David Diamante: boxing announcer’s motorcycle accident and crash explained - and when will he be back?

Legendary boxing ring announcer David Diamante is recovering after suffering multiple severe injuries in a motorcycle collision.

The 50-year-old was involved in an accident ion Third Avenue in Brooklyn beneath the Brooklyn Queens Expressway on Monday (20 December), and was rushed to NYU Langone Health hospital in critical condition.

He had suffered three spinal fractures, broken ribs and injuries to his knee, and required five hours of surgery, during which nine screws and rods were inserted into his spine.

But how is he doing, and when might fight fans be able to see him back in a boxing ring?

Here is everything you need to know.

Who is David Diamante?

David Diamante was born in Baltimore in 1971.

He began announcing boxing matches in New York City - the first fight for which he was announcer was held in the basement of a gym in Lower Manhattan - and he volunteered within the city’s boxing community for many years.

He has since gone on to announce a variety of high-profile boxing events on HBO, Showtime, ESPN, DAZN, Fox Sports, NBC, CBS, and Sky Sports, and in 2020, was named "The Voice of Boxing" by BBC Sport.

He is widely known for his trademarked catchphrase "The fight starts now!", his long dreadlocks and his distinctive announcing style in which he repeats each fighter’s last name.

Explaining his reasoning behind the repetition of boxer’s surnames, Diamante said: “It’s a throwback to respect the tradition of the sport.

“Growing up I loved it when guys did it,” he added, explaining that two of his favourite announcers “didn’t do the huge fights, but they were great announcers,” and “would always repeat the surnames... I loved that as a kid.”

The practice of repeating fighter surnames began before the advent of advanced sound systems and was done so that fans on different sides of the arena could hear the athletes names

“Guys would call out the name on one side of the room and then do it on the other side,” explained Diamante. “I just love the tradition of the sport. It is one of the things that I love about it.

“None of the announcers do it anymore and I loved it and I am going to keep that tradition going.”

When will he be back?

Diamante himself has said that he hopes to return to ring announcing as soon as possible, but has acknowledged that complications during his recovery are a possibility.

“It’s going to be a tough road. It’s a bad injury and getting better will take some time. This will be a struggle,’ he told Boxing Scene.

“I’ll have to learn to walk again, and right now there’s a risk of complications. But I have a positive attitude and will be back as soon as possible.”

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