Howard Cosell

Hey Guys - try this experiment for me - Just for fun -

Look up the Forman-Lyle fight with the Cosell call and watch it first with the sound OFF...

Really watch it.

Then go back and listen to Howard's call of the fight.

How can a single person get something so wrong?

Now he was a great personality, good interviewer and decent human being - but he didn't know "Nuttin bout no boxin'!" And as a journalist he was "unprofessional" to say the least.

His great gift was that he could make a schoolyard scuffle between two hair-pullin girls sound like the clash of the Titans, but he had favorites, HUGE favorites -which is unprofessional bias and a cardinal sin in journalism- and his disrespect to Ken Norton (who once beat his beloved Ali) in person at ringside on national TV during that fight bordered on slander and verbal abuse.

In this day and time a stunt like that pulled on - Oh, lets say James Toney - would have earned him a well placed Bitchslap.

His opinions on the PEOPLE are interesting - on the boxing - hes a Joe Palooka :rasta

 

He had his faults, but it was something distinctive in his voice that made me pay attention.

 

Cosell blew hot and cold, but he couldn't be ignored, and many would argue that garnering attention is the name of the game.

He would not hesitate to say when a particular bout was a boring stinker. He was also very good at describing the difference between what we saw on the screen, and what was actually happening in the ring. If Cosell was announcing Mike Spinks/Eddie Davis, and we were to mute the sound, but leave the closed captioning on, we might have scored it as the judges did, in favor of Spinks.

Not only could he generate excitement and color where it might otherwise be absent, he could maintain calm when a partisan crowd was inappropriately excited at a dramatic looking punch which made a loud noise on contact, but was actually blocked. It's ironic that he's so closely associated with Ali, because many of his most memorable boxing broadcasts did not involve Muhammad. (And he did not broadcast many of Ali's signature fights live, such as the "Rumble in the Jungle.")

"Ellis is down! Ellis is down!" "Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!" Howard did a great job of conveying shock and surprise at the outcome of Foreman/Frazier I, despite accurately predicting the outcome beforehand. I felt that the his call of many bouts during the late 1960s and early 1970s was fine, even if he wasn't the expert on boxing that other broadcasters were. He was well spoken and easily understood, even when disagreeable and mistaken.

His call at the 1972 Munich Olympics was gold. His announcing of the Arguello/Navarrete mismatch in Puerto Rico was pleasantly conversant, as he soliloquied on the subtle nuances of boxing a southpaw from the orthodox stance. (Whether his information was correct or incorrect, he conveyed it in interesting fashion.)

By the late 1960s, Cosell had acquired a substantial amount of experience broadcasting boxing, so he did have a base of knowledge to draw on for the benefit of his viewers, where he had seen the participants competing before, for example.

His behaviour at the Holmes/Cobb matchup would have been significantly different, had that bout not been scheduled on a date which caused him to miss spending Thanksgiving with his wife Emmy. (He had hoped that the bout would end early, so he could catch a flight quickly enough to spend at least some time with her, but as the fight dragged on, and it became apparent Cosell wouldn't be able to leave quickly enough, he turned on the referee, the continued action, the sport, and ultimately his career. If he had wanted to be there, he would have been raving about Larry's skill and Cobb's toughness. The post-fight interviews might have been very good naturedly entertaining.

Of course, once he got going, he couldn't stop ranting, for the rest of his life. Perhaps boxing would have been better off if the Holmes/Cobb pairing had been scheduled differently. Cosell's departure from boxing may have been the beginning of it's departure from prime-time network television. (Did anybody notice how the CBS team of Tim Ryan and Gil Clancy, and the NBC team of Marv Albert and Ferdie Pacheco gradually faded away after Cosell left ABC? The days of network boxing competition were over, and Cosell's selfish bitterness over missing Thanksgiving with his wife fueled the dialogue over mounting opposition to boxing.)

 

I think Don Dunphy was the best. I always loved it when Dunphy would call a fight. He always impressed me with his low-key manner and his humble approach. He didn't let his ego get in the way of his work, unlike a guy like Ferdie Pacheco.

 

Don Dunphy was awesome,Cosell did bring drama,though.Read in a book of Cosell's,after he retired from announcing fights,Vince McMahon of the then WWF tried to get Cosell to do wrestling.Howard never heard of McMahon said no thankyou.According to Howard,McMahon got mad and said f--- you to him on the phone.

 

Don Dunphy >>>>

 

Clem McCarthy was pretty good announcing famous Louis and Dempsey fights, don't you agree?

 

My pick from the Yanks as well:good

Although personally I pick Reg Gutteridge, and Harry was not so bad with hindsight, at least he loved the sport.

 

Are we debating commetator's or announcers? If it's the latter, then the late, great Chuck Holt has my vote. Chuck was one of the few announcers who got straight down to business, announcing only info that the crowd & tv audiances needed to know, not meaning-less things they didn't.

Howard Cosell was a great commentator. I remember when Tyson was fighting as an amateur. Cosell couldn't beleive how explosive Tyson was for such a young kid.

 

Cosell was the best boxing announcer, PERIOD. What excitement!!
Frazier-Foreman!!!

 

Cosell Had Such A Flair For The Dramatic And A Distinctive Style And Voice,he Could Genuinely Hype The Hell Out Of An Event But He Was Never A Shill For That Event. Honest, Fearless And A Thrillto Listen To. There Has Never Been A Greater Or Exciting Announcer Period!

 

Cosell was an original the face of sports during the early years of TV. His odd voice and fondness for cliches and staunch belief in the validity of his own opinions made him a kind of surrogate uncle to millions. You know the kind of guy, the one at family gatherings that will drone on for hours about family secrets. Boring sometimes interesting occasionally repulsive but strangely addictive.

 

One more thing about Cosell to add. I got the impression that he really cared about the fighters in the ring and fully understood the risks that each man was taking. Cosell was also an honest man. He loved Ali but felt,.... no make that feared that Foreman might really hurt him. The Cosell and Ali interview about the upcoming Foreman fight showed both the brutal honesty and compassion of Cosell. I highly recommend watching it.

Cosell was a great addition to boxing. His sound bytes clips will echo in boxing eternity. The two that come to mind are that OHHH!, when Frazier landed that hook on Ellis, and the famous Down goes Frazier, Down goes Frazier, Down goes Frazier from one of the Foreman knockdowns.

 

My mom once recalled how she and her sisters used to gather around the radio for the Louis fights and listen to the McCarthy call...

 

Totally agree.