So true about Merchant. In my younger days, i agreed with Merchant but as i got older, i realized Merchant had no right to question a fighter's heart and whether he sacrificed enough to satisfy the fans. In hindsight, Merchant was very disrespectful to men who did something few had the balls to do.
As for Ward and Tim, i respect both as fighters but i think they are too redundant. Ward is definitely better though. I think a color guy like a Kellerman would be much more entertaining to replace Tim.
I get that in most situations, you want the person to have participated in said sport but Kellerman has been involved in the sport closely for decades and knows his history and stuff. He never tries to come across as knowing more than he does and leaves the techinical stuff to the fighters. I've always liked Max.
Ward and Kellerman have both been booted from ESPN. This content is protected This content is protected
I actually liked Merchant but you're right at many times he can be too brash with his comments as opposed to other analysists who are only harsh to fighters that they know they can get away with speaking down too like lower level fighters which is just as bad, Merchant was something that was refreshing at times unintentionally humorous & kept a good balance between the panel without being overly diplomatic just so fighters would like him back & pat his back, have to respect his honesty & he is missed.
Ward like Bradley are too biased with their favoritism, they are shameless & do it with a straight face.
Kellerman better than Bradley & especially Tesitore & Kriegal those two really need to go for years now, i'm assuming their relationship with Arum is what keeps them a hold.
Merchant is and was the GOAT of boxing analysts. To say he didn't know boxing is crap. He was around for decades.
I just want an option to hear what’s going on in the ring. I don’t care what announcers talk about and that goes for all sports. One time I tuned in to watch a Laker game and the angle was from the baseline right under the hoops. The only sound was the players talking on the court. Give me that option to hear that.