From the blow by blow guys I like Jim Lampley, Joe Tessitore and Mauro Ranallo the most. When it comes to the analysts Emanuel Steward was the best. Roy Jones and Max Kellerman are also very good, despite the fact Max is unbearable these days. Also: Sugar Ray Leonard.
100% spot on!! Couldn't agree more--there's never been a better boxing broadcast team than Tim Ryan and Gil Clancy! (Their styles meshed perfectly and they always gave you a great call no matter who the opponents were.)
Another vote for Clancy/Ryan. But very high on my list are... Al Bernstein Manny Steward Sean O'Grady Roy Jones, Jr. Confused on my list is: Tim Bradley - I've heard great insights from him that only a pro fighter could provide... and I've heard absolute nonsense come from his microphone. Very Low on my List is: Joe Tessitore - Tries to make every fight into a video game. Tone it down, bro. Howard Cosell - Had no idea what he was talking about. And impossible to be any Lower on my List: Max Kellerman - Hell is listening to him commentate any fight with a non-American in it.
I grew up listening to Jim Healy doing the fights in LA and he will probably always be my favorite. I learned to actually watch the fights from him. He would say things like "the crowd cheered for that but it was caught on the gloves" and I learned to pay attention and see for myself. Ruben Castillo, doing the fights from the Forum was very good. After you fight Sanchez, Arguello and Chavez, you learn a few things and he had a great sense of humor. He did well even saddled with a moron like Chick Hearn. I had a weird sort of admiration for Jim Lampley. How could a man call fights for so many years and know absolutely nothing about boxing? His commitment to remaining ignorant and biased was impressive.
Ryan and Clancy are the best team ever no doubt. Jim Lampley-Corporate shill. Al Bernstein-HORRIBLE, always had an agenda. Manny Steward-Great overall but definitely had his biases. Sean O'Grady-EXCELLENT Roy Jones, Jr.-Good but def biased. Tim Bradley - HORRIBLE Joe Tessitore - not good. Howard Cosell - JACK ASS. Max Kellerman - fanboy TROLL. Al Albert-Biased troll. Steve Albert-pretty decent. George Foreman-GREAT Larry Merchant-good, but biased. Barry Tompkins-EXCELLENT
Hi Mike I definitely agree with you. Jim and the incomparable Reg Gutteridge were a great team. Harry Carpenter was good too.
Won’t go announcer by announcer and I don’t overall agree with some of these, but damned good shout on giving Steve Albert a bit of credit. He wasn’t ‘great’ but he was also NEVER bad imo and doesn’t get much mention because he never made it about him or delved into overhyping that I can recall. Better than ‘functional’ for sure … I’d lean to ‘pretty good.’ Also, Sean O’Grady was, indeed, excellent. As was Jerry Quarry.
Let's not forget how really good the pairing of the Fight Doctor Ferdie Pacheco and Marv Albert were. Just slightly below Ryan and Clancy.