Why is being a boxing commentator so difficult?

Thought of this from X's thread.

As I said there (and everybody seems to agree), most of the commentators don't add any value to the broadcasts, guys like Malignaggi are the exception. No matter if it is an ex-fighter, coach or boxing journalist, we usually get to hear stuff like He should use his reach, he needs to let his hands go, he might not be able to keep up this workrate, body punching is good for the later rounds, keeping left hand low is bad, using your jab is important etc obvious kind of things.

Why is it that so few are able to say anything specific? Boxing is an art and there is plenty to learn, so why so few can tell some actual expert information? What could be the reason a fighter doesn't let his hands go (it can't be a hing of not realizing this), situation where body punching is not a good idea, how the jab should be used (Ray Arcel taught Larry Holmes 23 different ways to use the jab, could someone tell even three now?). Basketball or football commentators are often able to tell something NEW for the viewers. Why can't the boxing commentators do it?

 

why are boxers less skilled by and large? it is a lost art to practice, as well as analyze

 

Maybe, but even the coaches who should know a lot such as Manny Steward weren't much better than these non-skilled boxers. Paulie Malignaggi isn't very versatile as a boxer yet he could tell more interesting stuff than Manny

 

steward was alrite and did point out things that were correct. he was just old as fuck and annoying.

 

ANYTHING on Earth is better than listening to Pacheco. Jeeeyyysus H. Christ what a horrible crew that was.

 

I think part of it has to do with boxing being head to head.

With team sports there are many more things to talk about. Another big factor is viewers can see everything that is happening as the camera will be focused on them the entire time. With a football/basketball/hockey game there is always things the camera doesn't spot.

 

I think a lot of commentators these days are also interested in pushing an agenda. Either that, or defining for the viewers what it is we're seeing.

Lampley is the king of this. He's uncomfortable leaving anything to the viewer's discretion. He's constantly telling us how to interpret events. He's constantly drawing blanket conclusions as to what is happening. He fancies himself our eyes and ears as to what's happening.

Now often his version is informed by the insights of Max or rjj. But this process is not without error. Sometimes rjj and/max are just plain wrong. And often, lampley misinterpret what has been observed. That's when it can be frustratting. Lamprey will completely misinterpret rjj and rjj won't necessarily realize it.

But my point is, led by lampley, there is such a desire to present a unified cut and dry portrayal of what's happening that commentators can't help but offer over-simplifying portrayals of what's occurring, attributing cause and effect where there is none and in general somehow taking away from the mystery of might be happening.

 

This is a good question. I really don't know though.

 

We're used to seeing boxing announcers only cover boxing. In the "olden" days on TV you often had broacasters who covered multiple sports including boxing.

Naturally their knowledge couldn't be as as extensive for that very reason, but i think it would interesting to hear their take on the differences.

 

I've noticed quite allot of the instruction videos that famous coaches & fighters have made are pretty crap too.

 

Go on please.

 

Double- do you think Lampley being in favor of wheat germ enemas has affected his objectivity ?

 

Lampley uses his position as a commentator to "clarify" for us what we're seeing. If there's any ambiguity, it's clarified in favor of the hbo/promoter's fighter, although there seems to be less and less of this

 

:: yea, who does HBO have that they want to promote at this point?

 

Given the SEVERITY of Haymon/Schaefer/Showtime's ASSWHIPPING of HBO, in Terms of Acquiring Talent, it's No Wonder HBO has Shied Away from OVERTLY Praising Fighters, As of Late...




REED:hammert:

 

Because the boxer doing the broadcast is probably too punchy to recall previous moments

 

He was the most unqualified commentator in history... He knew absolutely nothing about the game and was just a fame-whore who parlayed "Ali's Doctor" into a career as a "respected" boxing commentator

I hated his guts... Horrible, disgusting, ignorant cheerleader

He's also an awful person... a liar, slanderer and charlatan

He makes that pretend-old-timer Bert Sugar seem admirable

 

I have to say, watching the broadcast from Boxnation right now. I enjoy them speaking even if they don't give that deep of an analysis or say things I wouldn't already know. Sometimes it's good to have a good conversation just underlining the action in the ring.