Jimmy Lennon, Jr. is an American boxing ring announcer who is employed primarily by Showtime as ring announcer for its Showtime Championship Boxing events and Strikeforce mixed martial arts programming. Lennon was also employed by Fox Sports when the Fox network had rights to professional boxing and was the ring announcer for Don King Promotions' fights that aired on various networks (including HBO, although King has largely promoted fights for Showtime since 1991). He is best known for his catchphrase, "It's show time!"[1]
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"The Classy" Jimmy Lennon Jr. has been a ring announcer for over 25 years during which he has been at the microphone for some historic fights, including Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield and Winky Wright vs. Félix Trinidad.[1] He followed in the footsteps of his father Jimmy Lennon who was a ring announcer as well. He also announces MMA fight cards for Strikeforce, both the regular MMA shows which air on CBS and Showtime and Strikeforce's SHO XC shows which air on Showtime. He formerly announced fights for the now-defunct Elite XC mixed martial artspromotion, and also for the K-1 fight promotion in Japan.
He has appeared as himself in several movies. Most notable are Hot Shots and I Spy.[2]
Lennon has been inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame.