Chavez shouting BULLSHIT was pretty funny, linked below. The Hopkins interview after the terrible Hakkar fight also. What are some post fight interviews that Larry did that were fun to watch for whatever reason?
Unlike most people I'm a big fan of Merchant. Love him or hate him he always made interviews interesting. A lot better than these kiss ass interviewers of today. He had a lot of memorable interviews. But one that comes to mind for some odd reason is the Shane Mosley vs Adrian Stone post fight interview. A little back drop on this fight. Mosley had beaten the golden boy who at the time was the ppv king and media darling. But after that Mosley was pretty much feasting on easy opponents. It started with hard nosed journeyman Antonio Diaz, than Aussie Shannon Taylor and finally virtually unknown title holder out of the UK Adrian Stone. I think HBO was tired of Mosley just feasting of bums and wanted to see him step it up. So during the fight Merchant kept calling Stone a stiff and even after Mosley got the stoppage he mockingly said "so what". During the interview Mosley said his opponent was the "IBO Jr. MIDDLE WEIGHT CHAMP" and to that Merchant sarcastically replied "wow that's really important"..... I couldn't help but ti feel bad for Mosley who was my favorite fighter at that time as he genuinely looked hurt by Larry's comment but I was still pretty funny. The interview starts at 17:56
REED's Gift and Curse is his OPTIMISM... If REED Has a Shitty Thursday, He'll Wake Up Friday Morning CONFIDENT It'll Be LESS Shitty Than Yesterday Was...REED Keeps it Positively POSITIVE More Times Than Not... There was an Innate NEGATIVITY to Larry Merchant, Which Turned REED Off... REED Doesn't Need SAPPY Ass Cheerleading or "Feel Good" Material Either, But When Someone's OVERTLY Negative the Majority of the Time, That's a PROBLEM...Merchant Didn't Seem to LIKE His Job, Particularly...He Spoke from a Perpetually UNIMPRESSED - "Wish I Was ANYWHERE Else Right Now" POV... People Like to Say Merchant was "Honest", "Blunt", "Matter of Fact", Literally TAP DANCING Around the Truth of the Man...Larry Merchant was an ASSHOLE...Some People Actually LIKE Assholes, as REED's Learned, and We're ALL Entitled to Our Likes/Dislikes, Just Don't MINIMIZE It... Larry Merchant was an ASSHOLE...A DICK...A Boxing CURMUDGEON... He Absolutely WAS... REED
I don’t know about that. He wanted to be entertained and when he was, he said it and when he wasn’t, he said that too. He had an antipathy for fighters that didn’t entertain and he felt that was part of a fighter’s contract with the fans. Whether you agree with that position, I think he had a real passion for the sport. I don’t see his criticisms as negativity. Coming from the POV of an English person, he never struck me as overly negative.
Merchant Had a STYLE Preference...And When His Preference Wasn't Met, He BITCHED...And MOANED...A LOT... But Objectively Speaking, YOUR Preferred Style Is IMMATERIAL to a Boxing Broadcast...Forcing YOUR Preferred Style Upon a Captive Audience is ARROGANT AF...Beyond That, Even When Wlad Klit Fought LESS Than "Fan Friendly", Merchant All But MASTURBATED During His Fights...In That Way, He was INCONSISTENT... & He Was an Undeniable DICK... Routinely Cut Fighter's Off Mid Sentence, During Post-Fight Interviews, Openly Showed DISDAIN for Fighters w/"Entourages", Went OUT of His Way to CRITICIZE Dela for Wearing a Bullfighter Outfit and Having a Mariachi Band Lead Him to the Ring...Merchant CROSSED the Line of Simply "Reporting"... He Was an ASSHOLE... To the Degree Merchant was "Passionate" About Boxing, That Pretty Much Dissipated During His Mid to Late HBO Days...When Merchant was In Joe Frazier's Camp, Sure, He was Passionate..."Early Doors" HBO Boxing Telecasts, Yes, Merchant was Passionate... But He Became JADED AF as the Generations Passed... REED
Yeah, he also had the habit of disrespecting and belittling fighters who weren't the best of the best
Merchants style was a schtick to balance things out...there were a lot of times where you could tell he was forcing it he was like the 3rd judge on Idol
Indeed... Dismissive in a Way That Suggested HE Could Do Better Himself, Which Makes the "If I Were 50 Years Younger..." Comment to Floyd All the FUNNIER... Sorry Larry Merchant, NO Version of YOU Would've EVER Kicked the Ass of ANY Version of Floyd...Even If Floyd were 12 and Merchant Mid-20's, Bet the HOUSE On the Youngster... Merchant Infamously SHREDDED Chris Byrd Every Chance He Got, "So What'ed" Fights the Network EMPLOYING him Co-Signed On...A Perpetually BITTER, NEGATIVE Ass Dude... REED Can Honestly Say He DOESN'T Miss Larry Merchant in the Least...AT ALL... REED
SOLID Analogy, Actually... Merchant Wasn't ALWAYS That on HBO, But He BECAME That, Undoubtedly... REED's Never Liked the Simon Cowell Types...Stephen A. Smith is a Mainstream American Sporting Example of That Same Character Type, and He Can KISS REED's Ass Also... REED
Yup pretty much this. When Roy went on the bum of the month tour @ 175 Larry called it for what it was...Roy fighting policemen and garbage truck drivers. While other commentators often kissed the super star's like Roy, Oscar and Floyd's asses. Larry told them exactly what he thought of them. That rubbed some fanboys the wrong way. Unbiased boxing fans appreciated Larry.
what's he supposed to do? watch in awe at anyone who can do better than him? in no other sport is this expected of broadcasters. merchant was good at giving a voice to skeptical and nay-sayer viewers. if a fighter you liked was on the other end, it could get to you. but that is not his problem.
All You’re Doing is CANDY COATING Who/What Merchant Was… A Fucking ASSHOLE, Just as REED Stated… Big George: Larry, Let Me Know When You’ve Had Just ONE Fight. Merchant: Don’t Pull Rank On Me George ***Proceeds to Pull Rank on Fighters Every Other HBO Broadcast*** Cried Like the Bitchass Curmudgeon He Was, When George Gave Him a DOSE Of His Own Medicine… Fuck Larry Merchant…Again, He’s NOT Missed In the Least… REED
Merchant’s schtick was tiring. I too miss a lot of the good ole days of boxing but it’s not hard to appreciate a true talent when you see one or a great fight. I don’t LOVE every single style of boxing nor do I care for every fighter. But Merchant just always came off like a bitter, old drunk uncle who can’t stop talking about the old days and that got annoying really quick.
Merchant was a mixed bag to me. Could be funny and a straight shooter but sometimes he would edge on the realm of disrespectful and overly negative, which could become annoying. Still, he was 1000% better than a bland ass kisser like Kellerman (Lampley was a shill too but overall, I felt his energy added to the broadcast).
I would have liked Lampley better if he wasn’t such a house guy. He almost always clearly showed his bias to the more popular fighter.
I don't think there was a bigger better badder "Company Man" than Lampley. He rode with and for Brand HBO. Merchant got old. That's all. Just got old and found himself surrounded by shit he just wasn't down with.
The sheer irony of it... I was on YouTube this morning looking at GGGR clips for Arek Bordwin comments and one of the comments was about how Al Pacino called out Kevin Spacey as a FAIRY 20 years in advance.
