Hall Of Fame Broadcaster Alex Wallau Passes
By Boxing Bob Newman
Alex Wallau, who called some of ABC’s iconic fights of the 80s and 90s, has passed at the age of 80. Wallau rose within the network from behind the scenes, to expert boxing commentary in front of the camera, to president of ABC. He was with the network from 1976 to 2020. Over the years Wallau called some of a young Mike Tyson’s earliest fights, including his one-round demolition of Marvis Frazier to the bombs away brawl that was Nigel Benn vs Iran Barkley. Never one o shy away from speaking his opinion on air, when Benn blatantly struck Barkley when he was clearly down on the canvas, Wallau screamed into the microphone, “And that should definitely be a point deduction. He’s been warned already in this round about hitting a man when he’s down and that is grounds in my opinion Dan, if he landed a harder punch, for a disqualification. Just outrageous!”
Wallau was diagnosed with throat Cancer in 1987, but that did not keep him from his duties, save for a short time. He returned on air in front of the camera, much thinner and bearing the ravages of the disease and subsequent surgeries, but was intrepid and courageous. He continued as a broadcaster until 2000, when he was named president of ABC.
This writer directly owes a debt of gratitude to Alex Wallau. In 2006, I was tasked with assembling video footage of the 1976 U.S. Olympic boxing team, many of whom were going to be on hand to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of their exploits at that year’s induction weekend at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, NY. With the help of Lee Groves of Compubox fame (and several other boxing pursuits), I was able to contact Wallau and secure that footage. In rapid fire time, a box arrived at my door containing the requested footage. Thank you Alex Wallau and Rest In Peace!
Thank you also to Boxing historian Henry Hascup and esteemed author and hall-of-famer Thomas Hauser for their contributions to this article.
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