ONE TOO MANY

By Michael Swann

In the early days of boxing television broadcasts, there was one announcer who said very little except to describe the action in the ring, and didn’t always do that. And then in 1960 Don Dunphy moved to television after 19 years in radio and drawing off of that experience he painted a picture of every nuance that occurred in the ring.

During a 40 year career he called some 2,000 fights in his nasally, high pitched voice that set a standard for boxing announcers that endures to this day. During his radio days he worked with color man Bill Corum, but the fight description, as always, belonged exclusively to Dunphy.

Times have changed. Today some people believe that more is better. But is it really?

Somehow Showtime Championship Boxing manages to struggle through quite nicely using two announcers, the talented Steve Albert and the perceptive Al Bernstein. As a fan I feel quite satisfied with that pair to guide me on a night of boxing.

Nick Charles and Steve Farhood are similarly suitable on the network’s ShoBox series. In fact, Farhood has evolved into one of the best analysts in the game.

The important thing is that the aforementioned four men share common traits--they don’t impose their personalities on the viewers, they don’t talk over each other, and they have good chemistry as a team.

By comparison, HBO uses Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant/Max Kellerman and Manny Steward/Lennox Lewis on their World Championship Boxing and PPV broadcasts. On HBO Boxing After Dark (BAD) Bob Papa, Kellerman and Lewis share the duties. In addition HBO has former judge Harold Lederman, who in many ways is the most indispensable of the bunch, as “unofficial judge.”

That’s a big payroll even for the deep pockets of Time Warner. And you have to wonder if they’re getting their money’s worth. Do they really need three announcers? Is the investment for on air “talent” actually providing a return on investment?

After all, Lampley and Steward handled the Pacquiao-Diaz PPV event without Kellerman or Merchant and the world didn’t come to an end.

Let’s take a look.

Lampley is still the best blow by blow man in boxing, bar none. He is still a bit of a “homer” but I’ve gotten past that by now. Who has the energy? It’s worth what he gives back in return. His calls provide an air of excitement particularly suited for big events, he’s always well prepared, and he dishes off to his broadcasting colleagues appropriately.

Papa is fine in his role, particularly when compared to the departed Fran Charles.

I still believe that the failure to maximize Merchant’s gifts by splitting his time with Kellerman is a huge mistake. After 30 years he brings face and voice recognition even to non boxing fans. However, I can see why he gave the HBO brass, a jittery bunch at times, some anxious moments. Larry, along with ESPN’s Teddy Atlas are seemingly the only two announcers who are totally unafraid to tell a mother her baby is ugly.

Merchant’s careful phrasing in his analysis often borders on poetry, and his long time association with Lampley has helped develop chemistry unique to the fight game.

Kellerman is still a work in progress, I think. He’s certainly better than when he first started, and it’s hardly fair to compare him to Merchant. He lacks Larry’s feistiness, ability to analyze a fight, or natural instinct to turn the right phrase. The original attraction to Max was that he would appeal to a younger demographic. However, there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that this has been the case. That’s not his fault. After all, Kimbo Slice appeals to the younger demographic, and I don’t think he could be an announcer either.

In any event, Kellerman’s commentary has ranged from the sublime, (his commentary this week on BAD asking whether Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s legacy is secure without fighting Antonio Margarito), to the ridiculous (comparing lightweight Michael Katsidis to Rocky Marciano before Katsidis was starched by Joel Casamayor.)

He has also made other inane observations that make me wonder if he would sound more intelligent if he slowed his speech and spoke more thoughtfully, you know, like Merchant. This week on BAD he credited Zab Judah for trying to win, something that you would think is a foregone conclusion, unworthy of praise. Maybe if he had spoken at the legal speed limit it would have sounded more inspiring, or at least relevant.

We won’t be critical of his crediting “Do not go gently into that good night” to Robert Frost instead of Dylan Thomas. After all, he’s not expected to be an expert on English Literature, just boxing. He recovered well later with Frost’s “Miles to go before I sleep,” and hopefully his career as an analyst will continue to take an upward turn as well if HBO sticks with him.

Manny Steward is probably the most knowledgeable boxing man on the announcing team. My only criticism of Steward is that he is a front runner who sometimes disappears in the later rounds. Perhaps he’s just tired after getting up early every morning to train champions, but more input from him would be most welcome with the fight on the line.

Antonio Tarver and Mayweather are said to have auditioned to take the place of Roy Jones Jr. when he was canned in 2005. Tarver was thought to have the inside track, which is logical because if he does anything well, it’s talk.

Lennox Lewis also participated in the auditions, and did well, so I am told. In the end, Steward, who had been filling in, took over on World Championship Boxing and Lewis got the assignment on BAD.

Something tells me that Lewis’ status as the last undisputed heavyweight champion had EVERYTHING to do with his appointment. It’s difficult to believe that he could have passed muster in the audition without the HBO brass realizing that he struggled with the English language. Lewis has provided more malapropisms than any sports figure since Yogi Berra. Further, he still appears to be in fear of the mic and speaks as if he was sucking on a large piece of hard candy.

Let’s revisit BAD from last Saturday:

Papa: “Zab was born and raised in Brooklyn. He’s moved to Las Vegas full time and he says he’s refocused. Are you buying it?”

Lewis: “Yeah! Anyone who says they’re refocused and actually comes to the Mecca of boxing, which is here, they’re really taking it serious. And this is a great place to take it to ‘cause there are no night clubs so you have to focus on boxing.”

Ohhh Lennox---No clubs in Vegas? Not even some teeny-weenie strip clubs to make it “rain?” Somebody better get that memo out to Britney and Paris. And here’s a newsflash--there are a whole slew of other vices available there. If Zab wanted to go somewhere with nothing to do he could have picked almost any town in Kansas.

One more: Lennox said that the Ghanaian Joshua Clottey was “spearingly with his punches” at one point in the fight against Judah.

Seriously, Lewis is horrible and it’s time to say goodbye.

Two men with good chemistry are more than sufficient to get the job done. HBO could easily trim some fat and just concentrate on getting good fights. Think about it. Two men in an announcing booth is virtually a standard in every sport.

One exception is Monday Night Football, and with that I rest my case.