Table of Contents
Legendary boxing commentator Jim Lampley shares stories from HBO's golden era, reveals the business politics that ended his career, and discusses his remarkable journey from reluctant sideline reporter to the voice of boxing's biggest fights.
The conversation explores iconic moments in boxing history, from calling Mike Tyson's shocking loss to Buster Douglas to working alongside Emanuel Steward and witnessing the sport's evolution over decades.
Key Takeaways
- HBO's boxing dominance ended when AT&T purchased the network, prioritizing predictable programming over combat sports' inherent unpredictability
- Lampley's career began accidentally when ABC assigned him to boxing hoping he would fail, not knowing he'd grown up watching Friday Night Fights
- The controversial Richard Steele stoppage of the Chavez-Taylor fight with two seconds left haunted the referee for years, leading to constant booing
- Emanuel Steward was the most insightful boxing commentator Lampley worked with, teaching him more about the sport than any other expert
- Canelo Alvarez's knockdown resistance comes from his legs and base strength, developed through childhood horseback riding and hunter-jumper training
- Floyd Mayweather strategically waited until Manny Pacquiao aged and slowed down before agreeing to their massive pay-per-view fight
- The sport's finest margins mean most knockouts result from momentary mistakes rather than massive talent gaps between fighters
- Boxing's greatest elevator debate remains Leonard vs. Haggler, with most experts believing Haggler deserved the decision despite Leonard's showmanship
The HBO Golden Era
Jim Lampley's association with HBO boxing created what many consider television's greatest sports broadcasting team. Working alongside Larry Merchant, George Foreman, Roy Jones Jr., and Emanuel Steward, they elevated boxing from "the most barbaric of all sports" into intellectual entertainment.
"The HBO way was to elevate it," Lampley explains. "HBO's executives were smart enough to see that you can treat it as an intellectual event." The key advantage over network television was the absence of commercials, allowing viewers to see crucial between-round corner work that shaped fight narratives.
Bob Raisman of the New York Daily News once wrote that "Lampley, Merchant, and Foreman are the greatest three-man broadcasting team in the history of sports television." This wasn't just Monday Night Football—it was HBO boxing achieving something greater than Gifford, Meredith, and Cosell.
The End of an Era
The end came swiftly when AT&T purchased Time Warner. At a post-awards show event in Hollywood, HBO chairman Richard Plepler pointed out AT&T CEO John Stankey and suggested Lampley introduce himself. After a brief conversation, Lampley returned to Plepler's table with a grim assessment: "I think boxing is dead."
"I could just tell from the way in which he spoke to me and the diffident replies to questions," Lampley recalls. AT&T viewed boxing as unpredictable and unsavory—too many variables, injuries, and real-life upheavals for their corporate comfort. They preferred programming they could control completely.
The Accidental Boxing Career
Lampley's path to boxing started as sabotage. A new ABC Sports president wanted to eliminate him and assigned him to boxing, believing the audience would reject him as Howard Cosell's successor. The executive told Lampley's agent directly: "I'm going to get rid of Jim. I'm going to make him walk away."
What the executive didn't know was that Lampley's first sports memory was his mother sitting him down at age six to watch Sugar Ray Robinson versus Bobo Olson on Gillette Friday Night Fights. "Don Dunphy, crisp, precise, factual, on point. That's who I'm hearing in the back of my head when I call fights," not Cosell.
The irony deepened when ABC had just signed a 19-year-old heavyweight from upstate New York named Mike Tyson. Lampley's first televised fight call was Tyson versus Jesse Ferguson—the famous "drive his nose bone into his brain" fight that launched both their careers.
Iconic Moments and Calls
Two calls define Lampley's legacy. George Foreman's knockout of Michael Moorer inspired the title of his memoir, "It Happened." Foreman had repeatedly told Lampley during prefight conversations: "There will come a moment late in the fight. He will come and stand in front of me and let me knock him out."
When it happened exactly as predicted, Lampley's spontaneous call became: "It happened. It happened." He was essentially speaking directly to Foreman, acknowledging the prediction's fulfillment.
The Tyson-Douglas upset presented a different challenge. Sitting in Tokyo's eerily quiet 34,000-seat arena, watching the count rise while thinking about boxing history, Lampley drew on advice from Jack Nicholson: "Don't overact." The result was the matter-of-fact "Mike Tyson has been knocked out"—letting the moment speak for itself.
The Science of Boxing
Lampley's insights into boxing technique reveal deep understanding developed through years of expert tutelage. He explains Canelo Alvarez's remarkable knockdown resistance not through his chin, but his legs. Canelo's childhood horseback riding—specifically hunter-jumper training—developed extraordinary lower-body strength and balance.
"Everything I do in boxing is upper body and everything I do on the horse is lower body," Canelo once told him. This explains why opponents can't get him off balance despite his relatively small stature. "You can't knock him down because of his legs, his base."
