{"id":1999,"date":"2010-04-10T11:26:36","date_gmt":"2010-04-10T15:26:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ringsidereport.com\/?p=1999"},"modified":"2015-01-23T20:13:50","modified_gmt":"2015-01-24T02:13:50","slug":"inside-shelley-berman-grammy-award-winning-comedian-and-actor-talks-about-his-career-and-the-sport-of-boxing-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=1999","title":{"rendered":"Inside Shelley Berman: Grammy Award Winning Comedian and Actor Talks about His Career and the Sport of Boxing Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Exclusive Interview by \u201cBad\u201d Brad Berkwitt (Reposted for Archive Purposes)<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I am flattered that you asked me about boxing because I am not an outsider when it comes to the sport.\u00a0 Sarah and I are really a couple of boxing nuts.”– Shelley Berman<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yesterday, in Part I of RSR\u2019s interview with Shelley Berman, we discussed his amazing career as an actor and comedian and his many contributions to the world of entertainment.\u00a0 Now, for all of you die hard boxing fans, we will turn back the clock, and talk about the sport covering 75 years of the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This brief look at some of the history of boxing will not only be informative but the great stories concerning the fighters that the world loved, but the way that Shelley opens up his heart, sharing stories of the game that have never been published before is something that is a must read.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What can be noticed in this interview is how world history and boxing relate and how they can often collide as they did when Joe Louis faced off against Germany\u2019s Max Schmeling and the entire world tuned it.\u00a0 I have no doubt that this look at the boxing world will satisfy the casual boxing fan and the boxing historian.<\/p>\n

So once again RSR Readers, I welcome back, Mr. Shelley Berman\u2026<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 You grew up in an era when boxing was only broadcasted on the radio. Describe to our readers what that experience was like.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I can tell you this.\u00a0 We used to sit and look at the radio\u2026not just listen to it.\u00a0 The announcers were very gifted and they were fast.\u00a0 You were able to through these announcers to get full value of the action in the ring.\u00a0 By the time the final bell rang or if the fight ended by TKO or KO, you were gratified. You really did feel as if you had just witnessed that fight. Sarah who is sitting across from me as we talk, can recall so many of Joe Louis\u2019 fights on the radio as well.<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 On June 22, 1938, a fight that defined a country was held at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, which pitted then Heavyweight Champion of the World Joe Louis against Max Schmeling of Germany.\u00a0 Louis was trying to avenge his previous loss to Schmeling by 12th round knockout.\u00a0 Describe from what you can recall the atmosphere in the US and then, the actual fight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh boy do I remember it.\u00a0 I lived in a Jewish neighborhood and when you walked down the street the day of the fight, you heard the beginnings of this fight, from every window you would pass by which was being piped out into the streets.\u00a0 Everyone was rushing around to get home to listen to our man Joe Louis fight.\u00a0 When you got home and went upstairs, if someone was sitting in front of the radio, he was in your way.\u00a0 You had to see the radio!\u00a0 We expected a good fight and knew Joe was going to win.\u00a0 We thought it was going to be a longer fight, but nobody was disappointed when it went just one round.\u00a0 (Laughs)
\n\u00a0
\nWe were practically dancing in the street when Max Schmeling got beat.<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 Years later, it really came to the forefront that Adolph Hitler took advantage of Max Schemeling who was not a Nazi.\u00a0 Did people realize at the time, that though the media was hyping this as the US Vs Germany, it was in fact, nothing more than just a German challenger Vs an American Champion and that Schmeling was not a bad man?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The American public might not have known, but I did at the time, however, years later, they realized it and Schmeling was very kind to Louis during his down and out times.\u00a0 He was, unfortunately, used by Hitler during his evil reign of terror.\u00a0<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 With Joe Louis\u2019 win, what did it do for the country in respect to race relations?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A very interesting thing that you would hear now and then from white folks that they wanted the white guy to win against Joe, but not in my Jewish neighborhood somehow.\u00a0 It was racist and we did not grow up with it.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t see Joe as black, but as \u201cOur Champion.\u201d\u00a0 He was the \u201cBrown Bomber\u201d and was a winner and a gentleman!\u00a0 In fact, I feel Joe Louis did quite a bit to change racist attitudes in the US back in his time.\u00a0 I can\u2019t say it enough, he was such a great gentlemen.<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 You were privileged to be around to watch a man that the boxing pundits have named the greatest fighter of all time. That man is the late Sugar Ray Robinson.\u00a0 Talk about your recollections of the fighter and the man.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another one, who was all class!\u00a0 When you saw Robinson after a fight when he dressed up and looked sharp, and my God, like he wasn\u2019t even in a fight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Robinson was another guy where you never saw the race, you only saw the fighter.
\nI must say that the black athletes I watched growing up, cut away all of the racist crap that people were fed and just wasn\u2019t true.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Interviewers Note:\u00a0 Shelley was so moved by this question because of his deep rooted beliefs in the fact that all men are created equal, and that skin tone means nothing about the quality of a man. This led to a story about his late son Joshua Berman, who passed away before his 13th birthday, and as Shelley\u2019s voice quivered telling the heartfelt story.\u00a0 On playback, I was moved even more than the first time I heard it told to me. It was so personal that I asked Shelley if I could share it with the world and without hesitation, he said yes.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

