RIP Harry
Harry Carpenter, the BBC's 'voice of boxing', dies
Former BBC boxing commentator Harry Carpenter has died at the age of 84.
Carpenter was the BBC's voice of boxing for almost half a century after joining the corporation in 1949, when he first began commentating on the sport.
Known for his double act with British boxing great Frank Bruno, Carpenter also presented Sportsnight, Grandstand and Sports Personality of the Year.
He retired in 1994 and died in his sleep at King's College Hospital in London in the early hours of Saturday.
Carpenter, who also wrote for the Greyhound Express and Daily Mail in the early years of his career, was on air for the "Rumble in the Jungle" between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1974.
He labelled the end of the contest - Ali won by knockout - as "the most extraordinary few seconds that I have ever seen in a boxing ring".
Of Ali himself, Carpenter said: "He is not only the most remarkable sports personality I have ever met, he is the most remarkable man I have ever met."
Carpenter had the privilege of presenting Ali with the BBC's Sports Personality of the Century award in 1999.
A year later, Carpenter recalled: "It was a wonderfully poignant moment. I was very flattered and pleased that I was asked to do the tribute to him.
"It was such a shame to see the old boy tottering about, but we had a chat afterwards and he is still very, very sharp. He remembers all those old days."
Carpenter was a regular Sports Personality of the Year co-host throughout the 1970s and 1980s, having first worked on the programme in 1958, and also covered a wide range of sports for the BBC, including rowing, tennis and golf.
His immediately recognisable, warm broadcasting style earned him plaudits outside the United Kingdom, too.
In 1989, he received American Sportscasters' Association and International Sportscaster of the Year awards.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/front_page/8580058.stm
