Why did Lampley and Foreman fall out?

They were never really a good match on the screen imo, though Foreman would say some funny stuff every once a while. I was looking through some old videos and heard a few things that made me wonder why they didn't like each other (seemingly) and if there was a specific incident that occurred. Do you know what happened and why? Don't know how valid it is but this theory is interesting enough. http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12342946#post12342946

Lampley, Merchant and Foreman were the best trio ever and provided plenty of entertainment and laughs -The referee is going to be the most important person in the ring tonight besides the fighters (During Roy Jones Jr vs John Ruiz) -Generally when there's a lot of smoke... there's just a whole lot more smoke. -He broke his legs. His legs are broken (During Lewis-Grant, Grant gets up seconds later and continues to fight) Foreman: Look at De La Hoya's shoulders Lampley: What about them? Foreman: Look at them. They're massive. Foreman: Antonio Tarver is just as fast as Roy Jones Lampley: Oh I don't know about that Foreman: Oh yes he is, with that uh straight left hand...(followed by awkward silence) -Roy Jones is playing the feinting game and Griffin is benefiting by it (Seconds before Jones knocks him out) -Oh you better look out for those rich guys. They eat Caviar but they sure are tough. I wouldn't mess with those rich guys. (During De La Hoya-Vargas) -All he needs is one big punch (Every single HBO broadcast) -Hopkins is tired now. His back just touched the ropes. (During Hopkins-Trinidad) Foreman: You gotta admit, we're watching this great fight and it was Larry Merchant, who never stopped talking about the rematch, that's why the fight is happening Merchant: You think I brought in these 13, or 14 thousand people George? Foreman: Oh yes you did (While Barrera-Morales go toe to toe in the 12th round of their second fight) -Go get me a sandwich and sit down (To Teddy Atlas) Foreman: These guys are big for middleweights Merchant: They're light-heavyweights George Foreman: Light-heavyweights -I have De La Hoya and his piston like jab winning hands down (While DLH is clearly losing to Mosley) -He should punch him in the chest, saps all of your opponents energy away (Every HBO broadcast) Lampley: Can you believe Jack Mosley is telling his son he is winning the fight Foreman: Oh yes he is (During the last round of Forrest-Mosley 1) -Torres can take Cotto's best shot (second later Cotto knocks Torres down) -Oh there it is! He's been looking for that punch all night (Camacho lands a soft left hand against De La Hoya in the 12th) Lampley says something like "come on George" Lampley says something like Hopkins doesn't look to be tiring Foreman: Oh yes he is Lampley: What are the signs Hopkins is slowing down? Foreman: He went back to the corner and laid his legs out, Trinidad is still sitting in a upright position -De La Hoya has a better jab than Quartey (While Quartey peppers De La Hoya with the jab) -You never follow a puncher (Every single HBO broadcast) -Jones can beat any of these heavyweights. I don't care if their 6 foot 12 (During Jones-Ruiz) -Believe me, Lewis is hurt right now (Seconds later Lewis knocks down Ruddock) -Shane better be careful he doesn't get intimidated by those trunks. Sometimes you see a guy with trunks like that and you go wow (During Mosley-Stone, Stone is wearing tiger print trunks) -Barkley can still turn it around (After Barkley had lost 10 rounds to James Toney) -Ledwaba is a master boxer, he should use it to his advantage and box (a few rounds later) Sometimes you cant rely on your boxing abilities and fight the guy (During Pacquiao-Ledwaba) -All this backing up that Hopkins is doing saps his strength and you need all of your strength against a puncher like Trinidad (In the 10th round after Hopkins dominated the whole fight) -Oscar's jab is much better, much sharper. Everyone talks about this great jab Quartey has, I don't see it (Even though Quartey is winning the early rounds of their fight) Foreman: I don't like the way the sweat is rolling off Jones head Lampley: What don't you like about it? (Clearly confused) Foreman: It's just rolling off...pitifully (During Roy Jones vs Eric Lucas) Great post! :biggthump Though I may not agree with all of your editorial comments, I do agree that this trio remains my favorite and with Ray Torres as Spanish translator. Even when George is full of sh1t, he's still funny as hell and during the brawl that followed Bowe/Golota 1, I'll bet Jim and Larry were both happy he was around.

