Commentators

The Showtime announcers show less bias overall in my opinion. Bernstein is also a top-notch analyst and knows exactly what is going on inside the ropes. HBO, on the other hand, creates excitement and they are personalities. I like 'em both for different reasons.

If I got to sit down and talk to one of them about boxing, I'd choose Bernstein.

 

im a fan of HBO.. they get into the action more than SHO

 

Both.

 

It used to be HBO's team of Lamps, Merchant, and either Jones or Foreman by a mile.

Now with addition of Max & LL.... HBO has gone down big time.

Showtime used to be horrible with Csyz, and the Pacheco :twisted:
But they improved with Bernstein.

Right now I would say its a tie.

 

Lately I find the HBO commentators nothing but crap. They think they are risen to a godly spot where they can't be criticized.
They have gained so much of a celebrity-status that it has gone to their heads and they think whatever they do will be fine in a lazy manner.
-Lampley is full of **** and showing a lot of bias (calling punches which aren't even landing or landing cleanly and telling selective stories).
-Lewis is more often on the air to praise himself and his career and can't really talk in details about styles, fighters etc at the lower weight (though his remarks on heavyweights are ofcourse spot on). He also never goes against the crew (probably scared to run in a argument/conflict and get fired).
-Kellerman is more of a kiddy fanboy than a commentator (although sometimes he can get in good legitimate questions which nobody dares to ask).
-Merchant is thinking that the more puzzled and fuzzy/drunk he's talking, the more high-intellectual and impressive it will be. He also lacks the ability to see (and appreciate) the tactical side of a fight and thinks every boxing fight not ending in a war is crap.
-I only like Emanuel Steward, but lately he hasn't been predicting as accurately as RJJ was doing in his day (who was predicting almost spot-on).
-Lederman is a great judge. He has an annoying voice,...but the man is really good at scoring with often very good remarks. He's probably the best right now (which says how low the hbo crew has sunk).

The showtime crew are more down to earth as non-celebrities and are simply calling what they see without bias or one-man show dialogs. They let the fight be the main event instead of the commentating or their own personal vendetta. They also have a better pre-fight strategy analysis with those modern draw-screens.

 

I live in Australia, so we never get Lederman etc you watch HBO on the net.

Col Bob Sheridan is awesome.

 

i also hate lederman but i also can't stand Bernstein and his bias


I like HBO way more tbh

I like Lampley, Roy Jones, Larry Merchant, Lennox Lewis

 

I can't stand Harold Ledermann.

Al Bernstein is extremely biased, always has been. He hates Mexican fighters and Euros to the extreme! I am not happy with most of the commentators.

 

he usually does very good analysis but his objectivity like u said can be questioned. he had his head so far up peter's ass in peter-mccline, i swear u would figure he was on king's payroll.

his partner, however, is downright awful. Steve Albert is awful at blow-by-blow. He always gets the action wrong and talks way too much. he sees puches that don't really land :blood

I remember in round 3 of Peter-Mcclin he said there was great "give and take action" lol mccline was mopping the floor with the goat herder. he was on ***** street

worst boxing announcers/analysts: Joe Tessitore and Steve Albert hands down :nod

 

I'm not a big fan of his announcing (didn't tell him that though ), but he's a nice guy in person. When I was in Boston on business, I walked past him on the street and talked to him for a few minutes. He just told me a little bit about the WNF card (with Mike Oliver) and we talked about the current scene a little.

 

Exactly, HBO can be more fun. As much criticism as Lampley and Merchant have recieved, those guys simply have their place. Lampley, when not cheerleading makes a fight very fun to watch, so I generally have always liked Jim Lampley and don't think he should warrant much criticism outside of the biased stances on Jones, Barrera and DLH.

Merchant used to be a good commentator, he's knowledgable, but now he's just a comedic factor, a sour, old drunk who says awkward **** at the right time.

I'm liking Lennox more and more.

Steve Farhood is a good commentator and very knowledgable, but he's also pretentious and comes off a *****. I can stand him, I prefer him to Teddy Atlas and some others.

Steve Albert is a good commentator, but lacks knowledge bigtime.

Atlas is obnoxious, obviously has a lot of knowledge, despite always being wrong and he can't score a fight to save his life. He's also an attention ***** and totally annoying to listen to as he's an uneducated former hoodlum.

.........................

Now onto Al Bernstein, my personal favourite commentator -

* Probably one of the most knowledgable boxing journalists of all time

* Always unbiased, very classy and professional.

* Nearly always calls it as he see's it, I've rarely had a problem with his analysis and he gives an excellent analysis.

* Lastly, presents information in a way that would make sense to a casual fan, but would also give insights to a purist fan.

Al Bernstein is by far the best commentator in the sport today and Kellerman needs to **** off!

 

LOLz - I always find amusing reading the barrage of posts on this board and others after fights that nearly always bemoan Lederman's cheerleading, Merchant's dry and brutal analysis or George Foreman/Lennox Lewis/Max Kellerman's failings.

For Pavlik Taylor II we got Doug Fischer from m a x b o x i n g, Ray Mancini for the Youngstown angle, a hispanic reporter and the colourman and they all worked really well together.

You know - The volume control is an awesome thing, turn it down if you hate those guys so much! sheesh! :good