Heh .. I don't realy hate max that much anymore, he looks like a ****er but that ****er knows a lot of boxing history for a guy his age. He has done some pretty good interviews too.
I will agree with you, the guy knows his **** and regulary puts guys like Lampley and even Lewis in his place, he caught Merchant once or twice and made him go silent for a few rounds as well, though he probably was just getting another refill on the Grey Goose vodka he normally has beside him, the night of the fights.:yep As far as the interviews are concerned, he's not bad, but he still tends to get overexcited when speaking with certain fighters. The guy has a long way to go before he can fill Larry "The Legend's" shoes.
-most inaccurate (Jim Lampley) -most annoying (Max Kellerman) -most biased (Larry Merchant) -least knowledgeable (Brian Kenny) All in all I love the HBO boxing production. Kellerman gets on my nerves a bit cause he used to be such an ass kisser....he was like the White Steven A Smith the way he sucked up to the fighters...but you guys are right, he has come a long way on HBO and doesn't annoy me as much as he used to . I've always respected him for his knowledge of the sport especially for such a young guy.
Max Kellerman. Unlike virtually any other analyst you could name, never worked as a boxing journalist or was a participant, and the lack of insight SHOWS.
Kellerman is annoying and two faced. remember the hatton castillo fight - one minute he is saying jlc was shot, next he is bumming hatton in the post fight interview duke mckenzie is just pure entertainment!
For me it's Larry Merchant by a landslide... He shows very little respect for the boxers, he is alway babbling on like the old man from Van Damme's movie "Kick Boxer" (you know the story of the Water Buffalo and the Butterfly; or was it a grasshopper... that kinda ****, only Larry is drunk half the time and makes no real sense)... Merchant is also way too biased for me, and when he is so obviously having one of those fights and still won't shut-up, I just mute the TV... I personally found it hilarious when George Foreman called him out. They disagreed about a boxers mentality in the ring or something like that, and George straight out asked him how many times he walked through the ropes and how would he have any clue what it feels like to be a boxer... Merchant was pissed, and that was the last time I saw "Big" George on an HBO Broadcast...
My main problem with Merchant is that if it isn't Gatti-Ward it ain't boxing for him. He doesn't realy seem to respect the sweet science, only wars.
A lot of fans are the same I haven't actually seen any of the Gatti vs Ward fights - are they really that great??
It's a tie between Teddy Aylas and Max Kellerman. Both are hoplessly biased against ANY Russian or East European fighter. They both annoy me very much.
Brian Kenny is annoying. For a guy that has opinions that stray all over the map he's outrageously ****ing sure of himself. He acts like anyone who has a different perception is certifiable no matter how thin his original viewpoint.