My boy who didn\u2019t get the chance to live, and died before his 13th birthday, was a huge fan of Basketball Great, the late Wilt Chamberlain.\u00a0 I asked Joshua one day who is the greatest person you know? And he said, Wilt Chamberlain.\u00a0 Joshua never saw color as I mentioned we didn\u2019t many years before and I was proud of that. He loved the man!<\/p>\n

When my boy was in very serious trouble, the brain tumor had got him and he was going to die, he received a phone call.\u00a0 He picked up the phone and on the other line, it was Wilt Chamberlain.\u00a0 They had a little conversation with Wilt saying that he was hoping he would get better and to \u201ckeep his chin up.\u201d\u00a0 It was a very meaningful moment in my son\u2019s life. In fact, probably more meaningful then we could ever have hoped for.\u00a0 That stays with me forever that Wilt would take the time to do that and I don\u2019t know how he did it, because I didn\u2019t tell him to do it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

This goes back to my point that as a people who love sports, you should always love the person, not the color or religion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 Another fighter you watched was the only Heavyweight Champion to ever go undefeated, Rocky Marciano.\u00a0 What are you recollections of his fights?<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Laughs) Rocky was something else in there. In his fight where his nose was split against Jersey Joe Walcott, he came back to knock him out in the 13th round of a fight he was losing. Incidentally, I was rooting for Walcott in that fight. He was one heck of a fighter and what\u2019s amazing is, he weighed under 200 pounds compared to heavyweights today, that way up around 250 pounds.<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 With your huge success in the 1960\u2019s entertainment industry, you had a young fighter doing the same in the boxing world by first winning Gold in the 1960 Olympics, then going on to become the youngest Heavyweight Champion up until his time. That man was known at the time as Cassius Clay who later as we know went on to be called \u201cThe Greatest \u2013 Muhammad Ali.\u201d\u00a0 Did you know early on how great he would<\/strong> be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, before I answer your question, I have to tell you a story.\u00a0 Years ago, I was in Boston with a fellow named Dave Garroway (first host of the NBC\u2019s Today Show) who had a guest on and me as well.\u00a0 I went on and did my thing with Dave and we had fun. Then he brought on his second guest who was Muhammad Ali.\u00a0 It was a time when he had gotten himself in trouble as a separatist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He went into a religion that a lot of folks didn\u2019t understand and he started talking about his separate feelings.\u00a0 At that time, I was one who all but worshiped him was sitting there listening to this. I turned to Ali and said, \u201cAre you really saying that someone like me, who really wants to be your brother, you could not accept in anyway?\u201d Ali responded by saying, \u201cYou\u2019re just joking around, I am not even going to talk about that.\u201d\u00a0 I \u00a0replied, \u201cPlease, I am serious about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are saying, that you would deny me the right to call you brother?\u201d Again Ali said, \u201cNo you\u2019re just joking around\u2026I don\u2019t want to talk to you.\u201d\u00a0 That was it. He went on and spoke for a little while longer.\u00a0 When I got off that stage, I was fighting and fighting myself all that time, that I ran into the bathroom, hid in a stall and burst into tears.\u00a0 I was truly hurt.\u00a0 A producer or someone came in and caught me crying and asked what was wrong?\u00a0 I told him and he said, \u201cAli didn\u2019t mean it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

All I know is that I was still weeping and there was a knock on that stall door by a man who said, \u201cHey don\u2019t take on man, open the door.\u201d\u00a0 I opened the door and this big guy reached out and shook my hand.\u00a0 He said, \u201cI thought wrong, I made a mistake and I thought you were joking.\u201d\u00a0 While we were shaking hands, he said \u201cI want you to feel better now and I don\u2019t want you to cry. I want you to try and understand, I made a mistake with you.\u201d\u00a0 I loved that man because he was a lovable human being who was bitter at some, for the way his career had taken a turn.<\/p>\n

