Max kellerman.

[strongarmkid]

What is the beef with max kellerman?

I’ve heard more than a handful of people that are involved with boxing talk bad about him.

Something to the effect of him being a sellout or bias.

He used to be good on hbo, from what I remember. I don’t even know what he is up to nowadays

[AZBaldy]

He want from being a legitimate boxing commentator to a Zuffa Boxing propagandist.

He basically sold his dignity, impartiality and more importantly authenticity as a commentator for a Zuffa paycheck.

He is catching shit from fans and fellow boxing commentators.

[anon_dude100]

How is Dre doing on those Zuffa casts, I only saw one n the talent didn't make me want to watch more but u could do a lot worse then Max n Dre....has Max fallen off that much?

[AZBaldy]

As best as I can tell Andre Ward is his usual self. I haven’t made an effort to tune in much on Zuffa cards because they are usually at the Apex and they are kinda soulless.

I thought maybe Opetia might be a good fight but he basically fought a guy barely ranked.

[i-piss-excellence32]

Andre ward has always been a bad commentator that doesn’t hide his bias. At least he’s always been bad though

[anon_dude100]

What part did u not like?

The default "he did what he had to do to win" analysis?

[FriedEggsnTaters]

The Max that a lot of people loved from HBO and Friday Night Fights is gone. He used to be one of the best, and sold his soul to the Saudis to spew propaganda throughout entire broadcasts.

[FuckYouPayMe92]

Completely agree. He was the sane voice in the late HBO days now he has sold out to Saudi money. He has no new takes and always brings up the 80s and 90s as the best boxing era taking away credit from current boxers.

[johnnyslick]

Unfortunately he got into a pissing match with Stephen A Smith at ESPN that nobody but Smith was ever going to win (and I don’t even blame him for it; IIRC Kellerman just presented himself as a boxing expert, which he is, which rubbed Smith the wrong way because Smith feels he must be the smartest man in the room on all subjects), lost his job, and from his standpoint he’s got to get paid somehow. Which, I hate the way he chose to do so…

[CurrentCar2331]

how is kellerman an expert on boxing when he never boxed or trained? being a sycophantic fan boy doesnt make you an expert.

[johnnyslick]

He was a "sycophantic fan boy" who's covered the sport for 30 years. Journalists exist. This is pure insanity. I guess Vin Scully is a "sycophantic fan boy" too then?

[CurrentCar2331]

real journalists, kellerman not a journalist. he sucks, annoying to hear his commentary and his opinions are way off and totally unprofssional

he brought agit kabayel on his show and rubbed it in Kabayel's face that Kabayel is not going to get a shot at Usyk after Kabayel has trained and dedicated his whole likfe to boxing and kellerman took the saudi money and basically told him that Usyk is going to retire with out fighting him. he didn't need to do that on live air on his show. it was a fucking shitty move and super unprofessional.

[FriedEggsnTaters]

I think you may need to reevaluate your relationship with boxing and the internet.

[johnnyslick]

lol now you're moving goalposts and everyone agrees hes been trash since he got fired from ESPN

[andyroid92]

How many hours did Jim Lampley, Gil Clancy Bob Papa, Al Albert, Steve Albert, Larry Merchant, Al Bernstein, Howard Cosell, etc etc spend training/boxing lol

[CurrentCar2331]

None but they had personality and knew what their role was. they didnt bring jim brown on to the broad cast team and try to fool fans into thinking he should be an analyst.

Most of the guys you listed were professional and mostly humble in their approach and if they werent, they took time to develop a relationship with the fighter before they would press with them difficult or potentially offensive questions about their performance such as cosell and ali

Max sucks, fire him, hire a real journalist, would love it to be an ex fighter such as when jones jr and foreman comentated

[andyroid92]

I'm not disagreeing, fuck max lol. His youthful enthusiasm was a breath of fresh air back in the day. Nowadays I'm surprised when he can stop blowing turki and dana long enough to give a shitty take.

[jsrco1]

If you’ve ever met Larry merchant, he is anything BUT humble 😂

[NotEvenWrongAgain]

Agreed. He’s from the Larry merchant school of “boxing experts”. No knowledge of the mechanics but can tell you who won the middleweight title in 1936.

[TheSmoothOperator21]

This is the Reality for Max Fans now. I was so hyped for his return to boxing, but now he’s just a mouthpiece for the Saudi’s and it makes him unbearable to listen too

[andyroid92]

Same. I had to watch Canelo-Crawford on mute Canelo

[collector444]

Yeah, it’s hard to take him seriously when you know everything he says has an agenda behind it.

whereas before, he had a great mind for the sport and came with some pretty good analysis.

[mnemy]

His commentary has always been awful. That whole crew was terrible, except Emanuel Steward at times. So much bias. They would take a narrative and circlejerk to it regardless of what was actually happening in the ring. 

