Exclusive: Hall-Of-Fame Broadcaster Jim Lampley Excited For Return On May 2nd

Jim Lampley will return to ringside for the first time in over six years on May 2 for the Times Square card in New York.

Jim Lampley / IMAGO/ZUMA Press Wire

No voice is as synonymous with boxing as Jim Lampley's.

His work as the blow-by-blow commentator for HBO Boxing for 30 years made him one of boxing's more beloved figures. Now, the 2015 International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee is set to make his triumphant return to ringside on May 2 to do blow-by-blow commentary on DAZN for Ryan Garcia vs Rolando "Rolly" Romero at Times Square in New York.

"Fans can expect to listen to a guy who has not called a fight in a while trying to show that he still has the same passion, the same devotion, the same informational capability, the same psychological understanding of fighters that he had before," Lampley told KO on SI.

"If I can to my own satisfaction demonstrate all that, then I'll take it. I will live with whatever is the critical response and the fan response if within my own self and my own constitution, I believe I have fulfilled all of those prerequisites."

Lampley, 76, last did blow-by-blow commentary on Dec. 8, 2018, which was the last HBO Boxing telecast. It appeared that would mark the end of his career at ringside, though, he stayed around the sport doing work for PPV.com.

Then, as Lampley was helping PPV.com's coverage for David Benavidez vs. David Morrell, Turki Alalshikh made a post on X stating that he wanted Lampley to return to commentary for one of his cards. Eventually, Lampley caught wind of Alalshikh's post and not long after, they were set to meet in New York.

Eventually, it was official that Lampley would be making his return to ringside on May 2. If it weren't for Alalshikh, Lampley said may have never had a chance to do blow-by-blow commentary again.

"He found me and got through to me, and we had a meeting in New York," Lampley said. "He said, 'I want you to call fights. It's going to start on May 2.' I said I'm in. I had been wondering for quite a while why it wasn't happening. I was willing to accept that I was permanently out at my age. At my age, whatever it is, you don't really expect something that positive to happen, but it did and on we go."

Lampley added: "If he were not devoted to making the imprint he wants to make on boxing. If he didn't have the resources that he's bringing to the star-making machinery of the sport, and if he weren't a Jim Lampley fan, this wouldn't be happening."

If it were up to Lampley, his return on May 2 wouldn't be a one-off. He hopes to commentate fights for as long as he's capable of doing so, but first, he just wants to focus on his initial return.

"I'm hoping that I call fights for the next 100 years," Lampley said. "But let's start with May 2. There are three big fights there. It's a fantastic setting. It's an extremely creative way of presenting the sport. Some of the most interesting things that have ever happened in American prize fights have happened in outdoor fights."

And if Lampley can showcase the love he's had for the sport ever since his mother, Peggy Lampley, first introduced him to it when he was a kid, then he'll be more than happy with his performance.

"I want to be just as passionate, just as devoted, just as informationally capable and just as loving of this sport that I was before, because a lot of my life is bound up in my love of boxing and it has been that way ever since I was six years old," Lampley said.

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