Now I would see him at a charitable affair a few years back, and he was limping a bit and unable to speak or move to well because of the Parkinson\u2019s Syndrome.\u00a0 I was in a line where we were receiving him and as he came to me, I said: \u201cDo you remember me?\u201d\u00a0 He said, \u201cSure I remember you Shelley.\u00a0 How are you doing now you crybaby?\u201d You have to know, I am proud of that story.\u00a0 I feel for the man and it was the greatest experience I have ever had with a great athlete.\u00a0 (Interviewers Note:\u00a0 This story has never been in print before Shelley\u2019s interview on RSR.)<\/p>\n

I saw him in Las Vegas as I recall, in ’65 when I was appearing at the Sahara Hotel.\u00a0 I’d been invited to see Floyd Patterson fight Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali who was making the second defense of his Championship. We were all excited over him; a great fighter with a gift of gab.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nAs Patterson entered to go to the ring, he came down the aisle right next to where I was sitting and I could see what appeared to be fear in his eyes.\u00a0 This I do remember quite clearly.\u00a0 People around me seemed to see the same look and commented on it.\u00a0 Anyway, Ali beat Patterson quite handily.\u00a0 That’s how I remember it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

BB: If you had to rate Ali amongst all the heavyweights you have been alive to watch, where would you rate him?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would have to rate him as number one even though I have an emotional attachment to him. But at 1B, I would have to go with Joe Louis.<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 Where do you feel Mike Tyson will place in the history of the heavyweight division?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no brevity when speaking of Tyson.\u00a0 Sarah and I tried to talk about him, but he so dominated the ring for his window of time in boxing, it is hard to give a short answer when speaking of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His professional as well as personal life seemed filled with perplexities: apparent errors of judgment, personal didos, big mistakes in the ring and out.\u00a0 He was positively scary.\u00a0 Today, with that odd tattoo on one side of his face, he looks a bit like he might have come from outer space.\u00a0 It wouldn’t surprise us to learn it’s true.
\n\u00a0
\nAnd, my God, look at his record!\u00a0 In 1985, his early period, nobody got past the 4th round with him.\u00a0 All\u00a0 of his first 15 fights ended by TKO or KO, most in the first round.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nSarah and I watched him, almost in disbelief.\u00a0 His eyes, the simple carriage of his face\u2026we were convinced his opponents were terrified of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

BB: Were you a fan of his?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We could not say we were “fans.\u201d\u00a0 He needed no one to root for him.\u00a0 He’d just come out of his corner and end the fight.\u00a0 I may be stretching this metaphor but in a strange sense, his opponents were the Christians and he was the lion.
\n\u00a0
\nYet when he spoke, he was so articulate, so reasonable, he became the man you’d want to know, to sit with and talk.\u00a0 We still feel that way.\u00a0 His speech is one of a learned and sensitive man.\u00a0 And this is the guy who lost control and bit off another man’s ear.\u00a0 This is the guy you wouldn’t want to be sitting next to in a bar and say something that might offend him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Tyson was the Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion, it was as if it would last forever.\u00a0 Why not?\u00a0 Well, Mike was bothered by a self most of us would only read about.\u00a0\u00a0 It began to seem natural to say he was an “animal.”\u00a0 The fighting genius Cus D’Amato created was being sued for assault, rape\u2026a guy out of control.\u00a0 Yet, his strength, his ring savvy, his ferocity as a heavyweight, could not but continue to be admired.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We still watched him retain his championship in fight upon fight.\u00a0 We stuck with him, admiring him, watching his victims keep falling, KO after KO.\u00a0 And though we’d come to know Tyson in all this time, reading about his apparently uncontrolled behaviors, we were nevertheless surprised in 1997 when he lost to Evander Holyfield by disqualification, in his attempt to win back his WBA Heavyweight Title he had lost to Holyfield some seven months before in an upset.\u00a0 Tyson bit a part of Holyfield’s ear off.\u00a0 Bit his ear off!\u00a0 No, though staunch admirers, we were not “fans.”\u00a0 In a peculiar way, we worried for him\u2026we cared.<\/p>\n

Later Lennox Lewis would, while retaining his ears, beat Tyson.\u00a0 Tyson still holds a fascination for us.\u00a0 We would drop everything to watch him today.\u00a0 The lupine wariness in his eyes, the faintly ironic smile, the lisp, that damned tattoo\u2026we confess we’d honest-to-God pull for him again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

