I missed the old HBO crew last night...

The HBO crew was amazing. Jim Lampley was a class act all the way, and Larry Merchant, even though he slowed down a bit towards the end, was still really good as well. And who can forget Harold Lederman getting so excited reading the official rules of the bout: "...including the twelfth and final round. JIM!!!"

 

100%. HBO did a far better job at covering the sport.

 

DAZN is like what O'Douls must taste like to recovering alcoholics, while HBO is the fading memory of a nice top of the line golden pilsner.

 

Best ever at covering boxing.

 

I was thinking the same thing last night. The commentators sounded like amateurs. I never liked Sergio Mora, but they keep putting him on.

 

HBO catered to true lovers of boxing. They knew that the big names would draw in the big crowds, but at their essence they wanted to capture the magic of the sweet science, and they did a tremendous job of it.

DAZN caters to casuals who are either exclusively into big names, or want to see some star building as well.

 

The team of Lampley, Merchant , and Foreman was the GOAT of boxing commentary.

 

The production values at DAZN are horrible. Looks like a regional sports broadcast. Where are the big lights surrounding the ring, the multiple camera angles, the professional crew.

I would get so hype when this started:

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The fight itself was a bust, but look at how they compiled archived footage to build up the intro to Wladimir vs Haye:

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I blame Game of Thrones.

 

The HBO crew was the absolute best.

 

Imagine how great Jim Lampley would've been last night? How much more exciting he would've made it and that excellent HBO production, great video and sound quality. I miss HBO boxing.

 

"OK JIM!"