Larry Merchant to call HBO PPV this weekend

As we optimistically iron out a new agreement with Larry Merchant, Larry has agreed to work Saturday’s HBO Pay-Per-View telecast from Madison Square Garden.â€￾

Rick Bernstein, HBO Sports, executive prod

 

the rumor a couple of weeks ago (kinda sorta first-hand, while I was in Memphis for Taylor-Spinks) was that Larry and Max would split the broadcasts 50/50, one does WCB the other does PPV.

Larry did the call that night, leading to speculation that Max would be on board for this weekend's telecast. Perhaps they're not quite yet ready for prime-time Max. :dunno:

 

I've always liked Larry, and the thought of him being replaced by Max Kellerman or someone of that ilk is just off base.

jaws

 

We´ll never be ready for The Love Parade meeting The Pneumatic Hammer. Lampley and Kellerman together is absolute overkill.

 

Kellerman's an idiot. They never should've let him score a single fight. Now we know what goes through his brain (what doesn't go through it) as he watches a fight.

 

Larry is going to be a happy drunk when Judah loses.

 

& that's REED's PROBLEM w/Having Merchant On-Board...He Absolutely LOATHES Zab & EVERYTHING Zab "Represents"...

Merchant Focuses on Tooooo Much EXTERIOR Shit...

The Rapper who Escorts the Fighter to the Ring,the Entourage,the Trunks ...

OBVIOUSLY,Merchant has a BIG Problem w/Urban Culture,but he SHOULD B PROFESSIONAL Enough to Keep his Grievances OFF-Air...

Wlad Klit has Glitzy Entrances Himself,yet Merchant NEVER Bitches about that...Gatti AND Wlad have Sizable "Entourages" themselves,yet Merchant NEVER Bitches about that ...

Peeps Accuse Max of Being Biased FOR Black Fighters...Well,if that's the Case,U CANNOT DENY that Merchant is Biased AGAINST Black Fighters...

Can't have it Both Ways...


REED:nono:

 

you might be right. i see your point. i'm not sure if you make the distinction or not, but the way i see it, Merchant isn't biased against black fighters - he's biased against hip-hop fighters. he's allowed. he grew up in a different time. to him, guys like Judah are ridiculous and embarrasing.

 

Well, I grew up during Nazi times. To me, jews and blacks are also embarrasing.

 

:bears: :bears: :bears:

 

I just don't like kellerman. He is not remotely likeable.

I like Larry, I hope they realize their mistake and install Larry back firmly in his seat and get rid of kellerdude.

 

agREED. For years, Larry was Shane Mosley Nuthugger #1 - to the point where he always despised Vernon Forrest, merely for beating his boy.

 

Personally, I prefer they clean house and let Bob Papa run a one-man booth. But if it has to be one or the other (and obviously, it does on HBO), I'd rather have to deal w/ Merchant than Max.

 

Yep, when he interviews Mosley you can feel the love.

 

and when he interviews Vernon, you can feel the hate.

 

ignorant and not the least bit revealing or relevant as an analogy. and hyper-sensitive perhaps on your part also - the idea that everyone is morally obligated to like everyone - even punks.

outside and separate from the realm of multi-culturalism and racial sensitivity there still exists the punk. shame on the punks for trying to hijack a worthy cause in order to justify there worthless existence.

 

he does hate Vernon, doesn't he? why is that?

 

see a few posts above, for the answer

 

well that's not really fair if you ask me. i don't think Vernon is a punk. but i guess he is a hip-hop guy. still, Vernon is every bit the nice guy Mosley is.

still, i don't think Merchant is racist - i think he's just old fashioned. i know the two are often used interchangeably unfortunately but i don't think that's accurate.

 

Well, let's say I'm a car mechanic and a jew comes to me and asks me to fix his car. Now, as I've just revealed in this thread, I'm a jew hater of the highest caliber. You know what I do? I fix his car. You know what Larry does? He tells the customer he hates him.See the difference?
Larry's job is to comment on the fight. That's it. His personal likes and dislikes are his own business that should be kept out of the broadcast. Guess what? It's not being kept out of broadcast.

 

::

that's not what I meant. He still holds it against Vernon that he whipped on his boy (Shane).

 

Larry's not a play by play guy, he's a color guy. Voicing his likes and dislikes are part of his job. Sure, sometimes he's a dick but that's part of his job. Just about all of us on this forum are assholes from time to time when talking about boxing on the boards. Larry just happens to do it in front of a bigger audience.

Except for Jake.............that motherfucker never has anything bad to say about anybody..........that prick! :flip:

 

no. there's no difference. you fix his car but you charge him too much and replace shit that doesn't need replaced. and tell him his car's a piece of shit. and then you don't look him in the eye when you hand him his change. sound familiar?

but besides this, it's not even a fair analogy (as i've already said). there's something far worse about hating someone because on their ethnicity than hating him because of his attitude or his behavior. wouldn't you say?

 

Wrong. I'm a jew hating professioal car mechanic of the highest caliber. I fix the car right, charge the client the fair price and do my jew hating AFTER working hours. As I'm entitled to.

I don't care why Larry hates this guy or loves that guy. Behavior, etnicity, haircut.....I don't give a shit as to his reasons for hating someone.
It's his own PERSONAL choice and his job is to comment on the fight, WITHOUT his personal likes and dislikes getting in the way.
Let me ask you this.....When Forrest beat up Shane Mosley, and Larry went to interview him and practically spit in Vernon's face with his infamous "so what?" comment, was that professional of Larry?

 

well, let's first acknowledge that it's impossible that anyone can do anything without some bias. let's be realistic here.

having said that, i'm simply responding to the accusation that Merchant is racist. i'm not defending his professionalism. and i think too that you're exaggerating quite a bit the extent to which Merchant deviates from his role as a professional. he's certainly friendlier with some fighters than others, but you can hardly fault him for that. and regardless of his friendliness he never fails to ask the hard questions.

you might like to see him be nicer to guys like Zab Judah, the way Kellerman is, but that's not his job either. i think Merchant keeps it real, whereas Kellerman seems willing to eat any spoon of shit he's fed. when Kellerman has some more experience and realizes his job isn't to be a star-struck ass-kiss, he'll probably do a better job. But for now, all things considered, i prefer Merchant by a long-shot.

 

lmao

 

Guys like Judah (big mouthed, no game, disrespectful, cry babies) ARE embarrassing and they ARE bad for the game.

 

I dunno if Larry is racist. He does seem to dislike some guys who seem to be more hip-hop (although Larry doesn't dislike Winky and was a big fan of Tito, who came out to Fat Joe and Big Pun for the Oscar fight). As said before, Larry was a big fan of Shane. I think he even said once "Shane Mosley has a smile more bright than that of Julia Roberts" or something.

Larry does seem though to root for the white guys. ::

 

So? People can cheer for whoever they want. Larry's problem is that he (and HBO) tend to pick a guy before hand...usually the house fighter...and become biased in their call. Thats unprofessional, not racist.

 

I really don't think Larry is that bad for the most part with his HBO bias. It's Lampley that I find really bad, and Manny as well. Even Merchant, who doesn't like Mayweather, was pretty complementary after the Baldomir bore-snore, saying something about "it doesn't pay for perfection" or something. Merchant isn't the one who goes nuts over missed punches like Lampley does or has orgasms when Oscar knocks a guy out.