Did anyone see Lampley crying in the Tribute to Gatti vs Ward special on HBO? Such a phony.

dude, the reason why muslims are so sensitive about religious satire is because they havent GROWN THE FVCK UP about religion due to the fact that islam compared to the other religions like christianity are still relatively young. Islam came after christianity and they havent evolved that religion. Where islam is right now is where christianity was during the inquisition. Hateful, war mongering, sensitive to any talk challenging the religion. They havent evolved to where christians are that if insulted by some comedian or comedy show they understand its satire and they dont ask for heads to roll. LITERALLY. That's what passage of time through evolution and development do. Just look at all these muslim nations, the only ones that have made any progress are the ones that have oil. the rest are poor third world countries still stuck in the stone ages. & the ones who have oil dont even let their women drive. There's a reason for that. Christianity doesnt have greek god backgrounds. You dont see baptists and catholics killing each other. The most these christians orgs do if they are insulted by a comedian like maher is protest peacefully or ask for firings via litigation. They dont bumrush embassies because southpark made a jesus skit. Clearly, theology isn't your strong point. But please, feel free to enlighten. . .

His adrenaline was pumping. It was razor sharp & beautifully executed... THE LAST 12 ROUNDS WOULD SUGGEST THAT ALLAAAAH KNOWS HOW TO SPELL BARRERAAAHH... B A R R E R A... :lol1: Look, this was one single remark after a great fight, which just before the bell included Hamed staring into the camera, rubbing his religion into people's faces. I think I'm also correct in saying that Hamed was favourite going into that fight. It was a massive deal when he lost, and because of Hamed's arrogance, a lot of people were happy, maybe Lampley included. Hamed claimed he would win because it was the will of 'god'. HE said that. Lampley turned it around on him. Hamed opened himself up to those kinds of comments. No no, answer the question - how do you know Lampley was thinking Hamed's religious ramblings were obnoxious? Just because Lampley said what he said, it doesn't necessarily mean that he's against religion being brought into the ring, it's just that he made a real witty comment in response to Hamed doing just that (bringing his religion into the ring with him). Lampley's comments were not anti-Islamic. Lampley, although making a razor sharp, witty comment, actually made a very good point - Hamed said he's win because it was the will of 'god'... but he lost. So what does that mean? That 'god' was on Barrera's side? This is actually really good point. I'm of the opinion though that 'god' is not on anyone's side & that if there is a 'god', I think he really doesn't give a sh*t about two men punching each other in the face... especially considering there's millions of starving children around the world, and their situation doesn't get much better as the years pass. And Lampley made those comments during the Hamed vs Barrera fight which took place in 2001, BEFORE 9/11. If you went up to most Westerners and asked them about Islam, they couldn't tell you a thing about it. So this was before any anti-Islam sentiment in the West. And there's no such thing as 'Islamophobia'. A phobia is an irrational fear of something. There's nothing irrational about fearing Islam (or any other religion for that matter). It's a very healthy fear to have, if you're a non-Muslim, homosexual, apostate, atheist, woman etc etc. I agree, all religions are not mocked equally. Christianity is mocked far more than Islam is in the West. Right, so in other words, you made a bullsh*t statement, I called you out on it, and it's been exposed for the bullsh*t that I knew it was. When was Holyfield's religious ramblings "lauded"? Answer: never. Yes it did, since youtube came about. That video has nearly 1 million views, and the comments section is full of people mocking him. But of course if it was a video of a Muslim fighter rambling about how much he loves Muhammad, with the video getting nearly 1 million views and loads of mocking comments, you'd say 'LOOK! ISLAMOPHOBIA!'