Boxing announcers have a unique role in the sport. They attend public competitive events and generate excitement opening and closing fights, while adding their own style to the proceedings. There is no single track for becoming a boxing announcer, which leaves open possibilities for creating new paths to success. In order to become one, you must love the sport and be as well informed about it as you possibly can. Developing your announcing skill and presentation, you should attend as many events as possible and get to know as many people in the industry as you can, and make your name, face, and skills familiar.
In many events, there are actually two kinds of boxing announcers: the ring announcer and ringside announcers, though the names may be used interchangeably. The ring announcer sets the mood for the crowd by introducing fighters, their statistics, and generally building momentum as the fighters enter the ring and are instructed by the referee. This person also announces the victor at the end of the match.
To become a boxing announcer for the ring, you might hone your appearance and announcing style with confidence. You might add signature vocal inflections for dramatic effect. Vocal presentation as well as personality add vital energy to the sometimes gritty, sometimes dazzling spectacle. Learn the vocal techniques employed by broadcasters, voiceover announcers, and voice actors to cement your career skills.
Ringside announcers, on the other hand, may also include interviewers or sports commentators that call the fight to help interpret it for television or radio audiences. They must be well informed about the sport and be well versed in its lore: for example, the history of the sport, the fighters, and their strategies. They banter to fill in lulls during the action and are ready at a moment's notice to deliver accurate descriptions of a lightning-fast turn of events. If you want to become a boxing announcer at ringside, first build a foundation of conventional sports broadcasting skills and get hired by a sponsoring broadcasting company.
To become a boxing announcer, you may enter the sport covering local sports broadcasts. Then you can try to work your way up the food chain to national broadcasting companies. Announcers might be hired by a particular broadcaster that partners with the fight association or company that hosts and promotes the events.
As a sport, boxing attracts different companies into the mix; sponsoring company executives may decide who will become a boxing announcer. The best advice may be the saying: be so good they can't ignore you. Research famous ring announcers for what they do in common and what they do differently. To become a boxing announcer, you must tap into your own style and look, act, and sound the part for this sport and spectacle. This extends beyond the ring to everyone in the industry you may come into contact with.
Attend local and regional events and stand in for free at smaller events if possible in order to get people to see and know you. Semi-professional and professional opportunities may present themselves once you have proven yourself. Talk to other ring announcers to learn how they got into the business. Get to know the coaches and fighters too.
Present yourself professionally at all times and give good reason why you should be the opening and closing face and voice of the event. These are some of the people that you want to respect and recognize you. You want them to know you for a reliable, dynamic individual capable of commanding attention worthy of the months of training boxers put themselves through for each match in this grueling, triumphant sport of champions.