Al Bernstein: The State of Boxing, Greatest Fight He Has Ever Called, Frank Sinatra & More…

Exclusive Interview by Joshua “City” Brewer

“The best fight that I’ve announced is the Diego Corrales Vs Jose Luis Castillo fight. Ironically, there wasn’t a huge crowd there for that. There was like 5,000 people, though they were wildly excited, but it was probably the best overall fight that I’ve announced.”—Al Bernstein

Boxing in itself is a production and like any production there are several key components that contribute to its success. Additionally, where there is production, there is art. In this sport, the canvas is painted with blood, sweat, and tears, capped with triumph and defeat. Al Bernstein is one of the most iconic voices in all of sports today. If you’ve ever watched a Showtime boxing event then you’ve likely heard him providing thorough and detailed insight.

That, though, is only part of the story as his roots have been firmly planted in boxing for well over 40 years. Some plans are drawn up well before they are executed and with Al Bernstein, it wasn’t a what, simply when and where. Having traveled the world covering fights and fighters from nearly every continent, boxing has been witness to one of the senior most experts across all sports. To understand his passion, you have to go behind the lens and microphone. I had the opportunity to speak with Al Bernstein to get his thoughts on the sweet science and what the future holds for him.

JB: In terms of you choosing a career in journalism, were you influenced by someone to go this route, or was this something you had always considered?

Growing up, when I was young, I wanted to be a sportswriter. That was the thing I wanted to be. Some form of journalism was always in my cards, I knew that from when I was 10 or 11 years old. There wasn’t any doubt in my mind that this was the path that I was going to take.

JB: In that regard, did you grow up a boxing fan?

I was mostly a boxing fan from almost the beginning. When I was 9 or 10, I listened on the radio, the Floyd Patterson Vs Ingemar Johansson fights were exciting to me. I would watch, with my dad, the Friday Night Fights that Don Dunphy was announcing and all those great fights, the Gillette fights. It inspired my enthusiasm for it. I didn’t really know that I would ever work in boxing, but I was always a boxing fan. When I was in my teens I boxed as an amateur and that further fueled my love for the sport.

JB: For a lot of people around my age, and even younger, we know you as the voice of Showtime boxing. But, you did spend a number of years covering boxing for ESPN. What was that experience like in the early days of the network as they were trying to build their brand?

Yes, ESPN was exciting because we were kind of inventing cable television. Cable television was just in its infancy. We were rolling around the country on a ‘shoestring’ budget doing boxing 48 times a year, it was amazing. We would often be doing it in some places that were hard to get to. The Top Rank Boxing Series had really good fights. They were not world championship fights 9 out 10 times, but they were exciting fights. It was a great way to kind of be indoctrinated into television because you really understood every level of it. It was a great opportunity for me, that’s for sure.

JB: I also read that you were previously an editor, basically ran a newspaper early on. Is that something you still enjoy, the writing aspect of journalism in comparison to broadcasting?

Yes, I started out, like I said, I wanted to be a sports writer. Strangely though, my newspaper career in Chicago was mostly in hard news. I worked for a chain of community newspapers called Larner Newspapers and I moved up the ladder and became Managing Editor of part of the chain. I kept getting pushed forward in hard news, I really wasn’t doing sports. I enjoyed newspaper work, but at a certain point I realized that I just didn’t have the mentality stay in hard news.

I really, really wanted to get into sports and that’s when I kinda clawed my way in at ESPN. I had been freelancing as a sports writer for a bunch of different people. I wrote for Ring Magazine a little bit, Boxing Illustrated and also for some other publications, and ultimately was able to make the transition from boxing to broadcasting. I love writing. I enjoyed writing my book and I still write a lot. I write for television, of course, but I like the idea of writing. I consider myself a writer who became a broadcaster.

JB: In 2012 you were deservedly inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF). This is the pinnacle and your name will be in the history books forever. Is this something you anticipated or did you just receive notice all of a sudden? What was the experience like?

