Larry merchant

 

They are?!?  They are clueless.  Ross is out as of today.  Maybe things will change now, but they were hurting the sport more than any other entity (sanctioning orgs, promoters, etc).

And Roy is awful.

Roy is awful as a commentator?  Wow.  OK.  First person I ever heard claim that. 

Let me correct what I said - HBO is trying to build up theirproduction value.  For better or worse (and I agree they are they created this monester), they are trying to hype up production, and one of their employees is sh!tt!ng on it.

Hey there just ain't no Howard Cosell's out there. He was the best in his younger days. Tim Ryan is pretty good also.They were both lead guys though.I do like Teddy Atlas. He was hot about that Lara decision as we all were. Unless of course you got a gift.

He's calling it like it is.  You talk about 'subtle nuances', which is a way to show us how much more of an advanced viewer you are, but boring is boring.  One of their biggest fights/promotions of the year was Bradley/Alexander.  That was an awful fight, plain and simple.  I don't care where they were/are ranked, the fight was terrible.  They paid a ton of money for it, put it in the middle of nowhere, and guaranteed both guys another million dollar payday, win or lose.  What is that building?  Why do I need to keep seeing Chad Dawson?  Why did HBO decide he's a star?  Sergio Martinez has to sit out long stretches because there are no dates for him, but the guy who he starched gets treated like royalty there.  HBO's boxing program has been mismanaged for years now, culminating with them losing the last Pacquiao fight to SHO.  None of that had to do with Larry Merchant.  Let's see if things change now, under new leadership.   

What the fck does ANY of that have to do with Larry Merchant.  Im well aware of the fact that HBO bids against itself for what it deems marquis fights.  Bradley/Alexander should have NEVER rec'd the licensing fee HBO outbid itself for, but they were.  Roy Jones should have NEVER been given a contract in which HBO let him pick his opponents, yet it did.

What does ANY of that have to do with Larry Merchant, and his penchant for fighters that lead with their faces and fight like they're in Tough Man competitions.

You dont give a fck about the nuances of the Sweet Science.  Not everybody does.  Some people need their boxing spoon fed to 'em.  Difference between checkers and chess.

You said that Merchant was hurting HBO's boxing shows.  I said that HBO has a bunch of problems, but Merchant isn't one of them. 

He is.  He is increasingly belligerent, uninterested, and overly critical of anything other than blood & guts.

I am well aware of all the bad that is HBO.  Still, IF Im HBO, and I am trying to put on a show, the last thing I need is to have my lead analyst bitching and moaning the entire time. 

There's a reason why he was demoted.

What is he supposed to say during the Wlad/Haye fight? 

"Those booing just don't understand the subtle nuances.  This is world class stuff." ?

And the guy who 'demoted' Merchant (even though that's not what happened) just got fired/forced to quit, so what does that tell you?

I've talked to plenty of people like you before, and I'm not interested in talking about this any further.  You know so much about boxing that us ignorant masses (including Merchant) will never understand.  You can marvel at the subtle nuances.  I'll just look for blood and action.  Different strokes and all.... 

Of course Larry got demoted.  Max Kellerman took his spot, and when it was proven that Max wasn't quite ready, they brought Larry back to split time.

As far as Klit/Haye - Wlad Klit could be criticized every bit as much as Haye in there. To be 6'6", 245 and fight like one of the biggest scared p@ssies the hvy wt division has ever seen is embarrassing.  He should be steam rolling cats.  Yet he flinches and cringes any time he is feinted, and once that china chin is tapped, he gets all huggy like John Ruiz.