George Foreman taught Lampley that power punching is science, not just physical gifts. "Power punching is the product of real technical knowledge. Power punching is about footwork, weight shift, the angle at which you deliver the punch." Yet some fighters possess inexplicable gifts—Julian Jackson's devastating hook, Deontay Wilder's 209-pound frame flattening heavyweights.
The Art of Matchmaking
Understanding fight dynamics requires recognizing style matchups. "Two counter punchers in front of each other, that's not going to make a fire. Two attackers, guaranteed fire. An attacker versus a counter puncher can also be really good," Lampley explains.
The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight exemplified strategic matchmaking. For years, fans asked Lampley when they'd see the superfight. His response was prophetic: "It's going to be watching somebody pluck the legs off a spider. Mayweather will pluck the legs off the spider that is Pacquiao, step-by-step, and it's not going to be wildly entertaining."
Floyd's genius lay in waiting. When they fought at 152 pounds versus the natural 154, when Pacquiao was older and slower, when he had a shoulder injury—all factors that made Floyd's technical superiority decisive rather than competitive.
Fine Margins and Tragic Consequences
"These are fine margins of competition," Lampley emphasizes. "You think you see a lot of wipeouts in boxing because you see a second round knockout and you think that means there's a huge talent gap. No, it means one fighter made a mistake."
The Juan Manuel Marquez knockout of Manny Pacquiao perfectly illustrates this principle. After three incredibly close fights, one perfectly timed counter shot changed everything. If that moment had occurred in their first fight, the entire narrative would be different.
These fine margins carry tragic weight for referees. Richard Steele's controversial stoppage of Chavez-Taylor with two seconds remaining haunted him forever. Las Vegas crowds booed him at every subsequent introduction, though Lampley notes this was unfair—Steele faced an impossible split-second decision.
The pressure destroyed others. Mitch Halpern committed suicide after the Gabriel Ruelas-Jimmy Garcia fight, where Garcia died from injuries sustained in a bout many felt should have been stopped earlier. Richard Green took his own life after the Ray Mancini-Duk Koo Kim fight that resulted in Kim's death.
The Business vs. The Art
Modern boxing faces challenges that HBO's golden era avoided. Promoter influence over commentary teams, predictable mismatches, and financial incentives that discourage risk-taking all contribute to less compelling television.
HBO's independence allowed honest commentary and genuine surprise. When networks depend on promoter relationships, critical analysis becomes complicated. "The star promoters start getting involved in influencing who's on the air," Lampley observes.
The UFC's model offers interesting contrasts. Their complete control of the product ensures consistent quality throughout fight cards, unlike boxing's top-heavy approach where only main events matter. "The UFC treats the entire card as an enormous event. It's not top-heavy."
Character Studies
Lampley's decades in boxing provided intimate access to extraordinary personalities. Emanuel Steward emerges as his most valued colleague—"the best" among expert commentators including Ray Leonard, George Foreman, and Roy Jones Jr. Steward's well-rounded perspective as both trainer and human being provided unmatched insights.
Muhammad Ali's impact transcended sports: "He was my childhood hero as Cassius Clay." Attending the first Liston fight at age 14, Lampley witnessed Ali's transformation and learned that "a man's identity is his own," regardless of how much fans cherish a particular version.
Mike Tyson appears as a complex figure—"one of the most lovable people in the world" personally, but someone who understood his vulnerabilities better than his own corner. Bernard Hopkins impressed Lampley with "PhD type intelligence" and discipline that sustained excellence into his late forties.
The Crawford-Canelo Prediction
Looking ahead to the potential Terence Crawford versus Canelo Alvarez fight, Lampley draws parallels to Sugar Ray Leonard's victory over Marvin Hagler. Larry Merchant's analysis proves prescient: "Same equation. Get in, get out over and over and over."
Crawford must "figure the angles and approaches that will allow him to step in, land to the body or occasionally upstairs, and then get out before he's facing any damage." The strategy requires frustrating Canelo while avoiding his systematic arm-brutalizing attack and devastating body shots.
Common Questions
Q: What made HBO boxing commentary superior to other networks?
A: No commercials allowed viewers to see between-round corner work, and HBO treated boxing as intellectual entertainment rather than barbaric spectacle.
Q: Why did HBO abandon boxing after decades of success?
A: AT&T's corporate culture valued predictability over the inherent chaos and variables that make combat sports compelling.
Q: What's the most controversial decision in boxing history?
A: The Leonard-Hagler fight remains the ultimate "elevator debate," with most experts believing Hagler deserved the victory despite Leonard's showmanship.
Q: How do referees handle the pressure of life-or-death decisions?
A: Many struggle with the weight of controversial calls, with several prominent referees committing suicide after fights involving serious injuries or deaths.
Q: What separates great fighters from good ones?
A: Intelligence and the ability to objectively analyze their own skills while making necessary adjustments, combined with the mental strength to handle success and failure.
Jim Lampley's career represents boxing's golden age of television coverage, when intelligent commentary elevated the sport beyond simple violence into compelling human drama. His stories reveal both the artistry and tragedy inherent in boxing, while his continued passion for the sport offers hope that great commentary can return when the right opportunity presents itself.
