THOMAS TREIBER shivers when he remembers the night he became the most famous ring announcer in the world.
“It was my second time on ESPN,” he said, “a show at the Freedom Civic Center in Johnson, Tennessee.
“The fight ended in a TKO and I got the time off the timekeeper and got in the ring.
“I realised I left my card outside the ring and I couldn’t remember the name of the fighters. The floor manager for the TV was telling me: ‘Now! Start talking now!’
“Halfway through announcing I realised I still couldn’t remember the fighter’s name. I was saying: ‘The winner by TKO at two minutes of the third round is…’
“But I couldn’t remember his name.
“I turned to the fighter and said: ‘What’s your name ?’ My microphone was too close to my mouth when I said it and everyone in the arena and everyone watching at home heard it.
“It went everywhere.
“It went viral in the days before things could even go viral.
“I was the MC (Master of Ceremonies) who forgot the fighter’s name. I was going to quit. I thought I was finished.
“The promoter rang me a week or two later and said: ‘You’re back on ESPN.’
“I couldn’t believe it, but I went and did it.”
That time, there were no mishaps.
“That’s the thing with the ring announcing,” said the chatty Treiber. “We don’t get a second chance.
“It’s sink or swim in this job. There’s a lot of pressure. You have to be perfect. Every time. Commentators can make mistakes and correct themselves and it’s all instantly forgotten. I’m not allowed to make mistakes in my job.”
Had he never received another call for ring announcing, Treiber had career options. He could have returned to being Tommy Tanna.
“I watched Mike Tyson, George Foreman and Evander Holyfield growing up,” said the 51-year-old, “but really, I was more of a wrestling fan. The goal was to somehow get involved in pro wrestling.
“I was a body builder. In 1992 I entered the Teenage Mr Illinois Competition – and I won.
“I was 5ft 10ins tall and 260 lbs. I decided to start training in wrestling. I knew a guy called Don Bratton in the area and he started training me. He wrestled as ‘Dirty Don’ and we ended up wrestling each other a few times.
“That’s how it works in pro wrestling.
“Pro wrestling is choreographed, but you can’t fake gravity. There’s real physical contact in the wrestling ring and if you’re not tough enough, you won’t last. I know people who quit after one day’s training.
“I was always very passionate about pro wrestling.
“Around six months into my wrestling career I was wrestling in St Louis and there was a WCW [World Championship Wrestling] scout there.
“They liked the way I looked and said they could get me work as enhancement talent or what’s also known as ‘a jobber.’
“I was brought in to lose, to enhance the talent.
“They asked me to choose a name and I remembered a body builder called Tommy Tanna.
“I thought it was a cool name and people remembered it, so I suggested that. WCW loved it, so I became Tommy Tanna.”
The teenage Tommy Tanna was seen by millions.
“I went on national TV wrestling big names like ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, who was known as ‘Stunning Steve’ at the time, ‘Flying’ Brian Pillman and ‘Ravishing’ Rick Rude,” he said.
“I was only 19 years old and the matches were all on national TV in the States.
“I was the good guy, but I was there to lose. That was my job.
“In pro wrestling you need the crowds to either love you or hate you. If they’re not interested either way, you won’t last. The crowd need to react to you.
“I wrestled for around two years and after two years of getting beaten up I hung up my tights and stuck to ring announcing.
“I felt I had achieved my dream in wrestling.
“I was always interested in broadcasting, ever since I was a boy. I wanted to get into radio and then I thought it might be fun to be a ring announcer instead.”
Treiber was 10 years old when his late father took him to his first professional boxing show, at the Civic Center in Hammond, Indiana, and his interest in the sport was furthered by one of his classmates at High School.
Eric Jakubowski was a fighter who went on to fight Arturo Gatti on HBO – a two-round loss in April, 2000 – during his 22-10 pro career and his elder brother went further.
“Marty fought for the world title three times,” said Treiber, “and he fought Julio Cesar Chavez twice as well [losing in four and six rounds].
“I think Chavez liked him and that’s why he gave him the second fight.”
Treiber mixed with boxing royalty himself after landing a job announcing Top Rank shows on ESPN having learned the job at local wrestling and boxing shows in the Chicago area.
“Top of the bill on the first show I did for ESPN was Michael Nunn,” he said, “and the second one was topped by Johnny Tapia and on the undercard were three fighters Bob Arum signed from the 1996 Olympics.
“They were Eric Morel, David Diaz and Floyd Mayweather and they all went on to be world champions.
“I remember talking to Floyd. He was there with his uncle, Roger.
“Fighters have always been good to me. I think they appreciate that I take the time to talk to them and find out their details.
“Preparation is the key to the job. I take the time to ask the fighters the pronunciation of their names and home towns and if they have a nickname. We double check their record, check trunk colours and go through everything with them.”
Treiber does that with every fighter, from the four-rounders to the world championship fights, and his thoroughness got him regular work on Fox Sports and ShoBox.
“I did at least one show every year for ShoBox for 22 years,” said Treiber proudly.
His first show in England was a memorable one, at the Nottingham Arena on December 6, 2008.
“I had never even been to England before and was amazed by the enthusiasm of the crowd,” said Treiber.
“They were so noisy and passionate. The Nottingham crowd loved Carl Froch.”
Froch gave them a night to remember, winning the vacant WBC super-middleweight title by out toughing Jean Pascal in a real war, and the undercard featured the professional debut of a blubbery young heavyweight, Tyson Fury, who had jetted back early from his honeymoon to take a spot on the bill.
“I couldn’t believe how tall Tyson Fury was,” said Treiber.
“I was so amazed, I took a photo of us together.
“I had no idea he was going to turn out to be as good as he has turned out to be. I just knew he was massive. He wasn’t muscular, but he had the height. I didn’t know if he had the skills or anything else, but I knew he definitely had the height.
“At that time, I think most people were saying David Price might be the next great heavyweight.”
Treiber says the heavyweight night at Wembley Stadium last September, when Daniel Dubois ironed out Anthony Joshua, was the pinnacle of his 30-plus-year career announcing fights all over the world.
“There were close to 100,000 people there and not many people who hold a microphone in their hand for a living can say they have performed in front of that many people,” he said.
“To me that was a career highlight. I remember ring announcing to less than 100 people at local wrestling shows.”
