Who's the greatest boxing commentator of all time

Cheers buddy.
Just learnt about the passing of Frankie Lucas, there have been several reports in the past few years but this one is from BN so must be true, what a hard man he was, built up a fearsome rep while in the Amatuer ranks, many a fighter groaned when seeing Lucas as his next opponent, his fight with Terry Henderson is still talked about in hushed tones, one of the most brutal and uncomprimising Amatuer fights ever seen, he was no less relenting when he turned over, not very big, not a great boxer, but had an inteserty that burned, he was truly unafraid of any fighter remotely near his weight, well remember stopping of at a pub near Archway, with a gym in the back, and watching him spar, can't tell you how many times George Francis had to jump in the ring to calm him down, the most ferousis I saw him was when he spared with Lotte Mwale prior to Mwales challenge to Saad, time and again Lucas tore into the much heavier, bigger, stronger, Mwale no fear of reprisal this from a huge puncher like Lotte, Frankie Lucas one of boxing's hardest RIP.

 

Nothing original, I'll take Cosell, Emmanuel Stewart,Gil Clancy and Tim Ryan, Barry Tompkins and 2 names not mentioned.
Alex Wallau and Marv Albert.

 

my mom

cant watch a boxing match in peace without all her backseat comments including such classics as "oh my god he's got no chance" as well as the evergreen "they should stop the fight before he gets really hurt" in round 1

 

Yeh read about Frankie`s death about a month ago, so sad. He never had a great number of professional fights but it is a name i always remember from the past

 

Cosell was good but he was not impartial. You could always tell who Howard was for in his commentating, the early title bouts of Muhammad Ali's and a few other champions.

 

For the UK
Reg, Jim and Harry.

There was another ex boxer that commented a few times and was really good, I was thinking Robin Reid but not sure it was Reid but sure it was a Liverpudlian, Bellew maybe

 

Frankie's fight with Tony Sibson was a short but sweet thriller. I never had the pleasure of meeting Frankie but was acquainted with his two sisters,Anetha and Angela. Lovely girls.

 

I've heard him quite a few times now. Pretty good.

 

Perhaps not the very best, but I always enjoyed (and still enjoy) Tom Brookshier and Jerry Quarry. JQ boxed and sparred with many of the HWs he was commenting on, and was always friends with his former opposition, frequently interviewing them in the ring afterwards. Jerry was always very calm, California laid back, incisive during bouts, and very often accurate with his forecasts and predictions. A really intelligent dude until the pugilistica dementia began to kick in.

Colonel Bob Sheridan frequently has come in for harsh criticism, but he did nail one of the most legendary calls for perhaps the most important boxing revival bout ever, The Rumble in the Jungle. If Foreman had won, boxing would have remained moribund.

When Ali was interviewed upon resigning the WBA and linear HW Championship in 1979, one reporter asked him about saving boxing. He truthfully and thoughtfully replied, "I wouldn't say I saved boxing. I think I revived it though."

Take away Kinshasa, we don't have Ali-Wepner, which begat the entire Stallone Rocky franchise which continues to roll, and then the American boxing squad at Montreal may not have had quite the same impact.

Yes. Ali knocked out Foreman, but Bob Sheridan's accurate live call from ringside was certainly a part of that abrupt elevation of the sport to new and unprecedented heights. (Then, Jose Suckamain destroyed everything after Mancini-Kim while Pete Rozelle was doing everything with absolute perfection as the NFL Commissioner, and made the Super Bowl the biggest sports event in the world. What might the WBC and boxing in general have achieved with Rozelle as WBC Commissioner? I don't give any stick to Bob Arum or Don King in this respect because of how important they were in boxing's 1974-1984 revival.)

Speaking of Bob Arum, I thought he did a nice job as color analyst for Ali-Blue Lewis, working alongside Reg Gutteridge. As controversial as Arum is, I like his voice and delivery while behind a microphone.

Howard Cosell? Very good at turning a sports broadcast into an event. Love him or hate him, his departure from boxing after Holmes-Cobb was not good for boxing.

Mention for Steve Ellis of Theater Network Television. He nailed the live call in Lewiston, instantly picking up that the so-called "phantom punch," the right which dropped Liston, was indeed a substantial strike which many highly experienced ringsiders who clearly saw it also agreed on.

Larry Merchant, Jimmy Braddock ("The second right finished what the first had started"), Floyd Patterson, Jose Torres ("It was a perfect punch"), Jim Murray ("It was no 'phantom' punch"), Tex Maule ("It had so much force that it lifted Liston's left foot off the canvas"), Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano ("it snapped the last six inches and Liston walked right into it"), and George Chuvalo (who inadvertently confirmed Liston's nystagmus, also observed from ringside by Carroll L. Witten, MD, former Kentucky State Boxing Commissioner, the world's foremost expert in neural trauma in boxing) all supported the legitimacy of that punch, now very well confirmed by the enhanced footage. Gil Clancy stated that the exact same punch decked his charge Alex Miteff for the full count.

Again, Steve Ellis (a silver tongued but morbidly obese guy who died at just 50 in 1966) nailed that call live, but Jimmy Cannon's highly quotable "That punch couldn't have busted a grape!" is what took hold, spurring the false allegation that Liston took a dive. (Again, the enhanced footage clearly shows how sharply Sonny's head whiplashes back upon Ali's perfectly placed impact. Nobody can fall that instantly without actually being struck.) And in their first bout, he drove Liston back with a similar right with 40 seconds left in round 1. Then, 20 seconds into round 3, just as Steve Ellis says "Another jarring right hand," Clay unloads with the right which buckles Sonny and nearly decks him, driving him to the ropes and inflicting a big mouse under Liston's left eye. Clay's shots didn't look like much in Miami Beach either, but the damage he did to Sonny's face is an objective demonstration of Clay's power. Then, he does what he does in Lewiston because now he has the timing down.

Steve Ellis nailed the call for Liston I & II live, including instant accurate descriptions of Ali's power. The first and third rounds in Miami Beach must first be viewed before judging whether or not Ali's right was capable of doing what it did in Lewiston. (Again, Braddock said that first right probably did most of the damage. That punch also needs to be scrutinized carefully by skeptics of the "phantom punch.") Later, Frazier & Foreman who took many of Ali's hard shots also stated that what happened in Lewiston was legit. Again, Steve Ellis accurately called it live, and knew from their first bout how Ali could quickly hit and hurt Sonny.

 

My mum was the same. She detested violence and often did say a fight should be stopped upon the first serious exchange.

When I was a mere toddler, I remember my Mum (a petite lady) stepping in between a few street fights ordering a stop or she’d call the police..and they did stop. Beautiful woman, God rest her soul.

Then I have seen other women lust for the blood more than us guys.

Anyones blood, didn’t matter whose - blood simply had to spilt to appease them. Very nasty pieces of work.

 

Stu Nahan captured the magnitude and drama of Rocky Balboa’s failed challenge of Apollo Creed in their first fight.

 

I like Al Bernstein. I think his commentary and technical analysis were the best.. an he is a nice guy on top of it all.

 

Pity my mom never showed that sort of restraint when working me over with the hairbrush or wooden spoon

 

Many ordinary household items were repurposed as tools for punishment.

The old pants belt was another that I seem to remember more than any other from Dad.

Perhaps fair to conclude that women had a lot more “go to” weapons of choice - even for use on the hubbies. Can you imagine copping the old rolling pin?