Most annoying color commentator..

[Mintcar923]

Ferdie Pacheco.

Brought absolutely nothing of value to the broadcasts. At least some of the other bad commentators brought unintentional comedy.

Often had his usual air of smugness about him, and gave us gems like "Pee Wee is fighting just like Meldrick Taylor" in reference to Whitaker fighting Chavez.

Ummm...NO, Taylor threw lots of punches and took a lot, he was winning by outworking Chavez. Whitaker was using lots of movement and angles.

I know when Ferdie referred to Sweet P as Pee Wee multiple times was just ridiculous! But, still I'd say Lampley and Steve Albert were even more annoying..

[The Old LefHook]

I turn the sound OFF when Lampley is talking. He is the worse announcer ever and has to have had and "in" to maintain his job this long.
Ray

Do not kid yourself about one thing--the folks and the network love Lampley. No other announcer conveys his excitement of a fight as openly as Jimbo does. This works the viewing audience up more than the shouting of any Buffer. Lampley feels about fights the way an average fan does, so those folk identify with him. They trust him. You cannot keep a highly coveted job in television announcing for thirty years because your uncle who died used to be a company VP. Jim does not know boxing, but he expresses his misconceptions very well, perfectly, for the milquetoast silent majority he represents and takes on a safe, guided tour each fight.

These days you don't slap your moll around, either, and get it buried successfully, unless the network needs you enough to shield you from the harpies of social adjustment. The guys in marketing are using advanced tools. Nepotism can only give someone a push-start. Like Cosell before him, Jimbo is the man these days, for better or worse.

[ironalex]

Gotta go with Jim Lampley.. And, the Albert brothers.. Well, Al i could tolerate..

"The kernel" irritates me

[Anthony342]

Pacheco, Atlas and Lampley I could see why now. I sometimes didn't like Foreman, only because sometimes the things he said didn't make sense or were confusing, but he at least knew boxing, so didn't really annoy me. Sometimes Cosell's voice or the guys from the old KO Nation show were annoying to me.

[Mintcar923]

Pacheco, Atlas and Lampley I could see why now. I sometimes didn't like Foreman, only because sometimes the things he said didn't make sense or were confusing, but he at least knew boxing, so didn't really annoy me. Sometimes Cosell's voice or the guys from the old KO Nation show were annoying to me.

Dunphy was the best! The voice of boxing.. He could call a whole fight by himself.. What was he around for around half a century?! Crazy!!

[Anthony342]

Yeah I think on a bio I was watching it said he called all of Marciano's fights on radio.

[Thread Stealer]

Do not kid yourself about one thing--the folks and the network love Lampley. No other announcer conveys his excitement of a fight as openly as Jimbo does. This works the viewing audience up more than the shouting of any Buffer. Lampley feels about fights the way an average fan does, so those folk identify with him. They trust him. You cannot keep a highly coveted job in television announcing for thirty years because your uncle who died used to be a company VP. Jim does not know boxing, but he expresses his misconceptions very well, perfectly, for the milquetoast silent majority he represents and takes on a safe, guided tour each fight.

These days you don't slap your moll around, either, and get it buried successfully, unless the network needs you enough to shield you from the harpies of social adjustment. The guys in marketing are using advanced tools. Nepotism can only give someone a push-start. Like Cosell before him, Jimbo is the man these days, for better or worse.

I have a real love/hate thing with Lampley. More of a hate thing in the past few years.

He can be an HBO shill with fighters they are trying to make stars (Jermain Taylor, Amir Khan) or just plain has his man-crushes (Marco Antonio Barrera). If people think his pro-DLH commentary was extreme, listen to him talk about Barrera. Lampley had a serious man-love for Barrera. He even said to Roy Jones during a broadcast "no offense to you Roy, but Barrera is the smartest fighter I have ever met". He also has a man-crush on Miguel Cotto.

Lampley's commentary is often cringe-worthy, such as when he's dramatically saying "go down, go down, save yourself!" to a fighter taking a beating, or his infamous "**** ****" rant which I still find unintentionally hilarious.

Amir Khan-Marcos Maidana is a prime example of HBO trying to make a guy a star and the commentary being biased in favor of him. Like many others who mistake speed for skills, Lampley was overrating Khan's skills and rambling about him being a "glamour boxer". He fights like a spazzed out idiot who's taken too much speed. Maidana hurt Khan in the 10th and tried to go for the finish. Khan was moving around the ring, he wasn't holding, he didn't seem to know how to clinch, he was just trying to stay away from him. Lampley meanwhile, starts saying "he won't hold, he wants to fight! Too much heart for Khan!" During that sequence, do you know how many punches Khan threw? The same as all of us. None. But of course, not throwing a punch means you "want to fight" since you are not holding. Also, Maidana spent pretty much all of the 12th round kicking Khan's ass, and Khan finished the round throwing some arm flurries that barely landed. Lampley goes "Khan may have stole the round!". Ugh.

