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Anyone but Kellerman, Roy Jones, Ward, BHop, Malignaggi, or anyone else that constantly promotes running and cheating just because it's being done by a black and/or American boxer. That would like if the NBA was a subjectively scored sport, so its announcers had huge impacts on how it was scored, played, and officiated, and yet the NBA constantly hired announcers that talked down the most exciting, skilled, and clean players, like Kyrie Irving, Steph Curry, and Isaiah Thomas, and instead claimed that Kendrick Perkins and Roy Hibbert represent "real" basketball, and claimed that due to the fact that in this hypothetical version of the NBA, they would be allowed to dominate Irving, Curry, and Thomas by tackling them whenever they got the ball without being called for a foul, that means Irving, Curry, and Thomas just don't have the "heart" of champions or "the real stuff" because "a real champion adjusts to whatever the referee is allowing and fights through that," and "the truth is the real All Time Greats of basketball currently playing in our era, Roy Hibbert and Kendrick Perkins, simply dogged them, and Irving and Curry and them boys simply showed they couldn't hang. Once Perkins broke Steph's second ankle in game 2 of the Finals, Curry simply quit on himself. He's soft."
Imagine if that was the current culture of the NBA, and the way it was officiated. Instead of the most popular sport in America, it would be a fringe sport in huge decline. Huh, just like boxing is today! Hmmmmmmmm! Interesting!!!
So the less of that continuing in the future in boxing, the better, which means the less of Kellerman, Ward, BHop, RJJ, or Malignaggi commentating in the future, the better.
Also imagine if the entire NBA only relied on a handful of commentators to do all games, and now imagine that some of those commentators were completely in the pocket of certain teams, and constantly, blatantly lobbied for certain teams, and covered up fouls committed by those teams, during every single game. That would also immediately turn off huge swaths of fans and turn the NBA in a fringe sport. And yet, that is exactly the situation on Showtime and Boxnation where Al Haymon has his own personal mouthpiece, Paulie Malignaggi, dominating both broadcasts! Or on HBO, where "Dre's" close friends, Max Kellerman and Jim Lampley, and literally his mentor and idol, Roy Jones Jr, commentate his fights.
See what I'm saying? I'm just trying to paint a picture, an analogy, so that people who are so used to the bull**** in boxing that they have forgotten just how crazy it is can actually see again just how crazy it is, can actually remember just how much it is ruining the sport, by comparing it side by side to a sport that is actually functioning well. Yes, there is no "league" in boxing, so many of the problems boxing has, that the NBA does not have, can not be easily controlled. But, one thing boxing can control, just as easily as the NBA, is its commentary teams. So I hope ESPN looks around at all the other much more successful sports it covers and learns a thing or two, and truly does start a new era in boxing where no commentator who ever defends illegal holding or other intentional fouling is ever allowed to commentate their shows.
A new era of boxing at ESPN needs to start with a new CULTURE of commentating, where skilled, aggressive, clean boxing is what is praised, encouraged, and rewarded on the commentators unofficial scorecards, and where dirty, fouling, ultra defensive boxing is criticized and penalized, NOT the other way around like Kellerman, BHop, RJJ, Paulie Malignaggi, and Ward like to do it. This may seem like a small detail, but it is actually THE #1 most important thing that needs to change, both in the commentary booth and in the official judging and officiating of boxing itself, if boxing is to ever become a mainstream sport again. Crucial point: The NBA's ratings went up when they eliminated the grabbing. The NFL's ratings shot up when they cut down on the defensive holding and cheap shots, which opened up the passing game. Even the NHL's ratings shot up when they eliminated the holding, bringing speed back to the game.
If ESPN truly wants to bring a new era to boxing, it needs to start with opening up boxing's 'passing game,' it's 'speed game,' it's 'transition and shooting' games. Let's make professional boxing into professional BOXING again, not the professional hugging it has turned into the last few decades, and fans and network execs alike wil be shocked, I all but guarantee it, shocked, at how quickly the ratings return.
Imagine if that was the current culture of the NBA, and the way it was officiated. Instead of the most popular sport in America, it would be a fringe sport in huge decline. Huh, just like boxing is today! Hmmmmmmmm! Interesting!!!
So the less of that continuing in the future in boxing, the better, which means the less of Kellerman, Ward, BHop, RJJ, or Malignaggi commentating in the future, the better.
Also imagine if the entire NBA only relied on a handful of commentators to do all games, and now imagine that some of those commentators were completely in the pocket of certain teams, and constantly, blatantly lobbied for certain teams, and covered up fouls committed by those teams, during every single game. That would also immediately turn off huge swaths of fans and turn the NBA in a fringe sport. And yet, that is exactly the situation on Showtime and Boxnation where Al Haymon has his own personal mouthpiece, Paulie Malignaggi, dominating both broadcasts! Or on HBO, where "Dre's" close friends, Max Kellerman and Jim Lampley, and literally his mentor and idol, Roy Jones Jr, commentate his fights.
See what I'm saying? I'm just trying to paint a picture, an analogy, so that people who are so used to the bull**** in boxing that they have forgotten just how crazy it is can actually see again just how crazy it is, can actually remember just how much it is ruining the sport, by comparing it side by side to a sport that is actually functioning well. Yes, there is no "league" in boxing, so many of the problems boxing has, that the NBA does not have, can not be easily controlled. But, one thing boxing can control, just as easily as the NBA, is its commentary teams. So I hope ESPN looks around at all the other much more successful sports it covers and learns a thing or two, and truly does start a new era in boxing where no commentator who ever defends illegal holding or other intentional fouling is ever allowed to commentate their shows.
A new era of boxing at ESPN needs to start with a new CULTURE of commentating, where skilled, aggressive, clean boxing is what is praised, encouraged, and rewarded on the commentators unofficial scorecards, and where dirty, fouling, ultra defensive boxing is criticized and penalized, NOT the other way around like Kellerman, BHop, RJJ, Paulie Malignaggi, and Ward like to do it. This may seem like a small detail, but it is actually THE #1 most important thing that needs to change, both in the commentary booth and in the official judging and officiating of boxing itself, if boxing is to ever become a mainstream sport again. Crucial point: The NBA's ratings went up when they eliminated the grabbing. The NFL's ratings shot up when they cut down on the defensive holding and cheap shots, which opened up the passing game. Even the NHL's ratings shot up when they eliminated the holding, bringing speed back to the game.
If ESPN truly wants to bring a new era to boxing, it needs to start with opening up boxing's 'passing game,' it's 'speed game,' it's 'transition and shooting' games. Let's make professional boxing into professional BOXING again, not the professional hugging it has turned into the last few decades, and fans and network execs alike wil be shocked, I all but guarantee it, shocked, at how quickly the ratings return.
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