Examining Max Kellerman's post fight interview of Mayweather!

Was Kellerman right or wrong in the way he conducted the post-fight interview with Floyd Mayweather Jr?  Boxingchronicles.com analyzes!

As of late, there have been many questions and debates as to whether or not HBO boxing analyst Max Kellerman handled his post fight interview with Floyd Mayweather Jr adequately enough following his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez on September 19 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.  Some would argue that the situation involving the entrance of welterweight champion Sugar Shane Mosley and Golden Boy Promotions representative Bernard Hopkins caused the situation to get out of hand.

Others would contest that Kellerman prematurely freaked out when he turned the coverage over to Jim Lampley, illustrating a lack of experience in knowing how to control the situation with all of those participants involved in the post-fight interview process.  After all, Kellerman's interview of Mayweather may have been the precise moment at which Mayweather was about to clarify his willingness to answer Mosley's bold challenge to fight him, but Kellerman carelessly deprived Mayweather of such a golden opportunity and also deprived the fans and viewers of the answers that they may have been searching for from Mayweather.

First of all, let me say that I have the utmost respect for Kellerman as a young boxing historian who is loyally devoted to the sport of boxing which he would truly appear to love dearly.  He is the quintessential addition to the HBO broadcasting team, but this reporter still maintains that the interruptions and illogical questions asked on the part of Kellerman were completely unnecessary, agreeing with Mayweather that he talked too much as he often has a tendency to do during his interviews.

Ever since the post fight interview that took place involving the altercation between Mayweather and Mosley, Kellerman had a chance to share his thoughts with Boxingtalk's very own Michael Gonzalez, admitting that he should have given Mayweather more time to speak once he grabbed the microphone out of his hand.  Kellerman explains:

The reason I wanted to ask the Marquez-Pacquiao question first was because before the opening bell I had said, ‘21 months ago, Floyd Mayweather was the best fighter in boxing, can he make us believe that again tonight.’ And I think for many he did, he made people believe that again. So I wanted to ask that question about the comparison, because ostensibly that's the reason he fights Marquez and I just wanted to end by asking about Pacquiao as a future opponent. Before I could get to the question he took the microphone out of my hand and said you talk too much, and he was right about that, my questions were not short and open ended, and because of the way it went down with Mosley and Golden Boy, I was not giving him enough time to talk. In other words, if I were watching the interview on TV I'd be like 'come on, shut up' you know 'let the fighter talk.' I see Floyd's point of view, I see why he had the impulse to take the microphone out of my hand, but once he does that I have to throw it back to Jim, especially in that situation because you have to have control the microphone if you're conducting an interview and there was no way for me to get it back given the circumstances at the time. It was highly combustible and Floyd was agitated. So at that point I thought the smartest thing to do was throw it back to Jim.

Even before the interview got to that point, the discomfort displayed on the part of Kellerman throughout the entire post-fight incident seemed to demonstrate a lack of experience of his behalf. I do, however, stand firm in my belief that Mayweather was in the wrong to simply grab the microphone out of Kellerman's hand. There is not much that can be done once that happens, especially if HBO has a policy that dictates an announcer must turn the coverage over to Lampley once that has happened (as Kellerman implied in yesterday's interview at Boxingtalk). If that is in fact the case, than Kellerman had no other choice but to act as he did once Mayweather grabbed the microphone.

At this time, Boxingchronicles would like reflect upon Kellerman's course of action throughout the Mayweather interview, which would ultimately  lead to Mayweather's microphone grabbing fiasco.  Please take a moment to indulge Boxingchronicles.com in reviewing the sequence of events as they happened approximately a week and a half ago.

Once the prospects of a potential Mayweather vs. Mosley fight unfolded, Mayweather openly invited Mosley over to the interview that was ensuing, Mosley elected to challenge Mayweather to a fight right then and there, but that is when Kellerman decided to tell Mosley, "Shane, not now!" From this reporter's perspective, that was a major error committed by Kellerman. What elevated Kellerman's mistake to an even larger scale degree of misapprehension was his preferred line of questioning to Mayweather immediately following the incident, suggesting to Mayweather, "Floyd, lets discuss your selection of Marquez as the opponent."

Wait a second, allow me to pause for just one moment.  The Marquez fight had just happened. That fight was history! Mayweather had just clearly defeated Marquez and the fight was already over and done with at that point.  Nobody was particularly concerned about Mayweather's selection of opponent in Marquez, as that question had been repeatedly asked, most notably by ESPN's Brian Kenny, prior to the fight.

Boxing fans, as well as casual sports fans who are even vaguely familiar with Mayweather, were curious as to what Mayweather's future ring endeavors were going to consist of.  Considering the fact that Mosley is one of two fighters the world is eager to see against Mayweather in his next fight, Mosley's involvement in that interview should have much more concentrated than Kellerman allowed.  For Kellerman to tell a hungry, world class pugilist the likes of Mosley,  "Shane, not now," was an incompetent action to take, only to ask Mayweather a ridiculous question that was completely irrelevant to a post-fight interview. Who is Kellerman, simply a boxing analyst, to tell a professional fighter "not now"?

Prize fighters, such as Mayweather, Mosley, and Hopkins are the reason why people pay hard earned money to watch these high profile sporting events. Furthermore, these fighters are the reason why journalists and ringside announcers such as Kellerman get paid substantial salaries to sit at ringside and simply discuss to the viewing audiences across the globe what's happening inside the squared circle.

Love him or hate him, fellow HBO analyst Larry Merchant is not afraid to discuss or foreshadow what the future might bring for fighters during a post fight interview. Had Merchant, or even Kenny been present at that moment rather than Kellerman, such a scenario would have likely transcended into a group interview involving both Mayweather and Mosley. Highly anticipated super fights are often pre-meditated based on circumstances such as that one and Kellerman drained the moment of its essence, and even worse, followed it up with a totally meaningless question that appeared to irritate Money May.

Kellerman is still a young announcer who in the game, appears to recognize mistakes that he makes, and seems eager to correct those mistakes in order to become the best announcer that he can be.

video courtesy: triodeupac of youtube; HBO Sports
photo courtesy: NY Daily News