is Andre Ward gonna be a permanent commentator for HBO?

He is worse than RJJ.
I would prefer just Max and Lampley by themselves. I don't even like Max that much!

 

He got controversially picked over Roy for a commentating gig once and the vast majority of fans hated it. Then the second time round he punched Roy in the nuts and took his jaaaaaawb.

 

Put me to sleep in and out of the ring lol

 

I hope not

 

As much as it annoys me when Jim Lampley kisses Roy's ass for being great in the 90s or when Roy starts boasting about himself I have to admit that I like Roy more. It's even more grating the way that everyone in the commenting team tiptoes around Ward's record and doesn't even mention all the controversial stuff with Kovalev. They must have orders from higher ups to squash that kind of talk 'cause it hurts their brand, just like they won't mention other great fighters on Showtime.

I wouldn't assume that Ward is a permanent fixture but he's already been a regular for years. It's a pattern. HBO needs a former famous boxing pro for the color commentary. That spot was filled by Sugar Ray Leonard for a while. Not sure when they started using Roy, but Ward is basically the next generation edition of this thing they're doing. They had to skip over Floyd because he ran to Showtime years ago, had a criminal record, and was always tripping over his mouth when he talked; but the pattern is there. Tim Bradley on ESPN and Paulie Malignaggi on Showtime are just pale imitations. Maybe, a few years from now Crawford or somebody will replace Ward. I doubt that that position has the same kind of job security that Lampley, or Larry Merchant enjoyed for decades.

Just looked it up because I couldn't remember who filled the position after Ray Leonard left: George Foreman, Lennox Lewis, and sometimes Emmanuel Steward. It's not just enough to be a great boxer. You also need serious skills on the mic, conversational skills which many top boxers are lacking. GGG could probably do it, if he spoke English that is.

I wish I spoke Spanish sometimes so I could hear what JCC or Barrera are saying when they do commentary. I wonder what station they do it for. Box Azteca? Who does the commentary for HBO Latino? Who the **** is Chon Romero? Oh, he's the guy who used to run the Latin American version of Ring called Guantes. I guess that's kind of like having Bert Sugar commentating if he were still alive.

 

i actually don't mind him on commentary , roy is getting old

 

Roy took too many punches and it comes across and Ward is just somewhat annoying without having that excuse. I'll probably take both over Hopkins, though.

 

He will be the low blow by blow commentator.

 

Ward isn't terrible, but I prefer Roy.

 

I prefer kovalev commentating

 

As much I don't like his game in the ring, Ward isn't that bad at commentating. He will most likely get better at it as well.

 

FFS it's now worse than when he actually fought. Just knew this guy would never go away without some SJW executive shoving him down our throats similar to how that Beastie Boy Max verbally fellates him every show.

HBO's product keeps getting worse from every possible perspective.

 

Kellerman: Shades of your DEVESTATING body attack against Kovalev, Andre.

Ward: Yes.

Kellerman: Andre! Look at that! He threw a jab but its nothing like yours, the one you hit Kovalev with.

Ward: Yes.