Howard Cosell - Yea Or Nay?

Both. I enjoyed him at times. His comarderie with Ali was fun. Other times his was an ass. The Holmes-Cobb thing was a joke. Don't lambast the sport after your meal ticket is gone. Definitely unique. He missed a lot of calls too.

 

He was entertaining at times, a bit verbose, bombastic and needless to say, a bit opinionated. He lent a bit of his own brand of color to so many of the fights he called back in the golden 70's, but in the end showed himself to be a self-glorifying, hypocrite wind-bag with his suddenly being appalled by the sport's violemce (after Holmes-Cobb), like all the many ko's and ass-whippings he saw in all the years up to then were "ok". He must have forgotten, during the night of the Holmes-Cobb fight, just what the sport of boxing was all about. He pivoted 180 degrees like a true prima donna "elite" thinker, not a sports reporter, and decided that the sport that provided him the forum that made rich was oh so barbaric and primitive in it's violence. Maybe if Larry Holmes had a cuter, more bubbly personality then Howie would have forgiven him the gratuitous violence and abuse that he piled on poor ol' Randy Cobb and ridden his coattails like he did Ali and Leonard in earlier, sunnier times.

 

Not that keen on him at all really.

 

A combination--He had the broadest background, being a lawyer, of any commentator and certainly could give an exciting blow-by-blow. On the downside, he could grab at a story like a dog on a bone and ignore anything else. An example was the Patterson-Ellis fight. Cosell jumped on the "Patterson wins in great upset and great comeback" angle in the early rounds and ran with it, ignoring that Ellis was holding his own and certainly could win in the end. The result was the creation of a distorted view that Patterson was robbed, when in fact the fight was close.

 

A combination of the two. Leaning more towards ass kissing Ali lackey though.

 

Not a chance. atsch :rofl

 

Yes, that's putting it well, "ass kissing Ali lackey". That's exactly how it plays today, "thru the prism of time". In other words, it ain't worn well.

 

I hated that piece of ****.

 

That's just what he was. You know he was only involved in the sport because of ALi and then Leoanrd before making a scene during the Holmes-Cobb fight, talking like it was some disgraceful mismatch. Howard had no such qualms about covering mismatches earlier in his day.

He had no real knowledge of boxing itself. I can't remember where I read the article but I was reading an interview with referee Arthur Mercante in which he was alongside Cosell at some fight.

Asking for Arthur's analysis of the action/fighters; styles, weaknesses, etc., between rounds, Cosell would then express those same ideas as his own in his analysis right in front of Mercante while he was still seated next to him proving that he had no shame and how ignorant he really was.

He really wasn't qualified to cover the sport and IMO most people covering it since have the same problem. They're not cut out for it proving it's not what you know but who you know/(blow?)

 

He was a good straight man for Ali. He had no business calling fights -aside from his excitement at times, he was generally terrible.

 

Cosell reflected "the Sixties" in a strange kind of way.

Rode in on Ali, then "down goes Frazier", and exited with Cobb-Holmes.

Rumor has it that Max Kellerman is his "love child".