Yes, well I found out that I was on the ballot at some point so, I thought it was possible. That was the first time that I was on the ballot, I had never been on the ballot before. So, I was on the ballot and about a week before they announced the selections they called me and said that I had been selected. I didn’t know if I was going to be selected at that point or not, but when they called me it was great.

For me it’s a great honor because there are only so many broadcasters that are in the hall of fame. I think it’s up to about eight or nine now, but it’s a singular honor to be put in. That place is for the boxers, it’s the home of the great boxers, so the IBHOF is very gracious in including people that have done something else to benefit the sport. It was an amazing day. The weekend up there went by in a blur. It’s hard to even focus on all the stuff that is happening, but it was pretty extraordinary.

JB: You’ve covered fights all over the world. Is there a place or venue, or more than one, that really sticks out in your memory as far as your time covering fights?

The place where all of the boxing fans create the most excitement, to me, is in the United Kingdom, in Great Britain. The fights I’ve done there, a lot of them have been amazing. In Manchester, England, I’ve done a couple of fights. Ricky Hatton facing Kostya Tszyu, Jeff Lacy and Joe Calzaghe. Those fights, the excitement was palpable in the Manchester City Arena, I think it’s called something else now. And, of course, going for the 90,000 people at Joshua Vs Klitschko was pretty extraordinary. I’ve done a lot of fights in England, and even when you get down to the smallest venues like York Hall, the fans there create such an excitement and they’re so into the sport. I think if I had to pick a place where the venue and fans in boxing have been the most exciting to me, it’s probably there.

JB: In relation to that, is there a particular fight that you’ve covered that you felt was probably the most exciting fight that you’ve seen live.

The best fight that I’ve announced is the Diego Corrales Vs Jose Luis Castillo fight. Ironically, there wasn’t a huge crowd there for that. There was like 5,000 people, though they were wildly excited, but it was probably the best overall fight that I’ve announced. Now, second to that is Hagler Vs Hearns. The only reason Hagler Vs Hearns is second is because it was less than three rounds. The Corrales Vs Castillo fight was nine and a half. I would call it Hagler Vs Hearns times three. But yes, it was an extraordinary fight. Not only action packed, but skillfully fought. To me, it’s the best fight I’ve announced and the most exciting one for broadcasting.

JB: I know you don’t predict fights given your role as an a neutral commentator. Some of the old fighters who sort of carried the wave are retiring. Mayweather, JR., is retired. Manny Pacquiao is in the last stages of his career. Who do you see as the boxers that will take the sport to the next level over the next few years.

Well, you know, I’m not sure It’s going to be any one person or any two people, or three people. I actually think while there are a number of terrific fighters out there, Vasyl Lomachenko, Mikey Garcia, Terence Crawford, Errol Spence, JR., you could go on a name a bunch of other fighters; Anthony Joshua, many others that are very, very exciting and have star quality. I think what’s likely to happen more is boxing is likely, and I think this has happened, going to be more like when we see leagues and we don’t see dominant teams, but we see great parity and it’s always exciting.

I think that’s what’s happening. There are going to be a number of stars. Not necessarily a single superstar leading the sport, but a number of stars and they all kind of shine and boxing will succeed by virtue of its matchups. By virtue of having exciting fights and making that something that the fans can count on. It’s starting to do that. It did it in 2017, and it’s doing it again in 2018, and I think that’s the path forward to boxing.

JB: That brings me to my final question. I recently found out that you’re a musician in my research for our interview. I ran across a video online of you covering a Frank Sinatra song. My hat goes off to you in that regard. Is that still something you’re interest in working on and do you have any projects coming up?

I love music and I’ve been kind of getting back into it in the last year or so. I’ve been performing a lot here in Las Vegas, NV. It’s fun for me. I enjoy it. I see it as something that is interesting to do and whenever there is an opportunity I always like to do it.

Again, I’ve just been working on the for the last year or so. I did a lot more music before but I had kind of a hiatus from it. But it’s fun for me and people enjoy it. I just did a show a show at the Tuscany Hotel & Casino, and we had a great crowd there and it was a lot of fun. I’ll just continue doing here and there and it’ll be a fun thing.

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