. You didn't read many of the comments. This is what the majority are like... The best interview ever! When Gawd involved and Jesus alive...spirits, holy ghost. ***** god damn!***65279; The concept of thanking God for beating another man senseless in a prize fight alludes me...***65279; this is what happens when you start believing in fairys***65279; What a retard , god , god , god , thats the only thing he talks about .***65279; Yeah Evander, because God really gives a **** about your ****ty boxing match.. I mean it's not like there is immense suffering and injustice going on in the world every day. Talk about ****ed up. Yup, that's the mind of a religious person. Because he rambles on and on about a non-existant god. God is god and how god told me to and god said lo I am the god for only god is the one and only true god which fills me with the true spirit of god. $500 says he can't do and interview without saying God God is a flying spaghetti monster. Your argument is invalid. LOL Muslims say that sh*t all the time. What do you think 'la ilaha illa Allah' means? Did you even hear what Hamed said before the Barrera fight? He said 'Allah you are the only god'. No different from what Holyfield said. The entire religion of Islam is based on the idea that 'allah' is the only true 'god' and that those who believe in him & accept Muhammad as the final prophet will go to heaven, whilst everyone else will burn in hell. Christianity is the same too (in regards to Christians going to heaven, whilst everyone else goes to hell). Religion IS bigotry. It creates an 'us vs them' mindset. Oh man you're such a disingenuous turd. 1 minute into the video, the interviewer says quite clearly that he hopes god is here for ALL OF US, then says 'let's get off that, let's get onto boxing'. And Lampley didn't "challenge" Hamed on anything. It was a comment made during the commentary, not during an interview. That's not a 'challenge'. Was Ali hated for his religious beliefs? Well he's not going to come right out and say sh*t like that, is he? :pat: And how the HELL do you know who he associates with?!?!?! Hamed said he'd win because it was god's will. That's Islamic supremacy. Pretty damn 'fundamentalist'. Haha. If your gonna go all Ad Hominem then I'll return the favour. Either you're flat out trolling, which I not only suspect but I hope that you are. . .or. . .your ability to comprehend what has already been written and then structure a logical counter argument has been impaired, maybe through the smoking of high end PCP, or too much masturbation, or ingesting your own faeces, or maybe it was non-existent in the first place. I don't know which, I'm not your district nurse. Either way, your long winded psycho-babble is so shot-to-sh*t with fallacy, illogical statements and inane questioning that it doesn't warrant a response. Now I know that I may of encouraged you, I thought we were going to engage in an adult conversation so I chucked you a cookie to chew on. When, like a mangy chimp in it's drab enclosure, you took that cookie and fingered it up your own arse like a biscuit suppository, I realised that I'd made a mistake. Clearly, you don't get out of your basement room much. You've not been socialised. You're lacking the prerequisite skills to function on a human-to-human basis. But that's alright, 'cause I'm gonna leave you to do your thing. Now I envision you sat there grinning with your own sh*t smeared across your face waiting anxiously with pride to show your Mum that you've done yourself another doody. That you're a big boy now. And as I'm backing away from the stench of your pitiful argument you're gonna cry to your Momma, who's languid titty you still suckle on, "Mooma - I done won an argument! He gone left der room!". And she's going to smile knowingly, like all good mothers should, and I'll give her a little wink as I leave your fetid spot and you go back to clowning with your own scat.

