Jim Gray or Larry Merchant

[Popshots]

Who do you dislike more as a professional, Larry Merchant or Jim Gray?

Concerning Merchant its a love hate thing. There are times when I don't care for him because he's very biased, but sometimes he tells the truth when it needs to be said. He asks questions that fans want to know during post fight interviews. Also he said "crunk" LOL, how can I totally be against him. You never know what you'll get with this guy.

Jim Gray, I just can't stand the guy at all. Always bringing up the past to remind a fighter of past mistakes during interviews. As a person, I don't know him, but as a professional there is just something about him I don't particularly like.

What are you thoughts on these two?

[kirk]

i hate gray... and like you said... sometimes i like larry, sometimes i hate him.. depends how he is. i do NOT like his interviews and wish they would get someone else to do them... it takes him a year to even think of the next question and he has a hard time spitting it out.

[El Bombasto]

Merchant's alright so long as he limits himself to a maximum of 4 bourbons during each fight

[Jennifer Love Hewitt]

Larry Merchant is awesome!
Jim Gray sucks hairy goat balls.

[Brendan]

I don't think Merchant is biased at all. He tells it exactly how it is--no punches pulled.

Jim Gray is a total annoying douche, probably a character designed by Showtime to be their version of Merchant. It's a total failure however.

[fatcity]

Merchant is the master.Imitators or wannabe Larry's are awful.:-(

[brooklyn1550]

Jim Gray

[IntentionalButt]

I don't get the appeal of Jim Gray. Who is it that thought/thinks he should be on television?? :?

[DamonD]

Jim Gray, all the way.

I quite like Merchant, drunken old rambler he is.
Gray on the other hand is just a jerk.

[Kolya]

Jim Gray is a jackass. You know when you piss off a nice guy like Kostya Tszyu, you're a clown.

[Dostoevsky]

Merchant is a living legend plain and simple.
Sure he gets a bit pissed when two fighters aren't knocking chunks out of each other but let the poor old man have his drunken say, eh?

Jim Gray is a fool,he manages to ask the most inappropriate questions and even when asks an appropriate one he puts it in a disrepesctful tone.

*fighter gets knocked out*

Gray: So how does it feel to get knocked out like that?

:patsch

[C.J.Rock]

Merchant is a living legend plain and simple.
Sure he gets a bit pissed when two fighters aren't knocking chunks out of each other but let the poor old man have his drunken say, eh?

Jim Gray is a fool,he manages to ask the most inappropriate questions and even when asks an appropriate one he puts it in a disrepesctful tone.

*fighter gets knocked out*

Gray: So how does it feel to get knocked out like that?

:patsch

Thats when the fighter should show him by knocking his ass out

[MilesP]

I don't get the appeal of Jim Gray. Who is it that thought/thinks he should be on television?? :?


agree 100%. and out of all sports, why is he working in boxing ??

he might be a good fit for figure skating :D...seriously.

[IntentionalButt]

Gray needs to realize he's not some muckraking investigative reporter on Capitol Hill; he's in sports media (read: not very important in the scheme of things). He seems to have the misbegotten notion that his style of hardnosed journalism, by which he probably fancies himself gutsy and edgy, is only courageous in the right context. Interviewing boxers is not it. There's no demand for 'the hard questions' because nobody fucking cares. Nobody expects athletes to be perfect orators, or even perfect people. We expect them to compete, nothing more. Interviews should consist of "What's your strategy?" "I'm going to knock his ass out!" "Ok thanks a lot". That's it. May as well not even conduct them, as far as I'm concerned. There's certainly no need to put a professional fighter trying to keep his mind on the task at hand before the fight, or absorbing his experience after a fight, under the hotlights with sustained hostile interrogation.

[markbrooklyn]

I HATE Jim Gray he's a real piece of shit, a real slimeball

[robert ungurean]

Gray is a dick simple as that.

[IntentionalButt]

everybody's got at least a few supporters. atlas, kellerman, merchant, farhood - all these guys have about as many fans as detractors. who the FUCK is going to bat for Jim Gray? why does he even have a job? :lol::lol:

[K0NPHL1C7]

The only reason Gray has a job is he creates dramma in his interviews by putting athleates ont he spot with blunt questions.

