Larry Merchant

Larry Merchant
Born February 11, 1931
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation Television journalist,
Notable credit(s) HBO World Championship Boxing Commentator (1978-2012)
Spouse(s) Patricia Stich (former actress)
Children two daughters, three step-sons

Larry Merchant (born February 11, 1931) is an American former sportswriter, a longtime commentator for HBO Sports presentations of HBO World Championship Boxing, Boxing After Dark and HBO pay-per-view telecasts, and is considered "the greatest television boxing analyst of all time" by ESPN Boxing analyst Dan Rafael.[1]

Early life and education

Merchant was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, on February 11, 1931 as Larry Kaufman".[2] After graduating from the University of Oklahoma, Merchant was interested in entering professional sports broadcasting. However due to the fear of anti semitism within the industry possibly halting any chances he had of succeeding, Merchant changed his legal surname "Kaufman" to its literal translation "Merchant". [3] In 1978, Merchant joined HBO Sports as an analyst. Prior to joining HBO Sports, Merchant was a well-regarded sports columnist with The Philadelphia Daily News and a general reporter for The New York Post.

Career

Merchant was part of the HBO Boxing commentary team along with Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman for championship and pay-per-view fights. Previous lineups included Sugar Ray Leonard, George Foreman and Roy Jones Jr..

Among the fighters who have clashed with Merchant include Mike Tyson, Oscar de la Hoya and, more recently, Floyd Mayweather Jr. The De La Hoya incident came during his fight with Pernell Whitaker. When De la Hoya entered the ring to Mariachi music, Merchant stated that while he loved Mariachi music, he felt that it "stunk" in this particular situation. Merchant would later apologize on the air after De La Hoya tried to have him removed from HBO.

Merchant is well known for his post fight interviews which feature his hard-hitting, blunt questions and confrontational interview style. These have drawn both praise and ire in the past. Fans have claimed them to be candid and honest while detractors consider them to be purposely agitating and insensitive at times. An example of this occurred when Vernon Forrest won a controversial decision in 2006 over Ike Quartey. When Forrest thanked those close to him, Merchant quipped, "Would you also like to thank the judges?"

In 1985, Merchant received the Sam Taub Award for Boxing Broadcast Journalism presented by the Boxing Writers Association of America. He is also the author of three books. He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma.

In October 2002, he was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in Los Angeles.

On January 23, 2009, HBO picked up Merchant's two-year option at the end of his 2007 contract. Merchant will continue to alternate "World Championship Boxing" telecasts and HBO PPV cards with Kellerman.[1]

In September 2011, following the Victor Ortiz vs. Floyd Mayweather WBC Welterweight championship fight, Mayweather called for Merchant to be fired due to Merchant saying that Mayweather cheated. After Merchant pressured Mayweather to respond to fans who thought that he had taken advantage of Ortiz' apology (resulting in his win by knock-out), Mayweather grew irritated by Merchant's questioning and interrupted Merchant by saying "You never give me a fair shake...They can put somebody else up here to give me an interview. HBO need to fire you. You don't know shit about boxing. You ain't shit...All of these boxing experts - how can you be a boxing expert if you never had a fight before?" [4] Floyd Mayweather, Jr.'s outburst led to Merchant responding: "I wish I was 50 years younger and I would kick your ass." [4] Later Mayweather defended his outburst by saying that "Everybody is tired of Larry Merchant." [4]

During Merchant's interview immediately following the bout between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Miguel Cotto (May 5, 2012), Merchant acknowledged that Mayweather had apologized the night before the bout and he had accepted the apology.

It was announced by HBO on 12/13/2012 that Larry Merchant would retire from broadcasting after the 12/15/2012 telecast of HBO's World Championship Boxing from Houston, Texas after 35 years of being a boxing commentator on HBO.

Since leaving HBO Merchant has provided commentary for the international English language feed of some Top Rank promoted boxing shows.

References

[5][6][7][8]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "More Merchant for boxing fans - ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. Retrieved 2011-09-18.
  2. ↑ "Boxing: People". HBO. Retrieved 2011-09-18.
  3. ↑ http://www.statesman.com/news/sports/hbos-merchant-back-in-his-ou-days-wouldve-taken--1/nRfgM/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Floyd Mayweather defends outburst at veteran broadcaster". BBC News Online. 18 September 2011.
  5. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0580341/
  6. ↑ "Larry Merchant - Boxrec Boxing Encyclopaedia". Boxrec.com. 2010-05-30. Retrieved 2011-09-18.
  7. ↑ "Larry Merchant – A living legend! » FightFan.com Boxing News". Fightfan.com. 2007-09-01. Retrieved 2011-09-18.
  8. ↑ "Fight with Manny Pacquiao is personal for Oscar De La Hoya - ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2011-09-18.

External links