to any telecast, fifty-percent of it bad, fifty percent good, that's all.

I agree with asking the tough questions...I think he is able to do this because he has so much stock in himself and has such a huge ego that he is far from intimidated. I sincerly think that he feels people tune in to listen and see him.

In regards to fighters doing commentary, it takes an articulate and open minded and honest one to make the grade, however I think they do make a good colour with a honest insight.

To often we have so many opinions from those looking in and seldom hear those who have been or done...or doing.

We all have opinions and it takes a special kind of person to have one that others are interested in.

I shall nod and agree with the points of support for Larry and I can see them and I must confess i do at times get a giggle at his banter with others and the way he holds the shoulders of a fighter who often dwarfs him almost fearlessly like a school principal to a pupil.

I like you guys love boxing...and a good comentary can make a boring fight enjoyable..at the very least something to fall asleep to...

If a fighter shows any movement, like Hopkins or Mayweather, Larry can get pretty obnoxious. They shouldn't use him for those fights. Or he can say snooty things, like how Morales-Barrera II was somehow a waste of time just because it wasn't as great as the first fight, or I remember when R. Marquez and Margarito fought on a double header and destroyed their opponents he called it "garbage" even though we got to see two talented punchers show their power; and yet if it was Cory Spinks or someone with no power winning a decision he would bitch then too.

I wouldn't call him much of an expert. He's smarter than Foreman was as a broadcaster, but he doesn't have as much personality as George. I like Merchant better than Kellerman though, Kellerman talks too much about linear titles and all that crap; real boxing fans kind of get the point, and casual fans don't really care, so why go on and on about it in every fight?

It is funny when Merchant tries to same something profound, especially when you have no idea what he's saying. I hear people say a lot that he's a drunk. That might explain some things about him.

The earliest fight I've heard him do was Ali-Shavers. He also did Holmes-Weaver. I sometimes look as Cosell and wonder how it is that someone who saw Robinson and Ali and Frazier and Foreman and Duran and Leonard and Patterson and Monzon and Spinks and all these fighters up close could still not really get the point about boxing; and its the same with Larry. He's seen everything, but I wonder how much he really knows about the sport.