Is HBO hurting themselves...or helping

[cintroncorner]

yea they always piss me off with how biased they r. for instance the wright-hopkins fight steward was hatin on hopkins the whooooole fight even on last nights fight with forrest he was still talkin **** about hopkins. i mean it was a boring fight but then why the hell do u commentate if all ur gonna do is *****

[Njord777]

I think, overall, the good outweighs the bad for me when it comes to the HBO broadcasting team. Not the new one for B.A.D. - Lennox Lewis rarely offers real insight, Kellermen is very full of his own knowledge and loves to display it even when it makes him look dumber, and Bob Pappas while decent is not an exciting enough commentator to carry the broadcast. Steward offers insight but is only good as a filler guy - you need Jim Lampley. He's the one that offers the excited, emotional outcry and makes the fight more dramatic. Larry Merchant speaks too slow sometimes but I'm not so annoyed with him personally that I want to see him go.

As far as being biased I think that has to do with HBO being the boxing business. Overall, Showtime is a small player in the boxing world. HBO hosts most of the PPV's and makes most of the cash from the sport. That means they have an interest to hype up certain fighters through their commentating and pre-fight stories to hopefully interest you in buying the inevitable ppv match.

[AintGottaClue]

Bob Papa rules, i think kellerman is doing a better job now and better then i thought he would, im starting to dislike steward though

[rambov]

That is the one thing that pisses me off about Merchant. OMG, THIS FIGHT IS PUTTING ME TO SLEEP LOL. Cool Larry, keep calling yourself a boxing enthusiast when you only seem to enjoy street fights. Although the Mayweather-Baldomir fight wasn't the most exciting, I didn't think it was boring. It was a guy putting on a clinic of slipping and counterpunching, but of course, Larry Merchant dominated the commentary with his thoughts about how Floyd is not an all time great because he doesn't unnecessarily jeaoporadize a lead and go for the knockout. It's just frustrating to see someone who has seen enough boxing to know that a win is a win continue to talk like that.

Very well said. I couldn't say any better. Larry also wants to Bone Vlad. He is absolutely in love with him for some strange reason.

[rambov]

Max Kellerman is really wise. He is passionate about the sport and he asks tough questions. I liked watching him on friday night fights a lot. Max is good because you can tell he loves the sport. I always take what he says into consideration.

[dalliance13]

Merchant is pretty much the only person I don't care for. Half the time I have no idea what he is talking about. And someone who speaks so slowly and with so many pauses is an odd choice to have as an announcer.

As for his calling fights like he sees them, that is boring if they really are boring, that is AWESOME. I hate watching football or basketball or something when it is a terrible game and hearing the announcers still trying to hype it up. That doesn't just go for Merchant though, most boxing announcers seem to do this, and I think it's great.

Not sure why people are so down on Kellerman. He is a hardcore boxing fan with real enthusiasm for the sport. I do think that he is better suited to his new role however, where he simple offers the occasional observations, rather than talking most of the round.