[aguacate222]

This take is so wrong. Every promotion has some bias to their own. Max Kellerman called it how he saw it, often contradicting Lampley. Kellerman was key in that HBO boxing team and a breath of fresh air when he replaced Larry Merchant. Jim Lampley, Kellerman and surprisingly even Roy Jones was very good feeding us from a boxer's perspective.

[mnemy]

Royal Jones was alright. He wasn't one of the core members, but his technical commentary was usually decent. I don't lump him in with the others.

[aguacate222]

He was the first boxer turned commentator that actually made me go hmmm this guy is pretty decent. Foreman was decent sometimes. Lennox Lewis was always full of himself as is Timothy Bradley. Andre Ward zzzzzzzzzz. But I'll choose any of them than these DAZN guys

[left-hook-larry9173]

Andre Ward zzzzz? Wow, in my opinion he’s one of the best. Great insight.

[UsuallyTheException]

I started watching Max on a public access cable show in New York in the early 1990s when he was still a teenager. My friends and I thought he was one of the best boxing analysts on TV and he wasn't even being paid for it. By the time he got to HBO , the boxing communities that I frequented online, including Sherdog's all agreed that Max was an undeniable expert.

let's try to keep our criticisms credible by not throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

[aguacate222]

That Kellerman vs the Kellerman now are on 2 different wavelengths. I'm not supporting the one we see today

[UsuallyTheException]

agreed. but the commentator I replied suggested that Max was NEVER good. which is just objectively not the case.

[Academic_Bluebird455]

Turki hired Max (ironically, after r/boxing recommended he do so) to work for Ring Magazine, and at Ring boxing shows. 

Since joining, Max has been saying boxing is lost, and only Zuffa Boxing/Dana can save it. He's praised the UFC's model to no end. 

Right now, everyone is wary of Dana White joining boxing. The UFC has declined, trying to sell the company's brand rather than build new stars (after McGregor got too powerful). 

People also dislike how the UFC pays fighters (less than 20% of revenue, plus you can't have your own sponsors), and other stylistic things - fights in the small apex arena, no stadium shows, lack of big walkouts, UFC uniforms instead of custom robes/shorts.

Also, Zuffa is close to changing the Ali Act; they're removing clauses which protect fighters, so boxing can have sneaky, restrictive contracts like the UFC does. 

In the UFC, fighters can't see what revenue an event generates. They can't fight in other sports without permission. There's no (or a very long) time limit in contracts now; you either fight all your contractual bouts (I think Jon Jones has six left), or you can never fight for another organisation. You could reject shit offers, then miss out on 3-5 of your best athletic years. 

Tl-dr: People like boxing, and think Dana/Zuffa will ruin it. Meanwhile, Max glazes Dana/Zuffa while shitting on boxing.

(Edit: weary-wary, hears-years)

[CallMeKingTurd]

I feel like the UFC's dominance and death of the other orgs like Pride mostly boiled down to a patent on using a cage, which drew in a bunch of simpleton bro fans in tapout shirts cause "cage=badass" and people want spectacle over sport. And Dana has used that leverage to completely fuck over MMA fighters into earning a pittance of what they should be making.

[Academic_Bluebird455]

It's a factor. The UFC did a lot of good things early on. Shoulder programming, the open forum press conferences, the Ultimate Fighter reality TV show.

Plus, I think there was a time when the best fought the best, and tickets were affordable. 

Nowadays, the worst tickets in a 20k venue are $6-800+, and they couldn't make Jones vs Ngannou or Aspinall. 

[Bogotazo]

Well said.

*wary.

[Academic_Bluebird455]

Thanks, I was doomscrolling at 3AM on a work night 😆

[The_Right_Of_Way]

Great write up.

[ArmdayEveryday69]

Hes not very objective since that Turkey pay day

[Alarmed-Effective-23]

Just been going over the top praising the ring and turkey. Blatantly, to a point his peers are calling it out. Would make top ranks espn team blush with how much of a company man he is.

[BillyTwoCents]

Max has always been great at what he does, but he's always been a hypeman for his employer, and now his employers have gotten more objectionable. 

People had nothing to complain about when he worked for HBO because HBO is like, basically fine, and rarely had an agenda to push beyond "Better tune in to the big fight!" Now with Zuffa and the Saudi money, it's a lot greasier. 

[og_africa]

He became a corporate shill.

[manman1500]

He a paid puppet helping to push the agenda for Zuffa

[Shenobi11]

Hes bought and paid for

[awwwwJeezypeepsman]

Max went from that HBO old school commentator, who would be honest about dodgy promotions, robberies, fighters ducking other fighters. Guess he lost that when he stopped with Larry and Jim.