Come on. Irrespective on what you assume my stance to be on Islam (I'm an atheistic by the way) we both know that boxers pull their religion out before during and after bouts. His tone was venomous. I do agree that to Westerner's like ourselves some Muslim reactions to religious satire seems extreme. But, the mocking of divinity is part of the European tradition dating back to ancient Greeks ridiculing the Gods of Olympus. Muslims don't have that background, it would be unimaginable in Islamic culture. Plus, their reactions are in large part to the entire imperialist attitude rather than isolated incidents. I'm not defending Islam wholesale. It's often brutal, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, vulgar and erupts into murderous violence. I'm just stating that Lampley's comments tapped into and expressed the prevalent Islamaphobia that pervades Western culture. dude, the reason why muslims are so sensitive about religious satire is because they havent GROWN THE FVCK UP about religion due to the fact that islam compared to the other religions like christianity are still relatively young. Islam came after christianity and they havent evolved that religion. Where islam is right now is where christianity was during the inquisition. Hateful, war mongering, sensitive to any talk challenging the religion. They havent evolved to where christians are that if insulted by some comedian or comedy show they understand its satire and they dont ask for heads to roll. LITERALLY. That's what passage of time through evolution and development do. Just look at all these muslim nations, the only ones that have made any progress are the ones that have oil. the rest are poor third world countries still stuck in the stone ages. & the ones who have oil dont even let their women drive. There's a reason for that. Christianity doesnt have greek god backgrounds. You dont see baptists and catholics killing each other. The most these christians orgs do if they are insulted by a comedian like maher is protest peacefully or ask for firings via litigation. They dont bumrush embassies because southpark made a jesus skit.

lol at boxers put their religion out all the time. SURE, AFTER THE FIGHT THANKING HIM FOR KEEPING HIM SAFE AND WINNING NOT BEFORE THE FIGHT USING IT AS SOME RIDICULOUS RING ENTRANCE PLATFORM BEING BRASH AND BRATTY ABOUT IT LIKE HAMED DID!!! there is a difference. and there was nothing venomous about his tone lmfaaaoo muslims find harmless satire about their religion venomous. its pathetic and its gives great shame to muslims everywhere. funny thing is, they dont feel any shame in it whatsoever and they actually feel justified that they act like uncivilized raging maniacs who lose their collective sh*t whenever someone does a joke about islam. Come on. Irrespective on what you assume my stance to be on Islam (I'm an atheistic by the way) we both know that boxers pull their religion out before during and after bouts. His tone was venomous. I do agree that to Westerner's like ourselves some Muslim reactions to religious satire seems extreme. But, the mocking of divinity is part of the European tradition dating back to ancient Greeks ridiculing the Gods of Olympus. Muslims don't have that background, it would be unimaginable in Islamic culture. Plus, their reactions are in large part to the entire imperialist attitude rather than isolated incidents. I'm not defending Islam wholesale. It's often brutal, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, vulgar and erupts into murderous violence. I'm just stating that Lampley's comments tapped into and expressed the prevalent Islamaphobia that pervades Western culture.

I do seem to remember there being some comments during the first Lewis-Holyfield fight after Holyfield's "God"-inspired prediction of a 3rd round didn't come to pass. Lewis, for his part, said before the fight "I'm not questioning Holyfield's faith but he breaks a commandment every other day". Still, that whole "B-A-R-R-E-R-A-" was just so over-the-top and unnecessary from Lampley...but that's what you get from him. There was. I've just re-watched it and he wasn't really derisory about it. If anything he plays along with it as a commentary ploy to excite the audience. Nice quote from Lennox. As is usual with these things I've become drawn into re-watching the fight. I'm surprised how much Lewis negates his own height advantage by stooping down to Holyfield's level. I'd didn't have any recollection of that.

I don't disagree with your sentiment but boxers pull that out all the time and sportscasters rarely feel the need to challenge them on it particularly in such an emotionally venomous tone. lol at boxers put their religion out all the time. SURE, AFTER THE FIGHT THANKING HIM FOR KEEPING HIM SAFE AND WINNING NOT BEFORE THE FIGHT USING IT AS SOME RIDICULOUS RING ENTRANCE PLATFORM BEING BRASH AND BRATTY ABOUT IT LIKE HAMED DID!!! there is a difference. and there was nothing venomous about his tone lmfaaaoo muslims find harmless satire about their religion venomous. its pathetic and its gives great shame to muslims everywhere. funny thing is, they dont feel any shame in it whatsoever and they actually feel justified that they act like uncivilized raging maniacs who lose their collective sh*t whenever someone does a joke about islam.

