So says Fightnews... Since the coup to surplant Merchant blew up in HBO's face and Kellerman refused to work the B.A.D. fights, fortunately...we've rarely seen this guy. Looks like he's wised up and is going back to his old job...the one we were pissed he got in the first place.
can you povide a brief chronology of what happened? and why? as far as i know, Merchant was supposed to be dismissed, with Max taking over, then it seemed that Merchant was brought back to do B.A.D. programs with Lewis, and Max was used with Steward on WCB. was this what happened? and if so, does Max's return to B.A.D. mean that Merchant returns to WCB? or does it mean that he's out completely again? anyone know?
This is my understanding of what went down: - HBO wasn't going to renew Merchant's contract last May...people got wind of it and bitched. - What Merchant didn't know and what came out is...when Kellerman was given the job a year prior to the expiration of Merchant's contract he was promised the lead role on World Championship Boxing when Larry's contract expired. - After the stink about Merchant being shown the door after 29 years, HBO reworked a deal with Merchant basically allowing him and Kellerman to alternate events on B.A.D. and WCB but Merchant had a choice of which fights he worked. - Kellerman was pissed about this and told HBO that he WOULDN'T work B.A.D. cards, thus that's why you haven't seen him on any B.A.D. cards recently and on the more interesting fights on WCB...you've seen Merchant because those are the ones he WANTED to work. Kellerman's essentially tucking tail to get back on air...which is our loss. **I'll also add that the initial "offer" they made to Merchant, Larry felt was a slap in the face. From what I understand, they didn't want Larry to do any WCB on air broadcasts, they'd pre-record his spots from a studio, but he could do B.A.D. cards...that was pretty much all he was offered. Merchant said that would be fine "however" if he did the B.A.D. cards, he'd have to make the matchups as well. he didn't want to continue with the B.A.D. rehab series they had going.** Lastly...with all of this said...did you and Max have your heads in the same place Double? How did you manage to miss this?
Kellerman is working the Calzaghe-Kessler and Cotto-Mosley fights. How come Merchant didn't choose these fights if he gets to pick and choose which fights he works.
Kellerman is good for the sport. He and Brian Kenny spent an entire segment discussing the Kessler\Calzaghe fight on Kellerman's radio show on ESPN radio. I doubt too many other sports radio shows even bothered to mention it at all. TFK
Kellerman talks way too much IMO and doesn't know wtf he's even talking about for the most part. He's working the Calzaghe/Kessler fight tomorrow.:doh: His voice is f*cking irritating.
don't pretend it's not a confusing state of affairs. i can also remember reports of kellerman's regret that merchant was being taken off. reminds me of the few spots ferdie pacheco did shortly after he was booted from showtime, in which he was allowed to showcase his paintings. my were those tedious.
It's not confusing if you follow boxing and kept up with the story as it unfolded in 2Q 2007. Secondly...from a PR standpoint, whatelse would you expect Kellerman to say after the fact? He obviously had no issues with it when he signed his contract the previous year. The true asshole in all of this is Ross Greenburg because he didn't have the decency to tell Merchant what was up when he first brought Kellerman on board. He only had 12 months to grow the balls to tell Larry. I guess that wasn't enough time.
I WANT : Calzaghe-Kessler - MERCHANT Mosley-Cotto - MERCHANT Guzman-Soto - MERCHANT Mayweather-Hatton - MERCHANT Fights in the first quarter of 2008 - MERCHANT Fights in the second quarter of 2008 - MERCHANT Fights in the third quarter of 2008 - MERCHANT Fights in the fourth quarter of 2008 - MERCHANT BAD - MERCHANT WCB - MERCHANT
I'm sure Max will do Guzman-Soto & Mayweather-Hatton. I'd be surprised if Merchant did another Mayweather fight unless it's against Mosley.
