Howard Cosell Quits Boxing 32 Years ago today

Cosell: Do you know how many good journalist there are in America?
Markson: One less than you think.

 

Cosell was the worst commentator on the sport I have ever heard.

 

I didn't mind Cosell, i could take him or leave him, it was time for him to retire anyways...

Cobb's corner should have stopped that fight:-( he took too much unnecessary punishment , that was Bullsheet!!

 

TV guide did a poll in the 70s most liked Tv personality and most disliked, Cosell topped both polls lol. The man was a magnet for attention and just as polarizing. I found him too arrogant and self absorbed for my taste but he was instrumental in solidifying the Ali mystic. Ali's popularity is beholden to Cosell to some amount.

 

Best post on this subject, says it all. One liked or hated Howard but they talked about him almost as much as the headliners he wrote and spoke of. Very few have the persona to have people interested enough to care one way or the other. Personally he made Monday night football and many fights more interesting then they would have been.

 

With all due respect, I personally believe it's the other way around. And as much as I dislike him, I believe the same applies to Ray Leonard.

 

Personally, I couldn't agree more

 

Absolutely. Those fighters made Cosell's legend. Not the other way around.

 

I agree, Ali/Clay had personality before Cosell attached himself to the big HW picture Cosell was just savvy enough to realize that with a great personality he could elevate himself. His problem was that he was such an ego maniac and suffered from such tunnel vision that he believed he made the story and without him there wouldnt have been a story.

His commentary was often biased and often deviated from reality in order to adhere to his script of what he wanted or hoped the outcome of a fight would be.

My favorite quote about Cosell comes from Irving Rudd. Someone once told Rudd that Cosell was his own worst enemy. Rudd spat back "Not while Im alive."

 

For a better or worse, he is synonymous with that era of boxing and his verbal sparring with Ali was amusing: "Cosell, that thing on your head is so phoney, it came from the tail of a pony!"

Always seemed to me that he didn't really have much grasp of the sport. I think Dunphy was much better. I enjoyed Tex Cobb's quip after finding out that he had made him quit: "Unless I find a cure for cancer, I could perform no greater service to mankind!"

 

Dang Tex was funny! I miss him being on the scene.

 

Me too

 

Maybe Tex could be a boxing announcer.I've heard he got a degree from Temple or something.

 

The hilarious thing is this fight didn't make Howard Cosell quit Boxing. He had already been told he was being taken off ABC Boxing coverage a month before. Cosell used it as an excuse in typical Cosell fashion. It was a lie.