Underrated boxing commentators

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by Saintpat, Apr 21, 2020.


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  1. Saintpat

    Saintpat Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Everyone has their obvious favorites (give me Tim Ryan and Gil Clancy any day, all day and every day) and those they hate (Jim Lampley seems to have a lot of detractors, as did Howard Cosell — although that wasn’t limited to boxing with him).

    But who are some guys who in their time did a fair amount of boxing commentary for television (color or play-by-play) who never got a lot of credit?

    A few of mine:

    Sean O’Grady: A fixture on USA Network’s Tuesday Night Fights, former lightweight champion O’Grady always IMO gave good insight into the mind-set of boxers as well as expertise on what it takes to win or what a guy was trying to do game plan-wise.

    Chris Shenkel: Longtime staple on ABC’s Wide World of Sports, Shenkel did PBA bowling for decades and was as at home doing the Kentucky Derby or an NFL championship as he was with bowling pins. He didn’t do a ton of boxing, but did enough — especially undercard fights (often lighter weight world championships) on huge prime-time cards where Cosell would call the main events. Chris was conversational and always made me feel like we were watching the fight together in a living room.

    Dan Dierdorf: A great football player, he was a perfect complement to Alex Wallau on ABC for years. You expected him to be a bombastic John Madden type, but he was actually very analytic and cerebral as a color guy. Always did his homework and I thought he always brought his A game.
     
    Saintpat, Apr 21, 2020
    Saintpat, Apr 21, 2020
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  2. salsanchezfan

    salsanchezfan Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Alex Wallau, to go along with Dierdorf.
     
    salsanchezfan, Apr 21, 2020
    salsanchezfan, Apr 21, 2020
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  3. Clinton

    Clinton Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Always liked Bernstein
     
    Clinton, Apr 21, 2020
    Clinton, Apr 21, 2020
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  4. Pugilist Specialist

    Pugilist Specialist Active Member banned Full Member

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    Tommy Morrison only did commentary for 1 fight card I think. Can anyone give me a link to that?? I imagine he was an outstanding analyst
     
    Pugilist Specialist, Apr 21, 2020
    Pugilist Specialist, Apr 21, 2020
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  5. young griffo

    young griffo Boxing Addict Full Member

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    I’ve always liked listening to Jerry Quarry’s special commentary. Always calm, insightful and honest, and he had a voice that was easy on the ear too. I wish he’d stayed retired in the early-mid 70’s and stuck to that instead. Maybe he’d have had a long and lucrative media career and been spared the health issues that his latter career beatings caused him.
     
    young griffo, Apr 21, 2020
    young griffo, Apr 21, 2020
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  6. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    Rocky Marciano was excellent.
     
    mcvey, Apr 21, 2020
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  7. Reinhardt

    Reinhardt Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    I thought Ryan and Clancy were the gold standard for announcers
     
    Reinhardt, Apr 22, 2020
    Reinhardt, Apr 22, 2020
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  8. zadfrak

    zadfrak Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Barry Tompkins hasn't been mentioned.

    I prefer his call to the later on Lampley HBO calls. And he kept busy after the HBO release.
     
    zadfrak, Apr 22, 2020
    zadfrak, Apr 22, 2020
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  9. young griffo

    young griffo Boxing Addict Full Member

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    He has his critics but I like Don Dunphy actually. Doing a fight call on your own can’t be easy but he did it for a long time and his enthusiasm and love for the sport really shine through for me.

    Cosell by contrast whilst having a great flair for the dramatic always gave me the impression that he thought he was the star of the show and not the fighters. Dunphy doesn’t do that for me.
     
    young griffo, Apr 22, 2020
    young griffo, Apr 22, 2020
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  10. young griffo

    young griffo Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Gil Clancy is one of the best ever and most rate him as such so he’s probably technically not underrated.
    Still he was classy, knowledgeable, totally without ego and a joy to listen to.
     
    young griffo, Apr 22, 2020
    young griffo, Apr 22, 2020
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  11. Xplosive

    Xplosive Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Tim Ryan.

    Much much much better than Lampley EVER was. And just about on par with Barry Tompkins in the 80s.
     
    Xplosive, Apr 22, 2020
    Xplosive, Apr 22, 2020
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  12. steve21

    steve21 Well-Known Member

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    I thought Ken Norton did a good job, believe he did the commentary for the Thrilla bout with Don Dunphy ... unfortunately, Flip Wilson and Hugh O’Brien were ringside also, and Dunphy kept going to them over Norton. I really wanted to hear Ken’s input, having fought Ali twice at that point and served as a Frazier sparring partner - he had insight and would have added a lot
     
    steve21, Apr 22, 2020
    steve21, Apr 22, 2020
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  13. Saintpat

    Saintpat Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Good stuff fellas.

    Agree on Norton being really intelligent and insightful, shame he was on commentary so infrequently.

    Dunphy was marvelous and old school: let the fight tell the story. I was watching something he called not too long ago and he went like 45 seconds to a minute go without saying anything (and this wasn’t when nothing was happening), then said like two sentences that went along with what had happened, then let another 30-45 seconds of action go without commenting. And it just felt right.

    Tompkins is another really good shout: so good most people don’t know who he is.
     
    Saintpat, Apr 22, 2020
    Saintpat, Apr 22, 2020
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  14. Marvelous Marvin

    Marvelous Marvin Gil Clancy Enthusiast Full Member

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    I always enjoyed Sam Rosen on his MSG network fights with Clancy. John Condon was good on Garden bouts too.

    Tom Brookshier had his flaws but came across to me like a genuine boxing fan and in big moments his excitement always seemed authentic. Almost everything he said was in the form of a question, which I always thought was funny.

    Ken Norton and Larry Holmes were solid colour commentators as well.
     
    Marvelous Marvin, Apr 22, 2020
    Marvelous Marvin, Apr 22, 2020
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  15. young griffo

    young griffo Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Agreed on Don Dunphy knowing when to use silence to let the fight do the talking.

    Compare that to a motor mouth like Colonel Bob Sheridan. I just rewatched Cotto-Mayweather and Sheridan didn’t shut the **** up about how awesome Floyd was for the entire fight. It totally took away the enjoyment of what was actually a decent and competitive fight. I can’t stand Sheridan and don’t understand how anyone could like him.
     
    young griffo, Apr 22, 2020
    young griffo, Apr 22, 2020
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