Season 2: #34 Larry Merchant

May 13, 2020, 11:34 AM

Larry Merchant was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2009. For 35 years he was the conscience of HBO Boxing, working alongside the likes of George Foreman, Gil Clancy, Jim Lampley and Emanuel Steward.

But he's been in boxing far longer. Here, Larry recalls covering his first major fight, Sugar Ray Robinson against Carmen Basilio in 1957, being an early investor in Joe Frazier's journey, interviewing Sonny Liston, flying to Zaire with Muhammad Ali, falling out with some of boxing's big guns and much, much more.

His iconic post-fight interviews with the likes of Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins have become part of boxing folklore, along with the infamous night he told Floyd Mayweather, "If I was 50 years younger I'd kick your ass."


Larry Merchant was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2009. For 35 years he was the conscience of HBO Boxing, working alongside the likes of George Foreman, Gil Clancy, Jim Lampley and Emanuel Steward. But he's been in boxing far longer. Here, Larry recalls covering his first major fight, Sugar Ray Robinson against Carmen Basilio in 1957, being an early investor in Joe Frazier's journey, interviewing Sonny Liston, flying to Zaire with Muhammad Ali, falling out with some of boxing's big guns and much, much more. His iconic post-fight interviews with the likes of Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins have become part of boxing folklore, along with the infamous night he told Floyd Mayweather, "If I was 50 years younger I'd kick your ass."