If we compare the announcing of HBO & Showtime, I think it is clear that Showtime does a much better job.
Play-By-Play; While Jim Lampley may have more boxing knowledge than Gus Johnson, Gus actually talks about what is going on in the ring. Lampley spends more time talking about what is going on outside the ring and offers way too much petty psycho-anaylsis. Gus, though a little odd, builds excitement. After all, is there a better line in boxing that "nuts and guts folks!"
Color Analyst- Al Bernstein is far superior to Merchant or Kellerman. Bernstein is objective, describes what is going on in the ring, has a keen eye for telling moments or blows, and is totally committed to the sport of boxing. Merchant spends far too much time insulting the boxers he's watching and Kellerman is decent, but he's no Bernstein.
Color Analyst (Boxing guy)- Tarver over Steward and RJJ any day. RJJ telling Paul Williams to retire is the height of hypocrisy. Steward is decent, but he doesn't really add much: "the fight is going exactly as I expected". Tarver adds some really good insights, such as the way Juanma doesn't close up when fighting inside. While Tarver's English isn't that great and he messes up plurals and tenses, he consistently offers insightful observations while getting better at this job all the time.
At the end of the day, Showtime actually describes what is going on in the ring and they do it insightfully and with authority. HBO, while certainly decent, spend way too much time off topic and engaging in psycho-analysis that detracts from the actual excitement.
A good announcing team can make an exciting fight more enjoyable, while a poor announcing team can make an exciting fight less so. HBO needs to have a good long look at Showtime and start changing things up. IMO
HBO. And by days. I can hardly listen to Gus (who doesn't know **** all about Boxing) yelling "Where is this man? Where did he go?!?" round after round. He is a ****ing hack who is obviously a sports announcer more than a Boxing one. Tarver and Al are ok though. But Jim and Larry FTW.
You're right...the "where is juanma?" was grating on my nerves----though "NUTS AND GUTS FOLKS" turned it around
Bernstein is overrated to ****....decent dude, but he thinks he knows more than he actually does, and is close to lampley in calling punches wrong(as in calling a landed punch, that didnt or saying the wrong punch did damage)...he also starts calling the fight compared to his pre-fight expectations...the guy does love boxing though, so he is not bad....just not that great...
Lampley is great when he has no bias and/or he cares at least a bit for the fight(he can be pretty disinterested in some bouts....HBO as a whole is guilty of this....)
Tarver and RJJ are the best color commentators....obvious flaws because theyre not trained, but they bring insight and things only boxers of their caliber know...charismatic dudes as well.
Merchant can bust out greatness sometimes...but he is just too old/cranky now....sucks a bit of life out of the fight....and even more if his personal biases cloud his calling of the fight.
Kellerman loves boxing too, he just needs to stop trying so hard to appear hardcore...and as all of HBO, tone down the bias.
Gus Johnson tries too hard sometimes to be the exciting blow by blow guy, but his enthusiasm is good for the fights...he is only gonna get better....
I give the slight edge to HBO because of Lampley's voice....even when he is annoying as fu.ck(like Pac-JMM III), his voice is just the best. But SHO is up there...specially since they're not over-exploiting so called punch-stats yet...hopefully they keep like this and they'll surpass HBO as Tarver and Johnson get better.
I'd take SKY over both, but if you factor in the in-ring Audio, SKY loses a bunch of points...The sound of punches adds a lot to the broadcast...and HBO definatly has the best in ring audio(i still curse the fact that the only HBO fight where the audio was complete **** happened to be Angulo-Kirkland :nonono: imagine how more brutal that fight would seem if you could hear those punches properly....)
I voted even. I can't really pick who I dislike least. :D
But I do like Al Bernstein, and Tarver on Sho and Max Kellerman, Roy Jones, and Bob Papa on HBO. I can only take so much of Larry, Jim and Gus.
Gus Johnson was all-time bad when commentating Juanma-Salido. He was horrible the whole fight.
Just lets Al Bernstein talk and provide a few color commentary comments.
Gus was just awful.
Agreed, Gus was just horrible on Sat. He should just stick to MMA.
HBO. And by days. I can hardly listen to Gus (who doesn't know **** all about Boxing) yelling "Where is this man? Where did he go?!?" round after round. He is a ****ing hack who is obviously a sports announcer more than a Boxing one. Tarver and Al are ok though. But Jim and Larry FTW.
I'd say Showtime. HBO seems a bit stale now and Merchant just seems to complain about the fight. I wish Steward was as insightfull as Tarver, he does seem a bit dull sometimes. Bernstein is my favourite though. I didn't mind Teddy Atlas on ESPN apart from the fact I can't understand what he's saying a lot of the time.
Johnson can be a little much, but he's not bad. Lampley says "As if to say" more than anyone should commentating on a boxing match. Bernstein is my favorite out of all of them. Unbiased and tells it how it is. Merchant and Kellerman to lesser extent get on my nerves at times. RJJ and Steward always say "This is exactly what I though would happen." Even if it is, they need to offer more. Tarver is very well spoken and has very good points. But on HBO, it feels like an event. It doesn't always feel that way with Showtime.
The "Big Event" feel with HBO could be due, in large part, to the production values they bring to the table. HBO simply has more money to spend than Showtime.
Al Bernstein >>>>>>>>> Everyone else by far.
But I actually prefer the HBO team overall. Just their presence gives each event a "big fight" feel that Showtime lacks, even though they have been slipping in the last few years.
I don't like Gus Johnson doing boxing commentary at all. His boxing knowledge seems very limited and he was especially annoying on Saturday with his "when will the real Juanma show up?" spiel over and over. IMO he should stick to football, here is one of my favorite football calls of the last decade, courtesy of Gus:
(0:26)
Johnson can be a little much, but he's not bad. Lampley says "As if to say" more than anyone should commentating on a boxing match. Bernstein is my favorite out of all of them. Unbiased and tells it how it is. Merchant and Kellerman to lesser extent get on my nerves at times. RJJ and Steward always say "This is exactly what I though would happen." Even if it is, they need to offer more. Tarver is very well spoken and has very good points. But on HBO, it feels like an event. It doesn't always feel that way with Showtime.
showtime hands down.
gus annoys me, but everyone else on showtime acctually enhance the fight. steward and RJJ are the only ppl on hbo who do that. merchant, lampley and kellerman all suck more than gus do. i think merchant does it on purpose, nobody can suck that bad by accident.
showtime and sky are good, hbo are terrible. i usually look for a sky version when hbo air fights, atleast if merchant is working the card.
I really wonder about that. Consider the Pacquiao-Hatton fight- Lampley didn't even know Pacquiao landed a right hook. Watch the commentary from Sky Sports in the UK, those guys were incredible.
What are some of Jim's big moments, or memorable commentary lines in the clutch?
Oscar-Vargas and Foreman-Moorer come to mind.
Gus Johnson was complete sh$t on Saturday.
Some of the worst commentary I've ever heard.
OK? That is your opinion...WTF do you want me to do? Reply and try to convince you to like Johnson lol :nonono:
14y ago
Announcers- HBO or Showtime | BoxingScene Community