[IntentionalButt]

The only reason Gray has a job is he creates dramma in his interviews by putting athleates ont he spot with blunt questions.
But it's not even entertaining. It's not like he asks the burning questions, and says what fight fans are thinking. He looks for any opportunity to create or exploit conflict, however petty. It's just embarassing to watch, tedious, and makes one feel very sorry for anyone who has to fight in a big fight on Showtime and go through this inconvenience.

[Jason997]

Gray has been the much more successful broadcaster of the two. He has worked for a lot of networks. Basketball, football etc. Major events like NBA finals, superbowls, world series. Boxing has always been his side job. But in any case, I like Merchant a lot more.

- Jason

[Club Fighter]

They're both dicks. I live for the day a fighter wigs out and batters them.

[Arthur]

Larry Merchant is awesome!
Jim Gray sucks hairy goat balls.


Damn right!

[Druid]

Gray is creepy, Merchant is brilliant, enough said.

[A-50]

Merchant asks legit questions, Gray is just an asshole that tries to be a jerk.

[Thor]

Thats when the fighter should show him by knocking his ass out

:good He keeps it up, it just might happen.

[Lance_Uppercut]

Fuck Jim Gray. At least Merch knows about boxing. Gray's just a sports commentater.

[Sweet Jones]

While both can be jerks, at least Jim Gray understands how to ask questions and not inject himself into the interview.

The problem I have with Merchant is that he's allowed his color commentary role to negatively affect his interview role. The 'journalist' and 'commentator' hats are vastly different.

Rather than ask pertinent questions during post fight interviews, he instead uses that time to validate his own color commentary. The problem comes in when his color commentary is wrong, the post-fight interviews make him look foolish. See the PBF/Baldomir post fight interview, where in spite of PBF confirming he hurt his right hand and felt he was on his way to a KO, Merchant wants to press the notion that PBF's style is 'not entertaining'.

These are grown @zz men you're talk to, and they, like most of us, will not stand there and allow you to 'editorialize' your way through an interview, when in fact they (the boxer) should be the one doing the talking.

[See Me Flow]

Jim Gray's style is bland. He has nothing on Merchant or Lampley.

[CarltonBlues]

Bob Sheridan

[Clinton]

Larry Merchant may be a windbag,and a drunk one at that,but at least he knows,loves and respects the sport.The idiot that that station needs to remove is Jim Lampley,who opens his mouth and says the complete opposite of what you and I just saw on the TV.Jim Gray asks impertinent questions for the sake of putting the fighter on the spot just to antagonize.He is a disgrace.I remember his interviewing an English-limited speaking Mexican fighter after a rough bout.When the fighter responded in Spanish through a translator,genius Gray said,"English,English".So the jackass got short and limited responses instead of an insight or 2 from a fighter who had just fought some tough rounds.

[Arriba]

Larry Merchant truly loves this sport. Jim Gray loves the paycheck.

[hmm]

hmm says...
I like Larry Merchant... at least we know he's ready to throw down especially after a couple of shots.:D
[Only registered and activated users can see links]

[FINITO]

It's a hit or miss when it comes to Merchant.. Sometimes he's cool and funny as hell but then there are times when i feel like punching his lights out.. He's old and doesn't know how to hide his feelings which makes him unprofessional at times.

Gray is an asshole most of the times. It's a matter of time before a wild man like Mayorga comes along and breaks his nose.. I remember when he got punked by James Toney after the Holyfield fight.. lol. He said something stupid and Toney knocked the mic out of his hand and the look on his face was classic.

[MemoCan]

Larry Merchant by far and above.

[Punisher33]

It's a hit or miss when it comes to Merchant.. Sometimes he's cool and funny as hell but then there are times when i feel like punching his lights out.. He's old and doesn't know how to hide his feelings which makes him unprofessional at times.

