Iconic boxing analyst Larry Merchant is in critical condition after suffering an undisclosed medical emergency at his Los Angeles-area home.
According to reports from TMZ, Merchant was rushed to a critical care unit on Thursday night. He remains in critical condition and exact details on what led up to his hospital stay are unknown as of this writing.
The 92-year-old Merchant is arguably the most renowned boxing analyst in the history of the sport. He was a staple of HBO Boxing commentary alongside top analysts like Roy Jones Jr., George Foreman, and Lennox Lewis during his career.
Merchant retired from broadcasting and HBO in 2012 after a career in boxing that lasted decades. He received the Sam Taub Award for Boxing Broadcast Journalism in 1985.
Larry Merchant, 92, Rushed To Los Angeles Hospital After Medical Emergency
During his career, Merchant was embroiled in a fair share of controversy with legendary boxers, including Floyd Mayweather. He and Mayweather shared a hostile post-fight interview following Mayweather’s win over Victor Ortiz in Sept. 2011.
Merchant has been an outspoken critic of mixed martial arts, and specifically the UFC, in recent years. He has criticized MMA as not being about technical fighting, similar to early criticisms of the sport from the likes of the late United States Senator John McCain and others.
Merchant interviewed the likes of Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, and Mayweather during his illustrious broadcasting career. He was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2002, and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2009.
I remember that interview with Mayweather. After the interview he was talking to the other broadcasters and said even if he was 50 years younger Mayweather would have fucked him up.
I actually have a lot of fond memories of watching Larry Merchant being Larry Merchant. My dad and I were huge boxing fans in the 90’s and we would laugh our asses off at the crazy shit that old bastard would say, from his rambling stories that barely had a discernible point to the nerve be had to actually diss professional prize fighters to their faces. You always knew you’d get something wild with that dude. We figured he was a drunk but I’m not sure about that. He was kind of like Joe Biden. He was a grumpy old fart who got a pass because saying crazy shit seemed like all he knew how to do.
No…fuck baseball - I spend hours here attempting to educate tards such as yourself…your statement about ring experience mattering for a commentator is straight up retarded.