No he wasn't. One man (Lampley) making a razor sharp comment at the end of Hamed's pummeling at the hands of Barrera is not being "derided and attacked". Hamed said he'd win because of his 'god'. He lost. And Lampley had every right to bring it up in the humorous way that he did. It was a derisive attack and the tone in which he spouted it wasn't done in a humorous way at all. So much so that his co-commentator felt the need to pull him on it. Bring religion into sport, expect someone to bring it up eventually. Especially if you believe you're going to win because of your silly 'god'. I don't disagree with your sentiment but boxers pull that out all the time and sportscasters rarely feel the need to challenge them on it particularly in such an emotionally venomous tone. It absolutely was obnoxious but how do you know that's what Lampley thought it was? And I say the same thing about irritating Christian athletes who rub their worthless beliefs in people's faces. I think that's self evident, we've both listened to his remarks. The point that you seem to be making it that you'd offensively deride a persons faith as being irritating and obnoxious in equal measure irrespective of the form that their faith takes, therefore Lampley's comments have nothing do with anti Islamic sentiment and are in no way representative of the Islamaphobia that pervades Western discourse on religion. All silly little religions are mocked in equal measure is effectively what you're saying and that, of course, is obviously not the case. He was lauded for it? Really? Back that up with evidence. In fact, this notorious interview with Holyfield after he beat Tyson the first time is a source of great entertainment. Holyfield is laughed at & mocked because of how dumb he sounds. He sounds dumb because of his religious ramblings. I don't have the inclination to trawl through the countless hours of fight footage to find the numerous instances where Holyfield's faith is commented on in a positive light. What I will do rather is comment on the interview that you yourself have posted because it demonstrates how untenable your position is. Firstly this interview didn't acquire any kind of notoriety. That certainly wouldn't have been the case if Holyfield was saying the same things about Islam. Far from being laughed at and mocked the majority of the Youtube comments for the footage that you have chosen are lauding Evander's Christian beliefs. Evander saw his bout with Tyson in religious terms as Christian Vs Muslim. His post fight comments demonstrate that he felt his beliefs had been vindicated: 'My God is the only true God'.. His rant was based on his religious bigotry. Ferdie Pacheco saw no need to challenge him on it in the same kind of emotionally laden way that Lampley challenged Naz. When it's a Christian affirming his beliefs it's generally tolerated or mildly dismissed at worst. Let's not forget that Ali made the same kind of statement in Miami in '64 and fast became the most hated man in the history of American sports. How on earth do you know Hamed isn't a fundamentalist? I've listened to him touch on his faith on numerous occasions. I've never heard him spout the kind of fundamentalist dogma that Holyfield has. Nor does he associate with religious fundamentalists.

That's the very point that some posters are making. When Hamed referenced religion he was derided and attacked for it. Because it was Islam, it was felt by viewers such as yourself and Jim Lampley as being an obnoxious and unwanted presence that was being rubbed in your faces. Contrast that with Holyfield referencing biblical scriptures by emblazoning them on his shorts and entering the ring singing to blaring gospel music. Not only was he not derided for it but his actions were lauded. It was seen as a wholesome religion from which a decent God fearing man gained strength. The f*cked up thing about that is, in no way shape or form could Hamed ever be termed as a religious fundamentalist. A position from which extremist and bigoted views tend to emanate. Holyfield on the other hand is a Christian fundamentalist and holds and expresses extremist and bigoted views as part of his religious worldview. I do seem to remember there being some comments during the first Lewis-Holyfield fight after Holyfield's "God"-inspired prediction of a 3rd round didn't come to pass. Lewis, for his part, said before the fight "I'm not questioning Holyfield's faith but he breaks a commandment every other day". Still, that whole "B-A-R-R-E-R-A-" was just so over-the-top and unnecessary from Lampley...but that's what you get from him.

