Mayweather vs Pacquiao: First poster art for May 2 showdown
February 21, 2015Canelo vs Kirkland fight moves to May 9 to accommodate Mayweather-Pacquiao
February 21, 2015
Jim Lampley, Al Bernstein, and Roy Jones Jr will reportedly call The Fight on May 2.
With Mayweather vs Pacquiao now official, more details on the fight and its presentation as a joint HBO and Showtime venture is starting to come out. One big question many fans have had is who would call the fight, since this was reportedly one of the things Floyd Mayweather had strong feelings on during the negotiations.
If Chris Mannix’s tweet is correct, it sounds like they’ve got it exactly right. HBO’s Jim Lampley and Roy Jones Jr will reportedly call the fight along with Showtime’s Al Bernstein, with Max Kellerman (HBO) and Jim Gray (SHO) as additional reporters handling interviews and such.
Lampley and Bernstein were really the must-haves here, at least in my view, because they are the remaining institutions of boxing broadcast journalism on the major stage. Both are members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame (Bernstein in the class of 2012, Lampley as part of the class of 2015), both have added a great deal to the sport during their many years calling the action, and they just had to be here. With all due respect to the likes of Mauro Ranallo and Kellerman, this is a generation defining fight, and it needed the voices of this generation. Someday, Ranallo and Kellerman may have their own version of a Mayweather-Pacquiao to call.
Do you think this is the right team for the fight, too? Would you have preferred someone subbed in for one of the three? Are you also amazed that Jim Gray not only still exists, but is part of a major sporting event like this in 2015?