BB: In the last 75 years, who would you choose as your personal favorite fighter, trainer and boxing match?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My favorite boxer would be Muhammad Ali.\u00a0 A pick for a favorite trainer is much harder since you had so many great ones over the years that I am not honestly prepared to give you a decent answer.\u00a0 There are so many that are just so great!
\nI have to tell you that I thought I always had a personal favorite boxing match till I saw the late Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo I.\u00a0 They all vanished because this fight was like a Rocky ending seeing Corrales get up from those devastating knockdowns twice, and win that fight so strongly.<\/p>\n

I probably could have found other fights that were great, but I just can\u2019t get this one out of my head. If you had to push for another fight from me, we could go back to the Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward Trilogy.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nBB:\u00a0 In our conversation, you mentioned Mrs. Berman is also a huge boxing fan. May I speak with her?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You sure can. Stand by\u2026.<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 Mrs. Berman, talk about your love for the sport of boxing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, I grew up as a little girl as Shelley was saying, watching the radio listening to these fights.\u00a0 As far as I was concerned back then, Joe Louis was the only man in the world.\u00a0 Everything was Joe Louis and the night when he lost to Max Schmeling back in 1936, we thought it was just a bad night for him.\u00a0 We did not believe our hero had lost, but when he won in the rematch, we celebrated in the streets.<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0\u00a0 Who is your favorite fighter of all-time and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I want to put Joe Louis out of the picture because he is my all-time favorite of course, but there other fighters who did not have a long career, yet, they were beautiful fighters.\u00a0 I have always loved boxers and the one I am going to say is the late Eddie Machen who fought in the heavyweight division and actually challenged for the WBA Heavyweight Title against then Champion, Ernie Terell losing by a unanimous decision.\u00a0 We watched him at the Olympic Auditorium out here many times. At that time, there was a woman promoter who may have been the only one on the scene named Aileen Eaton who always greeted both Shelley and I, very nicely.<\/p>\n

I can remember the night he lost to Joe Frazier in November of \u201866 by TKO.\u00a0 He tried his very best to win and was stopped in the 10th round of the fight. The only thing Eddie could think about was he let Aileen down.\u00a0 He kept saying, \u201cI am so sorry.\u201d\u00a0 As I said before, he was a beautiful boxer. I really don\u2019t like the fighters who hit and clutch.\u00a0 That is why I like Oscar De La Hoya\u2019s style of boxing.<\/p>\n

As far as I am concerned, if it\u2019s going to go to a decision, he is never going to get a fair one because they resent the fact that he is so successful in boxing.\u00a0 I really felt back in 1999, that he beat Felix Trinidad, but was not giving the decision.\u00a0 I also think he beat Floyd Mayweather, JR., and that he did not put up as good as of fight as they thought he did when he was given the decision.\u00a0\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nBB: What is your personal favorite fight of all-time and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course the one Shelley just told you with Corrales vs. Castillo, but I am going to pick the last fight in the trilogy of Gatti vs. Ward where Ward could hardly hold up his arms at the end.\u00a0 I swear that I have never seen two fighters fight so hard and you wanted both of them to win. It was a fabulous fight that had me on the edge of my seat.<\/p>\n

BB: Are there any other comments you want to make on the sport before I go back to Shelley?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, sometimes I wonder if I\u2019m watching the same fight that the judges are watching. You will notice this sometimes in the disparity of their scorecards.\u00a0 One will have a big margin for a particular fighter and the other will have a totally opposite score, but they were both sitting there at ringside.\u00a0 I wish that they would have better and fairer judges in boxing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 Talking about judges\u2026 Do you and Shelley ever score a fight and have it completely different from each other?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, we don\u2019t score the fights, but we are pretty much in agreement of the outcome if it goes to the cards.\u00a0 That is why I am so surprised that the judges have such wide margins from each other. Also, the commentators will talk and make a viewer think a particular fighter is winning, but in reality, you can see what they are doing is pushing their favorite fighter.
\n\u00a0
\nBB: (Back to Shelley) In the last 75 years, what single fighter do you feel moved the sport of boxing forward the most and why?
\n<\/strong>\u00a0
\nI will say Barney Ross born Beryl David Rosofsky (World Junior Welterweight and World Welterweight Champion) who was a Jewish fighter from the late 20\u2019s and 30\u2019s.\u00a0 You see fighters today jumping weight classes and winning belts and he did that as well years before.<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 Do you have any funny stories about any boxers you either worked with or met over the years?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was in Chicago working as a comedian at Mr. Kelley\u2019s around the late 1950\u2019s, Joe Louis would from time to time come to this particular club.\u00a0 It turned out that he showed up one night when I was playing there with singer Della Reese.\u00a0 I was amazed that he would come to see me, but I have a feeling he had come to see Della Reese. (We both busted out laughing)<\/p>\n

