Boxing fans anticipating the clash between a pair of undisputed champions in Canelo Álvarez and Jermell Charlo should know that a familiar and distinct voice will be returning. Big fight. Las Vegas. Jim Lampley. It’s almost like he never left.
But Lampley, the longtime HBO announcer and International Boxing Hall of Famer, has not called a fight since the network got out of the boxing business five years ago. Until this week, at least, when Lampley took that voice and his depth of knowledge into his new gig at PPV.com. Lampley will provide reports and commentary during fight week for the organization’s website and social media accounts. He’ll also host a “live viewer chat” from T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night.
Sports Illustrated caught up with Lampley on life outside of boxing, his impressions of the sport today and his post-HBO gig as an adjunct professor at North Carolina. He’s no longer focused on the sweetest of sciences but on his course, titled, “The Evolution of Story Telling in American Electronic News Media.”
