So you think commentators just show up on the night of the fight and do their thing? Not legendary radio and TV commentator Don Dunphy. In his words: "Just as the fighters and referee have to be in shape to go the distance, so does the radio commentator. I was always very careful on the day of the fight. I found through experience that the worst thing I could do was to eat a big meal before the broadcast. If I did, I found myself gasping for breath after a few rounds. I took care of my voice, and especially my throat. I tried not to use them too much the day of the fight especially as the witching hour of 10:00 approached. I always carried my kickapoo juice* with me." "A good TV commentator will ask himself as the round proceeds 'Am I talking too much? Am I telling the audience what they already see?' The TV announcer should avoid doing a radio description on a TV show. Too many announcers do that. 'That's a right. That's a left hook. That's a left and right to the body.' That style is superfluous and annoying to the viewer, who can see all the action for himself. I would try and call attention to the effect of the blows which the viewer looking at his set may not notice." In preparation for a broadcast, Dunphy used to sit down with a stopwatch and simulate the broadcast of a round, describing the punches as he thought they would be thrown, movements of the fighters, clinches, the actions of the referee and so forth. He would do this in a moderate conversational style and then take a minute's rest, repeating the routine a couple of times. After that, he would do three one-minute rounds at about three-quarters of the pace that he would use during an actual broadcast. As the days went on, he would add a round to his daily session and he would speed up the action. Each day he would also have half-minute 'sprints', 15-second sessions during which he would speak as fast as he could, rest for ten seconds then repeat. I guess that this dedication to his craft is why he was among the very best in the business. *Over the course of his career, Dunphy's voice began to crack and a throat specialist prescribed a solution of honey, lemon and glycerine in equal parts. Dunphy used to take this concoction with him to ringside and had a swig of it whenever he felt rawness in his throat. It was his wife Muriel who began calling it kickapoo juice, and the term stuck.
Love that book. Dunphy illustrated perfectly what a good announcer should be. He stated that a radio announcer was important for visually bringing the fight to the fans. He chastised some television announcers for trying to apply this same principle because they were repeating what every person watching the fight could already see. It was redundant. If you listen to his radio broadcasts you can hear this immediately. He gave a rapid fire, accurate representation of the fight to the fans listening at home detailing nearly everything that was going on. On TV he followed a "less is more" approach to television announcing and basically just added color to the visuals by remarking on things that were happening in the corners, outside the ring, or nuances that fans at home might not be able to see or hear. There were often long silences during his television broadcasts broken only by the crowd or the sound of the punches. He would have gagged on Jim "bam bam bam" Lampley and guys like that who cant shut the f-ck up during a telecast and just let the fans enjoy it. Those guys feel a need to interject themselves in the action and its totally unnecessary. Dunphy hated being pared with a celebrity co-host as he was occasionally because they basically got in the way and detracted from the spectacle that the fans wanted to see: boxing. It drew away the focus. Now you often have upwards of four commentators all tripping all over each other with different opinions and takes on whats going on and half the time they can barely speak English (Atlas, Kellerman). Don Dunphy was the man.
I noticed that British television announcers generally talk a lot less on sports telecasts than their American counterparts. Another announcer who was in the "less is more" school was Jim Healy, who use to be on the boxing telecasts from the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles during the 1970s. Healy wasn't as fondly remembered as Dick Enberg, who was the announcer on the telecasts f the Olympic during the 1960s, but I think that Healy was competent and better than some of recent vintage. Among Los Angeles oldtimers, Healy is mostly remembered for his tremendous radio sports shows which were on for about 15 minutes at about 5 p.m. each weekday. Healy's radio shows were very fast-paced and filled with the latest sports gossip that he gleaned from his numerous sources. In contrast to what he did in his boxing announcing gig, Healy seemingly talked a mile a minute on his radio show. I have heard that Healy's radio show format was heavily influenced by Walter Winchell's. - Chuck Johnston
Interesting. Ive often wondered what happened to the old Olympic film collection. You find bits and pieces of it now and again but the bulk of it must be out there somewhere.
I can't give you a definitive answer about what happened to the Olympic Auditorium boxing telecasts collection, but I do remember that seeing films of bouts featuring fighters who were popular in Los Angeles on some Spanish language stations some years later. - Chuck Johnston
A lot of people did. I waffle back and forth on him. My favorite quote in regards to people who hated him was Irving Rudd when someone said in his presence that Cosell "is his own worst enemy." Rudd: "Not while Im still alive."