Lampley's constant referring to Compubox is quite annoying, since it gives casual fans the impression that Compubox is accurate and proves a lot. More cringe-inducing moments include his "Michael Katsidis is thinking of his dead brother" when he dropped J.M. Marquez, or his imaginary dialogue between the fighters. I also think that him and Larry Merchant, along with other members of the boxing media, talk quite a bit about the lack of American HWs (see Lewis-Rahman 1 and Maskaev-Rahman 2) and American boxing as a whole to the point where non-Americans get the impression that a lot of boxing fans in the US are patriotic flag-wavers. I hardly know any boxing fans that really care at all about that, American boxing fans in general don't support their fighters like other countries or territories seem to.

But I won't spend this whole time ranting about how sucky Lampley is, because there are actually a lot of things I like, or have liked, about him over the years. He is passionate about the sport, to the point where it makes him an emotional crybaby. He has charisma and a great voice for blow-by-blow, which has resulted in some of the most memorable calls in history. His "it happened, it happened!" when Foreman knocked out Moorer is unforgettable and fit the moment perfectly. Nothing forced, he just said it and it added to that wonderful and dramatic moment.

When other people do blow-by-blow commentary on HBO, I feel like something is missing without Lampley that. Papa just lacks that something and is pretty bland.

So despite Lampley's many flaws, I'll take him over the other blow-by-blow commentators today, most of the time.

[Scott9945]

I have a real love/hate thing with Lampley. More of a hate thing in the past few years.

He can be an HBO shill with fighters they are trying to make stars (Jermain Taylor, Amir Khan) or just plain has his man-crushes (Marco Antonio Barrera). If people think his pro-DLH commentary was extreme, listen to him talk about Barrera. Lampley had a serious man-love for Barrera. He even said to Roy Jones during a broadcast "no offense to you Roy, but Barrera is the smartest fighter I have ever met". He also has a man-crush on Miguel Cotto.

Lampley's commentary is often cringe-worthy, such as when he's dramatically saying "go down, go down, save yourself!" to a fighter taking a beating, or his infamous "**** ****" rant which I still find unintentionally hilarious.

Amir Khan-Marcos Maidana is a prime example of HBO trying to make a guy a star and the commentary being biased in favor of him. Like many others who mistake speed for skills, Lampley was overrating Khan's skills and rambling about him being a "glamour boxer". He fights like a spazzed out idiot who's taken too much speed. Maidana hurt Khan in the 10th and tried to go for the finish. Khan was moving around the ring, he wasn't holding, he didn't seem to know how to clinch, he was just trying to stay away from him. Lampley meanwhile, starts saying "he won't hold, he wants to fight! Too much heart for Khan!" During that sequence, do you know how many punches Khan threw? The same as all of us. None. But of course, not throwing a punch means you "want to fight" since you are not holding. Also, Maidana spent pretty much all of the 12th round kicking Khan's ass, and Khan finished the round throwing some arm flurries that barely landed. Lampley goes "Khan may have stole the round!". Ugh.

Lampley's constant referring to Compubox is quite annoying, since it gives casual fans the impression that Compubox is accurate and proves a lot. More cringe-inducing moments include his "Michael Katsidis is thinking of his dead brother" when he dropped J.M. Marquez, or his imaginary dialogue between the fighters. I also think that him and Larry Merchant, along with other members of the boxing media, talk quite a bit about the lack of American HWs (see Lewis-Rahman 1 and Maskaev-Rahman 2) and American boxing as a whole to the point where non-Americans get the impression that a lot of boxing fans in the US are patriotic flag-wavers. I hardly know any boxing fans that really care at all about that, American boxing fans in general don't support their fighters like other countries or territories seem to.

But I won't spend this whole time ranting about how sucky Lampley is, because there are actually a lot of things I like, or have liked, about him over the years. He is passionate about the sport, to the point where it makes him an emotional crybaby. He has charisma and a great voice for blow-by-blow, which has resulted in some of the most memorable calls in history. His "it happened, it happened!" when Foreman knocked out Moorer is unforgettable and fit the moment perfectly. Nothing forced, he just said it and it added to that wonderful and dramatic moment.

When other people do blow-by-blow commentary on HBO, I feel like something is missing without Lampley that. Papa just lacks that something and is pretty bland.

So despite Lampley's many flaws, I'll take him over the other blow-by-blow commentators today, most of the time.

Excellent post. If you have time listen to his blow by blow for the first Margarito-Cotto fight. It was the most biased I've ever heard.

[The Hammer]

Kellerman and Atlas are the worst color commentators. Kellerman is unable to be objective.

Farhood is very bad too.

The best color commentators are boxers: Tarver, Hopkins, etc.

[Mintcar923]

Commentators should change up their lingo from time to time, as well.. Instead of saying "Down goes so and so," why not say "And so and so hits the matt!" Same freaking phrases every time is just monotonous..