One of my personal favourites was Leonard. He was great on commentary back in the 80s & 90s, & brought the smoothness & slick flare he had in ring to his commentary game. Jones is of course a fan-favourite of most when it comes to color commentarors. He oozed with effortless wit, charisma, comedy & knowledge like no other. He is perhaps (IMO) the BEST color commentator in boxing history. Now this may be unpopular, but I've always thought that Foreman was a GREAT color commentator. He was comical, gave insightful takes during fights (he was very good at giving technical breakdowns) & was a great presence at ringside. I never understood the criticism he got for his commentary. Who are your favourite color commentators?
It's a pity that boxing fans will never have the pleasure of listening to Bas Rutten doing commentary. This content is protected This content is protected
I thought Ken Norton always did a great job - very composed and articulate, and plenty knowledgeable. He was terribly underutilized during the Thrilla in Manila; Don Dunphy kept going to Flip Wilson and Hugh O'Brian for input. A comedian and an actor versus a guy who'd sparred dozens of rounds with one fighter, and actually fought the other. He may have had some insight ...
I always find that in writing and in there words fighters can seem or be wiser then they were in the ring.
Altough his career was cut short for the amount of time he was given Antonio Tarver was both entertaining and insightful.
He still is around...on ProBoxTV with RJJ and Malgnaggi. My list would include: Sean "The Champ" O'Grady Paulie Malignaggi Sean Porter
Maybe it's a nostalgia thing but I always like Sean O'Grady. I'll throw in Bobby Czyz, too, because he gets zero love and was actually insightful.
I used to love listening to Gary Mason (RIP), i thought he was funny as hell, his on air disagreement with Micky Duff when he said in the first round that Holyfield had already won this against Douglas, with Duff annoyingly growling back, its too early for that!!
I believe the best I ever heard was several years ago. There was a PPV on Would you know my cable went out. I was livid. Well at the time Randall Tex Cobb's wife was a reg on the boxing forum & saw my post. I was sat sulking when the phone went. Picked it up & a voice said " Congratulations you've won tonights star prize a color commentary on tonights fights Over to your commentator" The guy was great the way he described the action, it was almost like watching it. At the rounds end she said "what do you think of him" I said "fire Larry Merchant & hire him he's great who is it" She passed the message on & the loud Guffaw I heard was unmistakeable. It was Tex Cobb himself the first Time I'd spoken to him.. He was great did color commentary on all the fights & stayed chatting for ages after What a great guy. I said " Hey who's paying for this call" Tex said "The studios paying for it" He was filming making the movie where he played the tough biker cant remember the title . Tex would be fantastic at it What a great guy he was
It’s what us British call a pundit…normally an ex professional in a particular sport who assists the main commentator or presenter with his expert views and analysis.
"In boxing, the hare beats the tortoise"- Larry Merchant (After Mayweather Gatti) "The whale has been harpooned"- Larry Merchant (After Klitschko Johnson) "Chris Byrd has two punches - pitty and pat"- Larry Merchant