Larry Merchant
| Larry Merchant | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 11, 1931 Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Television journalist, |
| Notable credit(s) | HBO World Championship Boxing Commentator (1978-2012) |
| Spouse(s) | Patricia Stich (former actress) |
| Children | two daughters, three step-sons |
Larry Merchant (born February 11, 1931) is an American former sportswriter, a longtime commentator for HBO Sports presentations of HBO World Championship Boxing, Boxing After Dark and HBO pay-per-view telecasts, and is considered "the greatest television boxing analyst of all time" by ESPN Boxing analyst Dan Rafael.
Merchant was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, on February 11, 1931. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma, Merchant was interested in entering professional sports broadcasting. However due to the fear of anti semitism within the industry possibly halting any chances he had of succeeding, Merchant changed his legal surname "Kaufman" to its literal translation "Merchant". In 1978, Merchant joined HBO Sports as an analyst. Prior to joining HBO Sports, Merchant was a well-regarded sports columnist with the Philadelphia Daily News and a general reporter for the New York Post.
Merchant was part of the HBO Boxing commentary team along with Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman for championship and pay-per-view fights. Previous lineups included Sugar Ray Leonard, George Foreman, Emanuel Steward, and Roy Jones Jr..
Among the fighters who have clashed with Merchant include Mike Tyson, Oscar de la Hoya and, more recently, Floyd Mayweather Jr. The De La Hoya incident came during his fight with Pernell Whitaker. When De la Hoya entered the ring to Mariachi music, Merchant stated that while he loved Mariachi music, he felt that it "stunk" in this particular situation. Merchant would later apologize on the air after De La Hoya tried to have him removed from HBO.
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