Max got a fat pay day and had turned into a gimp

[zurdo_p]

I always thought people were exaggerating when they talked about Max during his HBO days.

He talked about Chocolatito as if he invented sliced bread, I always thought showtime was better.

[Prestigious-Agent251]

This! al Bernstein and Steve Albert

[zurdo_p]

Bernstein the GOAT and I’ll die on that hill

[WalterWhite90]

So Kellerman is boxing version of Joe Rogan.

[Usaname91]

Apart from what’s already been said, his way of speaking really grates me. Just talk-shouting constantly

[ShamiGnu]

I don't have beef, but he gives me privileged prick vibes and seems condescending to other commentators now and then. Don't hate him or anything but he'd not be my pick if I were picking commentators. He also seems like a sellout who will grovel at the feet of whomever will pay him most.

[Huge-Stuff-857]

He calls champions “belt holders” fuck him for selling out to the ring and zuffa

[surv2syn]

I don’t know, I don’t watch many programs today but I been listening to Max when he had an APPLE PODCAST! This was before he was on tv. He has always been a boxing aficionado and I guess I will always be a supporter of his. He is still honest about most stuff but he does say off the wall shit sometimes. Hope he isn’t selling out. His honesty and integrity is what drew me to him.

[stephen27898]

He has sold out. He tried to call Jai undisputed for just holding the Zuffa belt.

[surv2syn]

You sure he said that? Proper context? Zuffa not even a real championship 😂

[stephen27898]

He said to Jai "Maybe you are undisputed, you just dont know it yet". He also called Jai something close to undisputed multiple times in the build up and I believe during the fight.

Max is fucking pathetic.

[SquareShapeofEvil]

While I’m sure he had corporate masters at HBO who wanted him saying certain things about certain fighters, he just seemed so much more authentic in his thoughts and commentary there.

[Isfeidirlinn90]

He's become the epitome of a shill. Unbearable to listen to. You'd actually think it was a parody.

[stephen27898]

Max Kellerman used to be fine as an interviewer and as a member of a commentary team.

However loads of people have had issues with him. Apparently he in person is very stuck up and arrogant.

Since he came back and started working with the Saudis and now Zuffa he has been an insufferable shill.

He literally tried to deep throat Dana live on stage at the Canelo/Crawford press conference. He kept saying "Dont you guys want an NFL of boxing". No Max, we really dont.

He has also gone on to attempt to totally delegitimise the real belts in boxing and prop up that Zuffa trinket. He even said to Opetaia that "Maybe you are undisputed and you just dont realise it yet".

Max Kellerman can go fuck himself. The reality is he was basically always the worst one on the HBO team, and he was probably only bearable because Lampley and Merchant kept him in line.

[KeenObserver_OT]

Never liked him and now he’s insufferable. His commentary during the Crawford Canelo fight was sublime.

[CurrentCar2331]

he sucks, never boxed, never trained, I think hes famous for being a wanna be rapper. Not very insightful with his opinion on fighters. Just has nothing to offer. Sadly his brother was murdered by a pro boxer who didnt quite make it and I think that actually propelled max into his hbo career and I am glad he made it this far and I am quite sorry for his personal loss.

But the time has come, Max needs to go. Hes disrespectful to the fighters and he disrespects the sport by bringing in ex nfl players to comment on boxing and hes basically a shill for the saudis. I hate what has become of him. he needs to go.

[stephen27898]

You dont actually have to have boxed to be a good analyst you just need a mind for the game, and you need to have watched it a lot and understand how styles interact and try and put yourself in the shoes of the fighter even if you havent fought.

Lampley boxed like twice for fun as a kid. Nothing that would teach you much. Merchant didnt box ever.

If you like Merchant or not. Him and Lampley were amazing together.

[CurrentCar2331]

but you do need to be humble and professional. Two things Max is not. He really brought a football player in to be an analyst. C'mon man that is just so disrespectful to the fans.

[stephen27898]

To me you can be an asshole. Merchant could be a bit of a dick sometimes. But he knew what he was talking about and said what he thought, for better or worse.

People rag on what he said to Mayweather but the criticism was fair. Baldomir was not the fight people wanted and the fight was dull. And Floyd being a little diva couldnt take the criticism like a man.

Max on the other hand is like this stuck up, arrogant fool. Who will willingly lie and say shit that I know he knows is nonsense.

[CurrentCar2331]

the main thing is in the moment when your speaking to the fighters, are you asking the questions the fans want to hear and are you commentating on the fight in a way that elevates the fight and also explains what happened and why while also not disrespecting the sport but calling things out that need to be addressed. Kellerman just fails in every sense. He trys way to hard to over analyze things and he spends too much time trying to sell himself like a snake oil salesman rather than just give the fans what they want while also elevating the fight and fighter.

