One thing is clear to me...

[-Hyperion-]

larry pisses me off when his favorites are fighting(pacquiao-pavlik)other than that, he does his job...

[ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY]

Intellectually Merchant is at least a few notches above the people in this thread, so I have respect for him in that regard. He has a talent for metaphor and aphorism, which is why he's still on the TV. Max the Overzealous Fanboy will never be able to carry Larry's flask.

Steward is there to give the fighter's/trainer's perspective. Larry does his job.

MANY times, though, Larry will practically ridicule a guy for what he is doing in the ring or for something he says....because he doesnt understand the science of the game, trust me, that is a FACT

[kayjay]

One thing is crystal clear...and for some crazy reason certain people take offense at this...but there are in fact certin things about boxing that a man could never, EVER know unless he has been in the ring. Larry doesn't understand many aspects of boxing and, for me, it affects his commentary (he gives false info to the viewers)

No doubt. But it's not his job to please experts like you. His job is to offer memorable catchphrases and summaries for the general HBO-viewing public. And he has a talent for THAT. George Foreman and Roy Jones can yap all their lives without arriving at one phrase worthy of a Larry Merchant. Different jobs require different skills.

I enjoyed Foreman more than RJJ since he was more colorful and put the others back in the place more often. I guess he had the grill money and didn't really give a ****.

That's why I liked Big George in there. He preserved an oder among the commentators. Lennox for instance gets walked on (he also has horrendous linguistic skills and intolerable articulation, but these are other issues).

[ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY]

Intellectually Merchant is at least a few notches above the people in this thread, so I have respect for him in that regard. He has a talent for metaphor and aphorism, which is why he's still on the TV. Max the Overzealous Fanboy will never be able to carry Larry's flask.

Steward is there to give the fighter's/trainer's perspective. Larry does his job.

Maybe so but his intellect in terms of boxing knowledge is the only thing that counts....his SAT may have been higher than mine but he certainly doesnt know more than I about IN the ring activities. He was very disrespectful towards Forbes and that was mainly because he doesnt "get it", he doesnt understand.

[!! Shawn]

MANY times, though, Larry will practically ridicule a guy for what he is doing in the ring or for something he says....because he doesnt understand the science of the game, trust me, that is a FACT

I agree. Its the difference between talking to a soldier that actually served in WWII and a reporter that covered the event from a far. Even though the reporter might know what happened, he will never truly understand what it was like.

[K-Nan]

IDK... Larry (next to Lampley) is one of the definitive things for me in boxing. I just associate good things with him. So I can't hate on him too much.

But I will say that he had me scratching my head when he was knocking Forbes for never being down. Especially since he attributed it to not being aggressive.

[kayjay]

MANY times, though, Larry will practically ridicule a guy for what he is doing in the ring or for something he says....because he doesnt understand the science of the game, trust me, that is a FACT

I don't doubt this. He's a media guy and so of course the limits of his comprehension of the sport are evident to YOU.

[ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY]

No doubt. But it's not his job to please experts like you. His job is to offer memorable catchphrases and summaries for the general HBO-viewing public. And he has a talent for THAT. George Foreman and Roy Jones can yap all their lives without arriving at one phrase worthy of a Larry Merchant. Different jobs require different skills. ).

But....he goes where he does not belong, thats my point.... he offers his catchphrases etc for the average fan but MANY times during the telecast he offers up his opinion that is often disrespectful and CLEARLY ignorant. He does not know BOXING, that is very very clear to me. He has his place on the telecast sure...but he shuld let Manny handle the BOXING issues (for the record, he even said Forbes was a "former 140 pound champion"....we ALL, I am sure, caught that..and Manny did, too. Called him on it.

[ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY]

I agree. Its the difference between talking to a soldier that actually served in WWII and a reporter that covered the event from a far. Even though the reporter might know what happened, he will never truly understand what it was like.

B-I-N-G-O, my man, BINGO

[K-Nan]

But....he goes where he does not belong, thats my point.... he offers his catchphrases etc for the average fan but MANY times during the telecast he offers up his opinion that is often disrespectful and CLEARLY ignorant. He does not know BOXING, that is very very clear to me. He has his place on the telecast sure...but he shuld let Manny handle the BOXING issues (for the record, he even said Forbes was a "former 140 pound champion"....we ALL, I am sure, caught that..and Manny did, too. Called him on it.

Lampley said that. Not Merchant.