Gray is an asshole most of the times. It's a matter of time before a wild man like Mayorga comes along and breaks his nose.. I remember when he got punked by James Toney after the Holyfield fight.. lol. He said something stupid and Toney knocked the mic out of his hand and the look on his face was classic. I personally like Merchant alot, he tells like it is and if a fight sucks ass, he's going give his opinion. Kellerman is gay, and instead of commentating he should be filling Larry's shot glass between rounds.

Jim Gray is a joke, I cant remember how many times he looked like a straight up pussy in the ring. I know some people remember how he gets when he's nervous, he starts get those scared eyes like he's about to have panic attack. If anyone wants to see Gray look like a puss, watch him after the Tyson/Neilson fight, he was getting pushed from the back and it looked like he wanted to cry.

[Hatesrats]

Max Kellerman (He's on too many fighter's Dick)

[hmm]

It's a hit or miss when it comes to Merchant.. Sometimes he's cool and funny as hell but then there are times when i feel like punching his lights out.. He's old and doesn't know how to hide his feelings which makes him unprofessional at times.
.


hmm says...
I think u summed it right there..the guy is kinda like my old man. he's someone a lot of people can relate to/ down to earth.

[Farmboxer]

I like Larry Merchant. When Vitali knocked out Teddy Atlas' fighter Kirk Johnson in the second round at MSG, he said that Vitali harpooned the whale.

[kartog]

Are you kidding me? Larry Merchant is a legend in boxing. Jim Grey is a walking caricature of what's wrong in sports coverage nowadays.

The question shouldn't even have been posed.

Appreciate Larry while you still can.

For all his drinks and sometimes direct views, Larry's a perfect fit for boxing. If you're the politically correct jerk and gets bothered by the type of commentary Merchant gives, go find a neutered sport because it is what it is and boxing is a fistfight, and Merchant is first and foremost a fan, so there would be times he'll be the biased guy that he sometimes is.

[Farmboxer]

I remember when Grey insulted Kostya Tszyu.

[Farmboxer]

Tszyu told him he was rude. Grey was rude to many fighters.

[doomeddisciple]

Jim Gray is an arsehole of the highest order.

Disresectful, just an ugly human being.

At least Larry calls it as he see's it and has put his money where his mouth has been since the day he invested in a Philly HW by the name of Joe Frazier.

Marchant >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Gray

[MAG1965]

Who do you dislike more as a professional, Larry Merchant or Jim Gray?

Concerning Merchant its a love hate thing. There are times when I don't care for him because he's very biased, but sometimes he tells the truth when it needs to be said. He asks questions that fans want to know during post fight interviews. Also he said "crunk" LOL, how can I totally be against him. You never know what you'll get with this guy.

Jim Gray, I just can't stand the guy at all. Always bringing up the past to remind a fighter of past mistakes during interviews. As a person, I don't know him, but as a professional there is just something about him I don't particularly like.

What are you thoughts on these two?I do not like Gray, He is too negative and tries to get reaction from guys. Gray is terrible. Merchant is better.

[cpnasty]

I decry Gray

[Cholo]

Merchant is in the HOF while Gray is a nobody.

[Curtis Lowe]

I HATE Jim Gray he's a real piece of shit, a real slimeball


I agree, well said.

[Superfuzz]

Who do you dislike more as a professional, Larry Merchant or Jim Gray?

Concerning Merchant its a love hate thing. There are times when I don't care for him because he's very biased, but sometimes he tells the truth when it needs to be said. He asks questions that fans want to know during post fight interviews. Also he said "crunk" LOL, how can I totally be against him. You never know what you'll get with this guy.

Jim Gray, I just can't stand the guy at all. Always bringing up the past to remind a fighter of past mistakes during interviews. As a person, I don't know him, but as a professional there is just something about him I don't particularly like.

What are you thoughts on these two?
Larry Merchant is definitely the professional commentator and writer. Merchant makes it sound classic. Merchant was around boxing during the classic years too. He has seen it all. And he isn't afraid of telling it like it is. He isn't a follower, or someone that echoes herd mentality opinions that so many get caught up in, like many on this forum do.

Jim Grey is a little punk dork, that doesn't know the word professional. Some of his post fight interviews are a joke, and so unprofessional. HBO is so much better than Showtime. I wish every fight was on HBO.