HBO is out of the boxing business, but once featured the stellar crew of Andre Ward (L), Jim Lampley (C) and Max Kellerman. (Photo courtesy HBO)

There is more boxing available to watch in the U.S., either on television or online, than there ever has been before.

That is a huge boost to a sport that has often been relegated to second- or third-tier status, promoted poorly, where it was often the case that the biggest and potentially best fights were the hardest to see.

These days, you almost have to try to miss all the boxing on television or streaming. ESPN has partnered with Top Rank, long the country’s leading promoter, for a series of shows on television and streamed on ESPN+.

Fox is just beginning a deal with the Premier Boxing Champions for a series of shows on both Fox and the cable channel Fox Sports 1.

While HBO, which for decades was the unquestioned leader in boxing television in the U.S., gave up on the sport last year, Showtime remains firmly in the midst and continues to be a market leader.

And DAZN, an online streaming service headed by ex-ESPN president John Skipper which has seemingly unlimited financial resources, has made boxing the centerpiece of its efforts in the U.S. But it’s not just fights that are streaming now. It’s also doing news conferences and weigh-ins and studio shows.

I did a Twitter poll recently in which I asked fans to rank their favorite set of boxing announcers from Fox (including FS1), Showtime, DAZN and ESPN (including ESPN+ and all the other ESPN networks boxing may appear on) and the results were overwhelming.

Going to do a column for down the road on the best boxing broadcast crews in U.S. Going to consider play-by-play, analysts, studio & roving reporter. Let me know which crew you like best. If other, reply in comments. — Kevin Iole (@KevinI) February 6, 2019





Showtime got 53 percent of the votes, nearly doubling runner-up ESPN, which got 27 percent. DAZN got 15 percent of the votes and Fox got five percent.

Before ranking the crews from each network overall and then of the individuals within their specialties, here are five important points about boxing on television that cross all networks:

There are too many people in most of the booths. It waters down the product and makes it difficult to have a coherent broadcast which is simple to follow.

Andre Ward, the former super middleweight and light heavyweight champion, is hands down the best boxing broadcaster in the U.S. And it’s not close.

Play-by-play is a big weakness. Jim Lampley, who did the blow-by-blow with distinction for so many years on HBO, is sorely missed.

Interviewing trainers as the fight is going on adds nothing — it’s often difficult to hear what the trainer is saying because of the crowd noise — and can interfere with the trainer doing his job during competition.

Segments where analysts breakdown tape and explain why something is working are incredibly useful in allowing the viewer to more thoroughly enjoy the fight.

Let’s now get into my ranking of each of the crews, as well as what they do well, what they don’t do well and things they should change.

1. ESPN

Play-by-play: Joe Tessitore.

Analysts: Timothy Bradley Jr., Andre Ward, Mark Kriegel.

Studio/hosts: Max Kellerman, Kevin Connors.

Interviewer/roving reporter: Bernardo Osuna.

Since ESPN got rid of the silly and contrived arguments between Stephen A. Smith and Teddy Atlas, their broadcasts have improved immensely. Smith doesn’t really have a place on the boxing broadcasts given his limited knowledge. Atlas is very useful in pre-recorded fight breakdowns, but he’s a conspiracy theorist and often goes off the rails when he’s on live.

Tessitore is a B- to me. He’s professional, but he doesn’t call the action nearly as well as Lampley and doesn’t do anything to thrill you.

Ward is far better ringside than he is in the studio/host position, though he is good there. Ward sees what is happening and can relate it quickly and simply to the viewer with no jargon. Bradley is newer to broadcasting and less polished than Ward, but he has immense potential. Kriegel best serves the viewers in the studio. His interviews with the fighters are unmatched and the features he does are first-rate. He has a great institutional knowledge he can rely upon. Kriegel and Kellerman could form a formidable duo in the studio/host position. Having Osuna, who is bilingual and can translate interviews on the fly quickly, is a plus. Unfortunately, ESPN broadcasts often act as if there is no other boxing and that whatever is on ESPN is by far the best.

2. Showtime

Play-by-play: Mauro Ranallo.

Analysts: Al Bernstein, Paulie Malignaggi, Steve Farhood.

Studio/host: Brian Custer and various fighters.

Interviewer/reporter: Jim Gray.

View photos Jim Gray (C), shown here between Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter at a July 2018 news conference, is an integral part of Showtime’s boxing broadcasts. (Getty Images) More

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