Mine is Johnny Addie of New York City. So professional and brisk. No wasted words. No wasted time. He looked like a maitre d' in his tux. His delivery was classic New Yorkese. One word from him and you knew you were watching a fight from Madison Square Garden or St. Nick's Arena. His ring introductions had none of the flourishes of the latter day guys. He was all boxing business, not show business.
Jimmy Lennon, Sr. for me all day. Every fight he made seem so classy. Also throwing out nicknames he would come up with on his own that would stick (Mike 'Hercules' Weaver, 'King' Carlos Palomino). But moreso, because that man could announce a decision and would have everyone on the edge of their seat awaiting the victor, because he would keep the winner's name to the very last second. I have found him announcing decisions this way as far back as the early '60s. And it was probably even before that. So far ahead of his time. I was actually seeing guys like Chuck Hull and them in the '80s still announcing "...Ladies and gentlemen we have a unanimous decision. Your referee scores it 143-142 for Smith...." OK, Chuck, you can stop right there. We know who won now.
Today it's a thin selection. Jimmy Lennon I suppose and anyone who doesn't scream and yell with ridiculous looking hair trying to draw attention to himself rather than introduce the fighters in a professional manner. I used to love ole Chuck Hull, a pro.
Any announcer who repeated the surname of the fighter they were announcing. Ladies and Gentlemen - Lupe Pintor…Pintor!
Michael Buffer and Jimmy Lennon Jr. Those are some giant shoes for the new crop to fill after they’re gone. That Diamante guy is pretty terrible.
Diamante is all about a gimmick. "The fight...starts...now!" pales in comparison to "Let's get ready to rumble!" But its all about their schtick today. A lot like all those refs who were touching themselves in odd ways after Mills Lane did the touch-the-nose thing. I think if anyone scratched themselves inappropriately, everyone would think it's a new gimmick.
I grew up with Jimmy Lennon Sr. and I think his son is just about on par with him. They announced a lot in southern California and were and are fantastic with Hispanic names and in fact, Junior speaks the language fluently. They never bring attention to themselves and always make a concerted effort to pronounce the names correctly, nut just phonetically correctly.
Funny no one mentioned Marc Beiro, he used to do Tuesday night fights on USA I believe. Met him several times over the years. He was like Jimmy Lennon jr He'd come to the dressing rooms & talk to all the fighters to get all their information correct & get the right pronunciation of their names. I remember him in Fort Worth when a fighter named El Tehano Alex Rios came to the ring riding a horse provided by the local rodeo Marc also was wearing a Cowboy hat doing introductions. Sadly Marc had to retire due to the fact he was losing his eyesight.. He was a good announcer & a heck of a nice guy. I hope he's still around & doing good