By Steve Kim
Jim Lampley was reportedly a bone of contention between HBO and Showtime as the fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao was being negotiated. Lampley has been especially harsh on Mayweather on recent episodes of 'the Fight Game' on HBO.
But on the night of May 2nd, Lampley will be calling the action from ringside with Al Bernstein and Roy Jones. Say what you want about him but he has been the defining blow-by-blow voice for this sport the past generation. A fight of this magnitude needed a Lampley on the call.
HBO stood firm on Lampley, which pleases his former HBO colleague, Larry Merchant.
"HBO did something like that with me and (Mike)Tyson. He wanted to dictate and they said - 'No, we're giving you a lot of money, you can't tell us...' etc and eventually he left HBO,'' Merchant said to BoxingScene.
"But in this case Mayweather is the biggest economic force in the game but that doesn't mean he gets every dot and comma in every contract."
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com
