Berman,<\/a> who gave Pollock a break in 1998. It was also Berman who took Pollock to Monaco, where Golden Gloves used to stage tournaments.<\/p>\nPollock, from Pretoria but now based in Cape Town, said he was never a boxing fan when growing up.<\/p>\n
He got into ring announcing by default because the person who was appointed to do that job for Golden Gloves was sick, and Golden Gloves fight coordinator Shona McTaggart approached him.<\/p>\n
Pollock got his licence from the BSA in 1998, and he\u2019s done the job with splendour. He\u2019s not sure if other ring announcers see it as a key role in an event.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at guys who do it really well… whether it\u2019s a Michael Buffer, John Lennon or Bruce Buffer… those guys really own those two or three minutes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like, you know what, dude? I am here to do my job, and I want to do it damn well… I\u2019m going to be prepared, and I\u2019m going to make sure the promoter that pays me gets value for his money.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that comes down to having pride in one\u2019s craft. \u201cIf you want to do something, do it the best you can. Own it because for me okay is not good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
A ring announcer in boxing is vital for establishing the \u201cbig fight feel\u201d, managing crowd energy, and bridging the gap between the live arena and television audiences. <\/p>\n
Beyond theatrical introductions, they ensure procedural fairness, enforce strict timelines, and deliver the final, official results to the world.<\/p>\n
Their most critical responsibility is reading the official judges\u2019 scorecards and declaring the winner. <\/p>\n
Before the bell rings, the announcer must introduce a strict sequence of officials, including the referee, ringside doctors and judging panels as well as notable VIPs or celebrities in attendance. <\/p>\n
They ensure the official rules are stated clearly and present accurate biographical details (records, weight, and hometown) for the competitors.<\/p>\n
Good announcers will go into the dressing room and learn the correct pronunciations of the participants\u2019 names, including the officials\u2019. <\/p>\n
They\u2019ll double-check trunk colours and make sure their information jives with what the television broadcasters have. <\/p>\n
And don\u2019t even think of climbing up those steps to the ring if you don\u2019t know the proper order to call a split decision or majority draw.<\/p>\n
Ring announcing may not be rocket science, but for the tuxedoed gents who are fortunate enough to work in the profession, it is not something to be taken lightly.<\/p>\n
The primary goal is to build audience anticipation, hype the fighters, and add a prestigious, theatrical atmosphere to the event.<\/p>\n
Michel Buffer emphasises stretched vowels, booming vocal projection, highly distinct cadence, and is famous for the trademarked phrase: \u201cLet\u2019s get ready to Rumble!\u201d<\/p>\n
The greatest ring announcer of all time. No one can use his phrase because it is a legally protected trademark owned by him.<\/p>\n
It has generated more than $425m in retail sales and licensing over his career, helping him build an estimated $400m net worth.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive it to the guy,\u201d said Pollock. \u201cWhat he\u2019s achieved is phenomenal.\u201d <\/p>\n
But Pollock is not a catchphrase person.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not a Hollywood guy,\u201d said Pollock, who has done over 100 world title fights, and that includes the WBC and IBF heavyweight championship between Lennox Lewis<\/a> and Hasim Rahman in Brakpan, Ekurhuleni, in 2001. <\/p>\nPollock described late former WBU bantamweight, SA and IBF junior featherweight and WBU featherweight champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba as his favourite boxer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Story audio is generated using AI Even after two decades, Duncan Pollock still enjoys being master of ceremonies…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,214055,214053,214054,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-632314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-buffer","tag-duncan","tag-ring-announcer","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}