Showtime commentary team >>>>>> HBO commentary team

I used to think Tarver was perfect for the job, but the more I listen to him, he comes across as trying too hard and insincere. Jones on the other hand, comes across as a natural and gives good insight. Either way I can't stand Papa, Steward, and Kellerman so for me, its Sho > HBO on fights presented and commentary.

 

I prefer HBO by quite a bit, showtime comes across cheesy in their production and Gus Johnson sucks. Showtime guys are too negative as well, any casual fan tuning into a showtime fight would think every fighter sucks cause all Bernstein does is point out the negative even in an exciting fight like Johnson vs Froch last night all he could do was point out negatives of both guys instead of hyping the viewers up with excitement over a great fight with 2 all out warriors. Lampley and co would be hyping the **** of this fight as it happens and losing their minds on air which gets the casual fan base way more into it. Showtime come accross as boring boxing elitists whereas hbo come accross with more passionate announcing and excitement which is how itshould be cause like it or not the average viewer doesn't have the in depth boxing knowledge that many of us on here posess and could care less about the intricacies of Bernsteins negative commentary.

 

the HBO commentators come up with better and more memorable soundbites, the kind that would sound good in any boxing highlight video.

Showtime commentators do a better job of calling the fight albeit in a more straightforward no-nonsense way.

 

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Kellerman A "G"

 

I'll give you that: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uA8hcv1MzA[/ame]

 

I like Papa, Kellerman and Jones more

but like my dad said, usually when its Merchant, Lampley and Steward, you know it's a big fight.

 

I was going to post this.

 

Not a fan of Gus Johnson either, but he's getting better. Either way, Al Bernstein >>>>>> any other boxing announcer. Always calls it like it is. Farhood's great too.

 

:smoke
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEJ8qRDO9Ko[/ame]

 

Lampley's bias extends far beyond Pac or JMM. He wanted to have Jermain Taylor's children during the Hopkins fights.
He was so pro-Barrera in the Hamed fight I couldn't stand it. And I hated Hamed like I'd never hated a boxer before, but I couldn't stand listening to a commentator shamelessly root for someone, even if it was the guy I was rooting for. That was the first time I turned the sound off during a fight, and I've done it several times since then.

Merchant sometimes tells it like it is, but sometimes lets his emotions get in the way too. LIke when he chastised Hopkins for calling out a smaller man in DLH, then turning right around and picking DLH to win just because Hopkins embarrassed him on TV with the famous "don't be ignorant Larry" quote.

He also made himself look like a fool in the Harding-Tarver fight just because he and Harding are both from Philly.
Harding was getting a major beatdown, and the ref asked him, after the second or third KD, if he was alright. He answered, "I'm from Philadelphia."
Merchant mistook that for some sort of city pride in the toughness of Philly fighters, and went on and on about it. When actually it was a case of Harding not knowing what the **** was going on, which was clear to everyone but Marchant.

 

Lampley was nuthugging Barrera alright, but how could you not, the man was giving a brutal clinic as the underdog against an undefeated athletic phenom. He'll get excited over any upset, and doubly so when it's an elite fighter in a career-defining moment. And how could you not love Larry's blatant old-man bitterness.

As far as the rest goes, I suppose that the commentators are biased, but they are biased because they engage the fighters, they engage the sport on a personal level, and so they're honest about what they think, just like all boxing fans and professionals do to some extent. It may show and favor a fighter at times but at least it brings the athletes of the sport to light. It's not like they abandon all objectivity and start cheering for a fighter or making excuses for them no matter what. They get excited, they get offended, they get attached, and they call it like they see it from their emotionally charged but still expert perspective. They embody the passion that is the sport of boxing, while still providing a broad array of technical commentary, unafraid to disagree with the establishment or each other.

The HBO team feels like home for so many for these reasons exactly.

 

:rofl:rofl:rofl:rofl I have never seen this!!!!

 

To each his own I guess. I could handle Merchant and HBO if only Jim Lampley didn't exist.

As for Showtime. I think Bernstein is excellent, but people are right when they say he isn't too exciting. I think the best boxing commentator out there is Ian Darke. He's got some class and is objective, like Bernstein, and much more exciting. You get the best of Bernstein and Lampley with him.