Hamed made himself a target by bringing his religion into the ring with him on national TV. It's not hard to understand. Don't want people to mock your religious beliefs? Don't rub your religious beliefs in people's faces. Simple. That's the very point that some posters are making. When Hamed referenced religion he was derided and attacked for it. Because it was Islam, it was felt by viewers such as yourself and Jim Lampley as being an obnoxious and unwanted presence that was being rubbed in your faces. Contrast that with Holyfield referencing biblical scriptures by emblazoning them on his shorts and entering the ring singing to blaring gospel music. Not only was he not derided for it but his actions were lauded. It was seen as a wholesome religion from which a decent God fearing man gained strength. The f*cked up thing about that is, in no way shape or form could Hamed ever be termed as a religious fundamentalist. A position from which extremist and bigoted views tend to emanate. Holyfield on the other hand is a Christian fundamentalist and holds and expresses extremist and bigoted views as part of his religious worldview.

Given that Naz kept talking about it being written by Allah that he was going to win or whatever it was, I don't see anything unreasonable about what Lampley said. Naz made his religion a big part of his persona and self-promotion which made Lampley's comment fair game. I fully acknowledge the rampant islamophobia which emerged in the decade that followed but I don't think there was anything remotely bigoted about what Lampley said. Naz said Allah had written his name, Naz got his ass kicked, Lampley said Allah can clearly spell Barrera too. Fair enough in my opinion.

There's a great tradition in America of commentators and writers deriding the sportsmen that they make a living off, particularity boxers. That can make their relationship quite antagonistic but as long as there's a mutual respect for where they stand in their respective craft it can be played off. Say what you want about Larry Merchant but before he became a T.V. analyst he was a first rate sports journalist. Boxers who knew that may not have agreed with him but they recognised that he'd dedicated himself to a craft. Boxing and writing have always been symbiotic, and shared a certain affinity, however strained that relationship may be. Schulberg wrote some terrible things about boxers that bordered on cringe-worthy, but he was respected because he was recognised as a craftsman and a master one at that. I think it's more difficult for a boxer to tolerate comments from a sportscaster who they see as blabbing from an auto-cue and often making off the cuff remarks that offer the impression that they know little about the actual craft of boxing. Clearly, as a man who possesses the gift of the gab, Lampley didn't respect Foreman's ability as a commentator and Foreman for his part didn't respect Lampley's judgement when it came to the content of his comments, no matter how well they were delivered.

Basically, the house guy. But more stunning is his lack of knowledge in spite of years of covering the sport. Yeah. What made Lampley tolerable early on is he was at least deferntial to those like Foreman or Clancy when it came to boxing. But somewhere along the way, he decided he knew all he needed to know about boxing, and basically stopped caring about anything other than providing HIS narrative of a fight...no matter how far off it is.

Foreman with the win.

"This is Jim Lampley...still looking for a hand to slap" Lampley's a jock-sniffer...he's ridden Oscar's jock, Pac's jock...Klitschko's jock. The guy actually chokes up at times talking about them. Basically, the house guy. But more stunning is his lack of knowledge in spite of years of covering the sport.

No doubt in my mind that a lot occurred off air that made George hate him. Sh*t, I can't stand him for all the stuff he does on air and I don't even know him. George may not be the most articulate but he was genuine. I can't say the same for Lamps. "This is Jim Lampley...still looking for a hand to slap" Lampley's a jock-sniffer...he's ridden Oscar's jock, Pac's jock...Klitschko's jock. The guy actually chokes up at times talking about them.

No doubt in my mind that a lot occurred off air that made George hate him. Sh*t, I can't stand him for all the stuff he does on air and I don't even know him. George may not be the most articulate but he was genuine. I can't say the same for Lamps. Seemed like Lamps disliked George as well for some reason.

No doubt in my mind that a lot occurred off air that made George hate him. Sh*t, I can't stand him for all the stuff he does on air and I don't even know him. George may not be the most articulate but he was genuine. I can't say the same for Lamps.