Larry Merchant - How far is too far?

[GasPed]

Mosley-Wright second ,I feel Mosley'S dint less than Wright.and Winky Wright's bulwark is very successful .power shots fast .

Uh, TB, your random word generator is malfunctioning. Either that or please lay off the doobie before you post.

Anyhow, even though I kinda like Merchant, and I'd miss him if he left, I find his interviewing is becoming more irritating and less informing than ever. Post fight interviews are rarely going to reveal any insights anyhow (the fighters are always on a post-fight rush, they never give straight answers: "Did he hurt you with that right hand?" "No, not at all, I just come to fight, line em up, I'll knock em down... bla, bla...".). So having Larry come in there, with his big agenda (usually because he has a rather biased view of the fight), and persistently pushing the same question at a fighter as if he's expecting to get a truthful answer is not only futile, but it comes across as insensitive and irritating. But anyhow, I still like his commentary, because he does usually have a bias, and I find it pretty entertaining.

[jack_the_rippuh]

naw you didn't just get used to him. he made more sense than most of the other guys. and his "how to do this" was usually right on. and he gave excellent explanations. big george did make some crazy comments from time to time....but that was usually when it directed towards my fighter.

Who is your fighter? Tito Trinidad?

[Argentina]

but you know, i think many fighters are at their most honest right after a fight, heck sometimes they don't have the energy to give BS answers. Of course, some of htem are so high on adrenaline and so pumped they'll continue spouting crap. But I think the former is the case in the majority of the cases. Sometimes I feel Larry, and it's not his fault, should interview both fighters and giving them an equal landscape. In some recent fights, this has been lacking.

[jabsRstiff]

"he made more sense than most of the other guys. and his "how to do this" was usually right on. and he gave excellent explanations."

Ray Leonard, Manny Steward, & Roy Jones....they all are better analysts, & make far better points than George ever has.....minus the RIDICULOUS observations like, how one fighter's COLORFUL TRUNKS can "freak out" the opponent, or the way to fight a taller fighter is to "close your eyes, & swing up."
There would be a whole lot of DEAD young boxers if they listened to what George said, & applied it..


George offered few keen insights, & lots of jibberish.

[Bombardier]

He wasn't too amused with Merchant after the Hakkar fight. But that time Merchant had a point, I believe he said something like, "It must be pretty embarrassing for boxing fans to see the undisputed middle-weight champion of the world calling out junior-middleweights for his next title defence."

That was a real lowpoint in Bernard's career. I can understand Merchant calling him on it, as well as Bernard being ticked off that he did.

[t_tsuguri]

seriously, the guy knows his stuff but he seems out of touch. should get a younger dude in there to liven up the broadcast

[Guest]

To restate this thread from my point of view, I'm only basing it on Larry's post-fight interviews. The commentary I get to hear during fights is from a UK team.

I have heard a snatch of Larry and RJJ, during which RJJ sounded very insightful... I'd love to hear more about George. (There's an idea for a thread).

To clarify the "bigot" remark, I've only ever seen him post-interview two white guys (Vitali and DLH) and the difference in respect he showed to both of them compared to their opponents (LL and Hopkins) was absolutely staggering. Coincidence? Maybe. I also get the feeling that Larry has no time for "jive", which is fair enough to an extent, but...

The thing about this particular fight was just his curt attitude. But don't get me wrong, sometimes he can be very funny...

[Guest]

Having heard more of his commentaries and seen him being interviewed I like Larry more and more... weird, as after the Morales-Pac fight his stock seems to have dropped even further.

He's a silly ass, but very funny.

[justin04]

It's interesting that you should make that bigot comment - i'm not trying to label him as one, since i can't point to anything conclusive, but i must admit that i have gotten that vague impression about him every once in awhile, when listening to his commentary...

On the other hand since i grew up in the united states during the 1990s my "Politically Correct" radar is way too active - i don't know the guy so i won't jump to any conclusions.

It is odd, though, when he does things like compare Gerry Cooney to Jackie Robinson lol - even though he wasn't saying that they are equivalent, you really just can't compare blacks being barred from participating in baseball with there simply being almost no elite white fighters (at least in the 1980s).

[BadMagick]

To restate this thread from my point of view, I'm only basing it on Larry's post-fight interviews. The commentary I get to hear during fights is from a UK team.

I have heard a snatch of Larry and RJJ, during which RJJ sounded very insightful... I'd love to hear more about George. (There's an idea for a thread).

To clarify the "bigot" remark, I've only ever seen him post-interview two white guys (Vitali and DLH) and the difference in respect he showed to both of them compared to their opponents (LL and Hopkins) was absolutely staggering. Coincidence? Maybe. I also get the feeling that Larry has no time for "jive", which is fair enough to an extent, but...

The thing about this particular fight was just his curt attitude. But don't get me wrong, sometimes he can be very funny...

De La Hoya isn't white, he's a Mexican. His skin is close to white, but he's not a caucasian. Your point is kind of lost by mentioning De La Hoya.