I miss Larry Merchant a lot.............."The Whale Has Been Harpooned." That was when Vitali Klitschko knocked out Kirk Johnson in the second round. This was after Teddy Atlas said that Kirk Johnson would knock Vitali out with one punch! LOL!
Nonexistent quality, jg. Total abstraction. People only carry that lofty aura, that weight, if you in your individual mind subjectively lend it to them. There is no universality with something like that. Sinatra packed stadiums long past his prime for the same reason people are now feeling pangs of nostalgia for Merchant: the lingering power of reputation. Most figures throughout history who achieve mythic status and seem 'larger than life' - aren't. Myth is usually 95% perception candy coated in legend and maybe 5% reality tops. To you and others, subjectively, Merchant had "it". To me and others, he doesn't. Therefore it can't be said he possesses something transcendent and powerful enough to overlook his actual job performance. Nothing except the legend, which depending on how tickled you are by the notion of a drunk old white guy speaking his vapid mind about boxing, may or may not leave an impression on you.
no, merchant did nothing for the sport, neither did that USC grad/punk Jim Lampley whose real interest is in women's gymnastics while Max Kellerman is a 100% amateur I think more fighters & refs should take over the position. Mercante Sr was one of the best
He clearly had favortism , but he always brutally honest which i loved about him . So in that case , Yes i miss him .
They should only have Larry come in to say those awesome things he says just before the first bell... Cause Kellerman is just ****ing terrible But his commentary is extremely boring in his later years though, I don't miss that
Where were you in Larry's salad days,r, when it wasn't about hooks 'n crosses (just one more hack) but lifting boxing commentary to the likes of Red Smith 'n Bob Considine?