Mike Costello is a British sports broadcaster. He is the main

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

commentator for

DAZN DAZN ( "da zone") is a global sports entertainment platform. Different to traditional linear and satellite broadcasting, DAZN is an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service meaning that it is delivered directly to viewers via the internet. The ...

, having previously worked at

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

for 45 years.

Early life

Costello was born in April 1960 and grew up in

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

in south London. Both his parents were Irish immigrants, living in London before they met. An amateur boxer, he also worked as a boxing trainer, training Adam Booth and

Henry Akinwande Henry Adetokunboh Akinwande (born 12 October 1965) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2008. He held the WBO heavyweight title from 1996 to 1997, as well as the Commonwealth heavyweight title in 1993, and the Euro ...

"Mike Costello", BBC Radio 5 Live. Originally broadcast 26th August 2021. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000zg0v before choosing to focus on his broadcasting career.

Career

Costello began his career at the BBC in 1979 as a filing clerk in the accounts department. Due to a restructure, he moved to the accounts department within the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

, where later he became a runner and then a Broadcast Assistant on the

sports desk. Costello reported on cricket for the BBC World Service in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the MRF World Series in Pakistan in 1989 and England's tour of India of 1992-93. He also reported on athletics, including at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Costello's first commentary was at the 1995 World Athletics Championships in

Gothenburg, Sweden Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a ...

. At the Commonwealth Games in 2002, after

John Rawling John Rawling is a British boxing, track and field, darts and yachting commentator, currently working for BT Sport, ITV and Talksport. He has become known as one of the best known voices of boxing commentary. With BT, John commentates alongside ...

lost his voice, Costello was asked to commentate live over multiple nights. After

moved to ITV in 2005, Costello became lead commentator for boxing and athletics across BBC's domestic radio output. In June 2021, Costello signed a deal with

to commentate on their coverage of boxing, ending his long tenure covering boxing with the BBC. It is not known if Costello will continue to cover athletics for the BBC, however, he commentated on the state funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II on 19th September 2022 for BBC Radio.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people BBC sports presenters and reporters {{BBC-radio-stub