Tim Ryan and Gil Clancy were the Undisputed best boxing duo ever . My favorite announcing team and no one is even close!! Edit in that I liked Keith Jackson and Cosell on ABC also.
Naseem Hamed said that if he ever lost ,it would be because Allah wrote it...well one thing we’ve found out tonight is that Allah knows how to spell Barrera...B A R R E R A. - Jim Lampley
Dumphy. As another poster said: smooth delivery, NO ego whatsoever (we could use more of that today). And let the fight progress without needless interruptions...and allowed his second plenty of opportunities to chime in. (met him at the Johnson-Owens/Lopez-Bennett light heavy double header here in Indy, a gentleman) Sidebar: Don't put any credence to Bennett's 'victory' in that one; Yaqui decked him early and IMO was in route to an eventual stoppage until Lonnie headbutted him forcing the halt. Not sure of the actual rules but, if a fighter is ahead and gets butted what's the rule? Our dingbat 'Hoosier' ref obviously didn't know. Cosell. As Red Cobra said, he was the voice for many years, especially to me in those Sat. afternoon WWOS's title bouts. Note to youngsters on board: It seems like there was a Title bout around 4:00 Saturday in those days...every few weeks and...free! Howard's quotes are legendary! He had an ego but, in listening to him calling a fight, it was obvious he truly loved the sport!
Al Bernstein has never been given his propers. Sean O'Grady is also very underrated. Cosell was an act who put himself before the action.
Reg Gutteridge. Knew the game and had a wonderful turn of phrase. I remember the second Leonard - Hearns fight when Sugar Ray got dropped, he said ‘It’s like watching Bambi getting mugged.’ Quite liked Ian Darke on Sky Sports too.
Loved Darkey and he's what I look for in a play by play commentator. Great voice, memorable lines, always seemed happy as a pig in **** to be his position, and rarely if ever made the show about him. Compared to some of the later Sky commentators, he was far less of a shill. From the American commentators, Bernstein was my favourite. Very knowledgeable, no obvious ego, and avoided polluting the airwaves with moronic statements when he couldn't think of anything else to say. Gutteridge was brilliant, but I'd prefer to watch a fight with him rather than have him announce a fight to me. He wasn't a textbook commentator, and would sometimes wander off aimlessly on amusing tangents before remembering one guy was beating seven bells of the other and remarking "Oh...looks like he's done 'im, Jim!".
Howard Cosell, Steve Farhood, Jim Lampley, and Al Bernstein would be the four I'd pick. Cosell can bring a fight to live at any given moment. Controversial at times but great. Farhood is very objective and can be funny. Very knowledgeable. he knows his history too. Lampley is the best blow by blow guy around today Bernstien is a good journalists, I always felt he gave objective analysis. Don Dunphy knew his stuff, but his voice to me as an acquired taste
David Haye always gives some interesting insights. He was always a smart guy, when he wasn't focused on being an a55hole!
Watched Arguello-Escalera 2 yesterday. Cosell wasn't so great. He would have benefited from a sidekick.
Definitely not: Lampley (ridiculous cheerleader/company man); Ferdie (awful in too many ways to list); Cosell (basically an annoying caricature of himself; seldom insightful); George Foreman (spouts utter nonsense, terrible at assessing strategy or judging the momentum of a fight); Sugar Ray Leonard (vapid, phony, too much of a follower).