Michael Buffer

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Michael Buffer

Michael Buffer in Washington, D.C. at Fight For Children’s “Fight Night 2007”
Born November 2, 1944 (1944-11-02) (age 63)
Flag of the United States Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Occupation Ring Announcer, known for “Let’s Get Ready To Rumble!” trademark
Website
LetsRumble.com

Michael Buffer (born November 2, 1944) is a professional ring announcer for boxing and professional wrestling matches. With his tuxedo and famous catchphrase "Let's get ready to rumble!", the six-foot tall Philadelphia native has become one of the most recognized faces in the world of sports entertainment, thanks to his 25 plus years of announcing many of the biggest championship boxing events. He is known for pioneering a distinct announcing style in which he rolls certain letters and adds other inflections to a fighter’s name. His catchphrase is a federally registered trademark.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Buffer was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to an enlisted man in the United States Navy and his wife during World War II.[1] When his parents divorced at 11 months of age, Buffer was raised by foster parents, a school bus driver and housewife. Buffer grew up in suburban Roslyn, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia.[2] He enlisted in the United States Army during the Vietnam War at age 20 and served until age 23. He held various jobs including a car salesman, then began a modeling career at age 32 before becoming a ring announcer at age 38.[3]

[edit] Career

[edit] Boxing

In 1982, Buffer began his career as a ring announcer. By 1983, he was announcing all boxing matches promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank on ESPN, which gave him a national identity at a time when ring announcers were strictly locally hired talent.[4] By 1984, Buffer developed and was using the catchphrase “Let’s get ready to rumble” in his announcing, which gained enormous popularity. He began the process of obtaining a federal trademark and copyright for the phrase in the 1980s, which he acquired in 1992. By the late 1980s, Buffer was the exclusive ring announcer for all bouts in Donald Trump-owned casinos. Trump said of Buffer, “He’s great, he’s the choice, he has a unique ability… I told my people, ‘We got to have him’.”[5] Buffer’s work was also admired by many of the boxing greats. Sugar Ray Leonard once said, “When (Buffer) introduces a fighter, it makes him want to fight.”[6]

Buffer’s fame has reunited him with long lost family members. In 1989, Buffer was contacted by his birth father after having seen him on television, who introduced him to his half-brothers.[7] In the mid-1990s, Buffer brought on one of his half-brothers, Bruce, as his agent/manager. This grew into a business partnership to increase licensing productivity of the trademark.

Michael Buffer is currently the announcer for all HBO and RTL (Germany) boxing matches, along with Versus matches promoted by Top Rank. He was formerly the announcer for WCW's and UFC’s main events.[8] His brother, Bruce Buffer, currently announces for the UFC. Both Michael and Bruce are grandsons of late boxer Johnny Buff.[9]

[edit] Wrestling

Until 2001, when the former wrestling organization World Championship Wrestling (WCW) existed, Buffer was the WCW-exclusive ring announcer for main-events featuring Hulk Hogan or other top WCW talent. The WCW’s former parent company Time Warner owned through their pay-per-view subscription division HBO, which broadcast many matches from promoter Top Rank, of which Buffer is the lead ring announcer. The exclusivity of his contract with WCW prevented Buffer from announcing for other wrestling-type organizations, forcing him to stop announcing for the UFC. However, when the WCW ceased to exist, and Time Warner had no more affiliation with professional wrestling, Buffer was enabled to announce in other wrestling promotions.

On August 18, 2007, for the first time in more than six years, Buffer returned to pro-wrestling ring announcing duties at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event at Madison Square Garden in a boxing match between pro-boxer Evander Holyfield (who was substituting for Montel Vontavious Porter) and pro-wrestler Matt Hardy.

Buffer appears in the Royal Rumble 2008 commercial, in which he begins to say "Let's get ready to rumble!" only to be superkicked by Shawn Michaels, causing him to fall over. As well as being in the commercial for the event, he was the guest ring announcer during the Royal Rumble match itself. Wrestler Triple H and Shawn Michaels use the phrase "Let's get ready to suck it!" as part of their D-Generation X promos.

[edit] Other appearances

During his career, Buffer has announced the World Series, Stanley Cup Finals, NBA Championships, and NFL playoff games. He has appeared on various talk shows hosted by Jay Leno, David Letterman, Arsenio Hall, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel. He has also appeared on Saturday Night Live, In Living Color and Mad TV, and has been animated in The Simpsons, South Park, and Celebrity Deathmatch. He has played himself in various films including Ready to Rumble and Rocky Balboa.[10][11] Buffer is currently the host of Versus' boxing retro show Legends of the Ring, which is produced by Top Rank, Inc., where he is ring announcer for most of their top matches. He also appeared on NBC's Deal or No Deal on December 10, 2007, and opened the finale of the seventh season of American Idol on May 20, 2008, which employed a boxing motif.

[edit] Trademark

Buffer began using the phrase “Let’s get ready to rumble!” in the early 1980s. By 1992, he acquired a federal trademark for the phrase. Buffer uses his famous phrase in various licensing deals including the platinum selling album Jock Jams by Tommy Boy Records, the video games Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 for the Sony Playstation 2, Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast and Game Boy Advance and Greatest Heavyweights of the Ring for the Sega Genesis and numerous other products.[12] In addition, he has used variations of the phrase in advertisements, including the popular commercial for Mega Millions in which he says "Let's get ready to Win Big! " and the Kraft Cheese commercial in which he says "Let's get ready to Crumble! ".

[edit] Personal life

Buffer first wed at age 21 and had two sons, Michael and Matthew, in a marriage that ended after seven years. More than 25 years passed before he remarried in 1999. He and his second wife divorced in 2003.[13] On September 13, 2007, while making an appearance on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno, he proposed to his current wife, Christine. Buffer currently resides in Southern California.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] References

  1. ^ BOXING MONTHLY - Article Two - December 1998
  2. ^ O’Brien, Richard (June 1992). "Let’s Get Ready to…". Sports Illustrated 76: 72-78. 
  3. ^ BOXING MONTHLY - Article Two - December 1998
  4. ^ Boxing - Columns - Thomas Hauser
  5. ^ O’Brien, Richard (June 1992). "Let’s Get Ready to…". Sports Illustrated 76: 72-78. 
  6. ^ Michael Buffer speaks for International Speakers Bureau
  7. ^ Buffer 'rumbles' his way to the top
  8. ^ Michael Buffer
  9. ^ The voice of the octagon - Boxing - Yahoo! Sports
  10. ^ Michael Buffer
  11. ^ Michael Buffer :: LetsRumble.com
  12. ^ Michael Buffer :: LetsRumble.com
  13. ^ Boxing - Columns - Thomas Hauser

[edit] External links