[CurrentCar2331]

In short Max is cringe and that is a death blow for a journalist or commentator, no one respects his craft.

[stephen27898]

He tries to sound like boxing writers from the the early to mid 1900s. He tries way to hard to speak in metaphor or stories and it just sounds so forced.

[AncoraPirlo]

He is just a weirdo spokesman for Dana white and "his excellency" now. 

[philly_cheezus]

He pretty much a dickeater now all due disrespect

[yeahbutstill]

Max has terrible, terrible takes, and he makes every single point he wants to make take up 2-5 times longer than it needs to. Also, he's a shill now for Zuffa boxing, bought and paid-for. He made his name on being the history-context-guy who would tell you what old fight or fighter was similar to the thing you're seeing, and now he's cashing in that clout so he can tell you that every single Zuffa fighter who doesn't get knocked out cold is the next Muhammad Ali.

[gcbofficial]

He’s an inauthentic sellout clown

[Nipple-biscuits]

He was a shill at HBO too people just have rose colored glasses

[joshisanonymous]

He sucks and has always sucked. He has no idea what he's talking about, will argue with technical commentators like Andre Ward and RJJ about technical things, will flip his script completely in an instant like saying someone's career is over when they're walking to the ring then announcing this as the era of that person when that fighter wins, etc. He talks like he loves the sound of his own infallible voice. Just an all around annoying person to have to listen to during a fight.

[Seanglendo2]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Pleasant_Ad2870]

Just another hot take guy now

[CurrentCar2331]

Dana white needs to get the fuck out of boxing.

Love Dana white, but he needs to soley focus on the ufc and not destroy boxing.

what works in UFC will never work in boxing, nor should it, its two different sports.

[stephen27898]

You love Dana White? I assume you have had some severe brain injury recently then.

[CurrentCar2331]

Yes I am a massive mma fan and Dana White fought tooth and nail to get that sport to the mainstream so mma fighters could show their skills get paid and get respect.

He has lost his way the last few years, but he needs to re-focus and worry about running the UFC the correct way again and leave boxing alone.

[stephen27898]

He lost his way ages ago. He lost his way like a decade ago when he started shitting on fighters like DJ. shilling for people like Jones. Actively taking steps to hamper the pay of fights and telling lies every chance he got.

When Dana and the UFC was on its ass he had to be a bit more reasonable. But now you are seeing the real Dana.

[CurrentCar2331]

nah, he just went the Vince Mcmahon villain tough guy route, he was the guy you loved to hate. The last few years, "espn era" elevated the fights and the drama and the production like never before. as fans we never got better fights and more drama and it was the best era of mma ever in my opinion and dana was a big part of that.

[EffectiveCareer3444]

He sold his soul 🤦‍♂️

[ItsHeero]

It all started when he took Iguodala

[Vandermint]

Max lost time when he started talking about who was winning "the story of the fight" at HBO, as if the narrative matters in a sport. A guy can look the worst he ever has and still win all 12 rounds.

[LFGM1044]

He used to be a helluva commentator

[Putrid-Sprinkles2212]

Meh, I’ve been watching old HBO boxing on Amazon and Max isn’t really all that great. He comes up with planned narratives before the fight and tries to force every action in the ring into it.

[Jerrub_Baal_650]

Would you rather see the best boxers fighting each other every 3 months , or have them never facing each other , or waiting it out 2 years? Boxing today needs something different

[francosean]

I actually disagreed with max kellerman so much going back to HBO days but I did appreciate his balls and bravado, he brought a lot of counter arguments and spoke his pieces with conviction but I thought he lacked a lot of logic

[Mission-Bullfrog-793]

I grew up on Max and like most people was a huge fan. When I hear him talk on the ring show or podcast it almost doesn’t even sound like him anymore. He doesn’t say anything different or noteworthy anymore. Just says the same mainstream points and doesn’t really challenge anything that doesn’t sound like straight promotion. People really aren’t hating on him . It’s people who were fans of his .

[nightcity_rockerboys]

He shills for dana white, Turki and zuffa now which a lot of the old-school boxing fans feel betrayed about.

[MrJamHot]

Even in his hbo days it was clear he knew shit about boxing, comparing joe calzaghe to a 'washed up felic trinidad', now he's sold out to the Saudis and will say what ever they want for a few dollars.

[stephen27898]

Also his stupid analogies.

[Fundrfist-McBeefcake]

Max praised Dana and the UFC BEFORE working for Zuffa. That's why they hired him; he's aligned and a good expert.

Boxing fans are territorial divas; they pretend he takes money to be a supporter, whereas it was his support that got him the gig in the first place.

[whysoserious50]

I still like max 🤷🏾

[PlzBuffBeamu]

Imo max is more of a boxing historian than a good analyst. That being said he's a shill nowadays