Neilly was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to sports broadcasting and charity in Northern Ireland. He was the 2013/14 President of the Ulster Reform Club. Since 1994 he has commentated on Rugby Union as well as on boxing. Moving into freelance commentating in 1993, he became BBC Network Boxing Commentator, succeeding Harry Carpenter. He became Head of Sport and Events for BBC Northern Ireland after eleven years, though continued working as a presenter and commentator on radio and television, and became presenter of Midweek Sportsound. He has covered the Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games, Rugby Five Nations' Championship and the Irish Rugby Tours in the Southern Hemisphere, as well as numerous boxing matches.
#Boxing commentator jim tv#
He grew up in Merville Garden Village, Whitehouse, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland.įormerly a teacher of science in the Belfast Boys' Model School, Neilly joined the BBC as a sports commentator and TV presenter in 1978. “A pivotal person in my life,” he said, “in the sense that when I met him, he was the one that got me to go into a business where I had never ever ever seen an event.”Ĭontact Sam Gordon at Follow on Twitter.James Bernard Neilly MBE is a BBC broadcaster and sports commentator from Northern Ireland. BBC commentator Jim Neilly has been recognised on the Queens Birthday Honours list for a. They’d see one another from “time to time,” Arum said, as they navigated their way through their respective industries.Īrum remains as active as ever, leaving Las Vegas last week to promote Luis Alberto Lopez’s IBF featherweight title fight against Michael Conlan in Belfast, Northern Ireland.īut Arum fondly remembered his late friend beforehand. Jim Neilly has been the voice of BBC Northern Irelands rugby and boxing coverage for over 40 years. Brown’s acting career flourished in concert with Arum’s promotional career. The collective formed Main Bout, a promotional company that focused mainly on Ali, who defeated Chuvalo by decision on March 29, 1966, to conclude the first card Arum ever promoted.Īrum continued to promote Ali, and Top Rank was founded in 1973. He promptly developed a friendship with Brown, who encouraged him to promote fights full-time, and they shared a strong friendship with Ali.īrown called Arum about a month after Terrell’s victory, arranging for him a meeting in a Manhattan hotel suite with Ali and his manager, Jabir Herbert Muhammad. Terrell won by unanimous decision, Brown manned the call, and Arum watched from the television truck - not knowing the way his career would change.
“And that’s how I met him, up at the event, where he was a commentator.”
And so by fluke, I knew this lawyer who represented Jim Brown, and he suggested Brown to me,” Arum said. “So they asked me, ‘Do I have any ideas?’”Īs a matter of fact, Arum did: A Black man should be a part of the telecast. “They weren’t doing any business,” Arum recalled. 1, 1965, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto for the WBA heavyweight title. The firm held the closed circuit rights for a bout between George Chuvalo and Ernie Terrell, who fought Nov. Kennedy’s presidential administration before leaving to work at the Phillips, Nizer, Benjamin, Krim and Ballon law firm in New York. “Jim introduced me to (Muhammad) Ali and helped found the company.Ī graduate of New York University and Harvard Law School, Arum was a tax attorney for the U.S. “The furthest thing (from me) at that particular point was boxing,” Arum said. There have been more than 2,150 of them to date - all tangentially the byproduct of Arum’s relationship with Brown, who died May 18 at age 87 as one of the best players in NFL history - and a lifelong boxing enthusiast. He commanded respect.”Īrum, 91, was ringside Saturday as Top Rank paid respect to Brown at yet another marquee boxing card promoted by the legendary lawyer from New York City. “He had this huge presence, not just physical but something about him. “In a way, he was responsible for everything,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. Save for the rhythmic ringing of the ringside bell for a 10-count to honor the late, great Cleveland Browns running back, activist and actor Jim Brown. (Erik Verduzco / Las Vegas Review-Journal) cacophony of chaos that followed undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney’s unanimous decision last Saturday over Vasiliy Lomachenko at the MGM Grand Garden was preceded by 10 seconds of soothing silence. Fury and Wallin will fight on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena. Boxing promoter Bob Arum, left, and Tyson Fury, share a laugh during a press conference at the MGM Grand hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Sept.
0 kommentar(er)
