In Japan they liken him to 007, a dashing, dapper James Bond in the boxing ring.
In Germany he hawks beer and soft drinks. He once worked a show in China. Some NFL and NBA teams hire him for special occasions. For years he made his living at Strawbridge & Clothier and Gimbels. Before that he sold cars.Today he wears makeup to work, powders his nose from time to time in the course of an evening, and spends half his waking life in tuxedos (he owns 20).
At Abington High, where he went to school, and in Roslyn, where he grew up, they remember him as little Michael Huber. Everywhere else he's known as Michael Buffer, the only person known to have made a full-time living as a ring announcer. The reason:
"LET'S GET READY TO RUUMMBBUUULLLL!"
Those five words, which Buffer bellows dramatically to launch sporting events all over the world, have turned a part-time job into a big-time career and made Buffer a bigger celebrity than many of the athletes he introduces.
Those five words, now a registered trademark, landed him roles in a half-dozen movies, got him a television show, put him on the talk shows with Leno and Letterman, and attracted the attention of a formal-wear manufacturer, which recently featured him in a four-page ad in GQ magazine.
Riddick Bowe, after his first title fight with champion Evander Holyfield, said: "My most exciting moment was when I heard Michael Buffer say, `The winner and NEW heavyweight champion of the world ..."'
Buffer's now-famous "rumble" routine came to him after months of trial and error.
"I wanted a hook," he said by telephone recently from his home in Hollywood, Calif. (he also has a home in Medford), "a gimmick, something catchy. I tried `Fasten your seat belt,' and `Man your battle stations,' and some things like that, but ...
With his mellow inflection, a slow, deliberate pronunciation of every syllable building to a crescendo, crowds began rising as if by command, cheering wildly long before Buffer could finish.
He is in such demand that his half brother, Bruce Buffer, has become his business manager, and he is so popular with women that he asks hotels to block his telephone calls. He signs scores of autographs every week and receives about 2,000 fan letters a year, mostly from women.
With blue eyes, sandy brown hair, a choirboy's complexion and the looks of a model, which he was for 13 years at Strawbridge and Gimbels department stores in Philadelphia and elsewhere, he looks more like 40 than 50, which he turned last spring.
In a hotel lobby two weeks ago in Atlantic City, two women walked past world welterweight champion Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker, past former world heavyweight champion George Foreman, and directly to Buffer for an autograph.
Despite all the attention, Buffer, who was married at age 23 but divorced, has remained single for more than 20 years. He has two sons, Michael, 25, and Matthew, 28, who live in Warminster.
It was a 13-year-old Michael who gave his father the idea to enter the ring. They were watching a fight on TV one night and listened as a ring announcer botched the announcement of a split-decision winner after an exciting bout.
Buffer, a lifelong boxing fan, liked the idea, sent letters and pictures from his modeling portfolio to some Atlantic City hotels, and suggested his classy, white-dinner-jacket approach. (He lied about his lack of experience). Every hotel answered him, and in months he was in business.
"I guess you could say I'm a success now," he said. "I always thought you could consider yourself a financial success if you made more than the president."
In addition to boxing, Buffer works professional wrestling shows, conventions and trade shows, and still models occasionally. He has introduced the Indiana Pacers of the NBA in playoff games and the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL on "Monday Night Football."
"I was doing up to 100 shows a year," he said, "but I've had to cut back. Now it's closer to 60."
Six years ago his biological father, Joseph Buffer, living in California, saw Michael on TV and contacted him. "I met his wife of many years and learned that I had two half brothers," Buffer said.
He has been in the ring with Sugar Ray Leonard, Foreman, Roberto Duran, Mike Tyson, Roy Jones Jr. and Marvin Hagler, and none has ever laid a glove on him.
Not bad for a guy who goes to work in a tuxedo wearing makeup and powders his nose between rounds.