Long have fans complained about the standards of boxing commentary in the sport, with particular outlets getting more notoriety than others.
From the golden stateside tones of Jim Lampley, Joe Tessitore, and Stu Nahan to top UK commentary from Harry Carpenter and Ian Darke, boxing has seen plenty of knowledgeable descriptors who keep us on the edge of our seats.
But sadly, in more recent years, the levels have dropped. It’s coming to the point now where a lot of it is inaudible and drab.
There are far too many outlets, networks, and streaming services that the standards no longer remain high. Fans should have the right to turn it off.
Giving boxing fans the option to still have the atmosphere without someone talking drivel over the action should now be a fundamental right.
It’s unbelievable that it’s not widespread in the new wave of apps and digital media yet.
The first broadcaster to do this will undoubtedly get high praise.
No longer would we have to have gibberish waffled down our ears by someone we didn’t choose to listen to on the night.
It has to be an essential function of boxing coverage moving forward.
And it’s not just boxing, either. Football in the United Kingdom has suffered from commentary bias that gets shoveled in our faces for years.
We are talking about top networks too. It’s not just broadcasters underneath fighting for coverage scraps. Something needs fixing, and it’s not even that drastic a move.
The partisanship of UK boxing commentary is annoying. Ryan didn’t do anything of note in round 7 but they were on and on about how Ryan’s size had Farias in retreat. Meanwhile, Farias was PIECING HER UP that whole round! 5-2 Farias.
— Mark Ortega (@MarkEOrtega) March 12, 2022
BOXING COMMENTARY MUTE
A simple commentary mute button for the microphone would suffice. It would certainly allow fans to keep the atmosphere and watch the fight as if experiencing the crowd.
There’d no longer be a need to turn the sound completely off to score a boxing fight. Many fans, media sources, and journalists do this when attempting to block out one-sided commentary and bad judging that is also rife in the sport.
A simple boxing commentary mute button is all we need in this instance, so let’s see who will be the first to offer it.
The views expressed in this article are opinions of Phil Jay.
Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. Founding editor of World Boxing News since 2010. WBN has over one billion views on all platforms.
Attending over 200 events and scoring over 400 fights, Phil has overseen WBN to a quarter of a million followers on social media.
Furthermore, follow WBN on Twitter @WorldBoxingNews.