During a recent interview (in advance of UFC 203) with FightHype.com, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross talked about his commentary work, and the transition from pro wrestling to boxing commentary. Ross talked about the differences being calling the events, his work with “Knockout Night at the D!” and more, including CM Punk’s UFC career. You can read an excerpt below:
Ross on the transition to boxing commentary:
It’s been a lot of fun. It’s been challenging at times finding my groove, and I’m still looking for that and I always will. I’m not one to reside along in a comfort zone. We can always get better at what we do. But I’ve enjoyed it. I don’t want to say it’s easier than pro wrestling or MMA, but I do believe it’s more straight forward. You’re dealing with right hands and left hands legally, so it’s less things to manage I guess you would say. I’m enjoying it. I got another fight this Friday night in Vegas with Al Bernstein, my partner. It’s a real interesting concept called “Knockout Night at the D!” It’s at the downtown Las Vegas Event Center, which is an outdoor facility which is kind of cool. It’s a neat deal. And we’ll pack it. They’ve been selling it out when we run there. And the interesting concept is we’ve been featuring fighters that are highly regarded within their camps or they have high expectations on them and they are young and they have really good records. So we have found that their promoters and managers are willing to put those glowing records on the line against other fighters with the same record and experience level. So the fights are very competitive and they’re for something and they mean something. I try to do as good a job as I can gathering information at the fighter meetings, which I really enjoy, and even the fight themselves in learning about the fighters. They don’t have a long resume. It’s like CM Punk’s MMA debut; he doesn’t have a resume where you can go track his success or lack there of inside of the Octagon. He doesn’t have any failures either by the way. But from my perspective in boxing, I gotta tell the fans why they should be watching the show or interested in that fighter, and a lot of times, that’s about their family, personal life, or home life; different things that their fans could identify with. I’m having a good time working with Al, who is a great pro. We’re doing stuff for CBS Sports Network. This show Friday night will air I think at 11:00 eastern. But they could check their listings on that. But CBS Sports Network is growing and they are trying to do their share at CBS in general to put the pulse back into boxing. The thing about boxing is that it’s not different from WWE, NFL, or any entity. You gotta build stars. Attractions sell pay-per-views and attractions get TV ratings.
Ross says CM Punk is an attraction for UFC, and people invest in seeing him, win or lose:
Yes, CM Punk is an attraction. He’s not trying to be a world champion, he’s not trying to avenge a loss, but he’s an attraction. He has name identity and people are making an emotional investment into what he’s doing; some positive and some not. That’s the business that we’re in as long as people are making a choice. If they weren’t making a choice, that would mean they wouldn’t care. And I think people do care.
Ross also talked about how he thought CM Punk would fare in his UFC 203 debut (this interview was conducted in advance of UFC 203), why pro wrestling fans would tune in to the fight like with Brock’s Lesnar’s UFC fights, and more. Click here for the full interview.
