HBO began covering boxing on January 22, 1973 with it’s coverage of the Joe Frazier vs George Foreman bout in Jamaica. However, their boxing calendar only consisted of a major fight or two a year until 1981, when they starting showing fights on a regular basis.
The commentating team at time included Barry Tompkins as the lead, Larry Merchant as the color man, and Sugar Ray Leonard as the boxing expert. They made an excellent team, with the classy Tompkins announcing, the cerebral Merchant adding wisdom to each show, and Leonard giving a fighter’s perspective. I only saw HBO fights on a rare occasion in it’s infancy, since we didn’t have cable in our house. I did however, build an extensive library of VHS taped fights over the years, and got a chance to see the earlier shows that way.
Tompkins stayed with HBO until early 1988, when he was replaced by Jim Lampley of ABC sports. His first call was the March 21st bout between Mike Tyson and Tony Tubbs in Tokyo, Japan. Tyson easily disposed of the overweight Tubbs, and I did see it live over my sister’s apartment.
I loved Jim Lampley from the very start. I had always liked Barry Tompkins, but to me Jim was even better. He had a perfect voice, and he had practiced his craft covering boxing on ABC for a few years beforehand.
Lampley remained the voice of HBO boxing until it’s final show in late 2018. Larry Merchant remained his color man until December of 2012, and was replaced by Max Kellerman. The boxers that finished the trio for each broadcast varied through the years, but Sugar Ray Leonard and George Foreman were the two best by far. And to me Jim Lampley is the best boxing commentator to ever do it.
I’ve spent countless hours in my lifetime watching HBO fights, with a huge amount of that from my vast VHS library. I often worked out in my home gym with a tape playing, so often it felt like Jim Lampley was a part of my family. The memories of those times last forever in my mind, and I will always miss HBO and it’s magnificent coverage of boxing. Their slogan said it better than I could. HBO. Simply the Best!
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