I knew that I was going to meet him after the show.\u00a0 During the entire night, I did not want to blow it when I met him by gushing or being silly. So I kept rehearsing before I went on stage saying, \u201cHi Joe, pleased to meet you.\u201d\u00a0 I rehearsed even when I got off stage to go and change clothes. \u201cHi Joe, pleased to meet you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

I finally got to him and he was introduced to me, and I said, \u201cHi Joe meased to pleet you.\u201d I kept trying to correct it, and I kept screwing it up. Joe understood and he said, \u201cIt\u2019s great to meet you to Shelley.\u201d He kept talking to cover up my flub. Oh God I was devastated and could not get the words out of my mouth.\u00a0 I was trying to be so cool, but just forget it.<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 What is your favorite boxing movie and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first Rocky film (1976) with Sylvester Stallone was fantastic.\u00a0 It showed the preparation of a fighter and I liked that.<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 Why do you think all the major networks took boxing off regular television for the most part during the late 80\u2019s?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I suspect that they didn\u2019t trust it.\u00a0 It really is a very cynical attitude not to trust fighters. I am assuming they lost trust.<\/p>\n

BB: When you say they lost trust, what do you mean?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You have to think of the minds involved here. Those minds know what wrestling is and what it really is.\u00a0 I think they began to distrust fighters, but I hope I am wrong on this. I am just shocked that our networks just dropped boxing all together because the big fights were money makers.<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 If you had the power to change one thing in boxing right now, what would that be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would get rid of punch counting! To me, it\u2019s just ridiculous.\u00a0 How dare they? Boxing is clear to see and I don\u2019t have to be told the number of punches, to what affect or anything else for that matter because I can clearly see it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 Do you feel that the network only brought it as another bell and whistle for their boxing telecast?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, that\u2019s correct.\u00a0 For a while, they even tried to give you the winner of each round and I hated that too.\u00a0 That went away where it should be, and so should this CompuBox punching thing. I really do think it\u2019s a way the networks think they can keep our interest in watching the fight.<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 Do you favor a mandatory retirement fund for all boxers and if so, how would you like to see it accomplished?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, people in professional boxing should be ready to pay a little bit of their earnings to put into a fund for themselves. It\u2019s really in their best interest. This is what we do in SAG (Screen Actors Guild) and AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) we have a little bit taken off and we may resent it at first, but when you get to my age or where a boxer really can\u2019t push it anymore, he doesn\u2019t have to worry about how he is going to live.\u00a0 I also feel the boxing promoters should also put into a fund.\u00a0 Anybody who is making living off the sport of boxing, should be contributing to it.\u00a0 I don\u2019t ask producers to put up for me, but I do ask my fellow actors to put up as I do for them.<\/p>\n

The guys making the most money of course get the most taken out and it\u2019s no different in my line of work than it should be for the boxers. Actors have a Union that protects the money.\u00a0 Boxers should have a Union as well, at least for the retirement fund to be protected, which will have a group in charge, who will also get paid to take care of this fund.\u00a0 They have to see who should get it, who has paid in, and things like this.\u00a0 I am not financier, but a fund should exist in boxing.<\/p>\n

BB: Any other closing thoughts on boxing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The sport of boxing, thank God, is still a legitimate sport.\u00a0 It is a real honest to God thing.\u00a0 Men go in there and hurt themselves and hurt others, but that\u2019s not the point.\u00a0 The point is the manly art.\u00a0 When I say to people, I am a fight fan, they don\u2019t understand it.\u00a0 I am not there to see someone hit them until they are dizzy.\u00a0 There is a whole lot that goes on in a fight that is just amazing if you really watch it.<\/p>\n

I am flattered that you asked me about boxing because I am not an outsider when it comes to the sport. Sarah and I are really a couple of boxing nuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

BB:\u00a0 Finally, what is the saying you live your life by?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have a saying I live my life by, but I do say \u201cI love you\u201d quite frequently to my wife Sarah.<\/p>\n

(Interviews closing thoughts):\u00a0 I have been doing interviews for over ten years now and of course like any writer, we all have our personal favorites for various reasons.\u00a0 Well, I will not be shy about why this ranks up there with some of my all-time favorites. Shelley Berman\u2019s love of his fellow man, but to even go further, his love for boxers and the sport of boxing, something that we both share, is touching.\u00a0 He is not ashamed to say it and if you did not read that loud and clear in this interview, then I suggest you read it again.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I am really proud of this interview and that RSR was able to obtain it.\u00a0 We have a documented record now of what was and it\u2019s truly amazing.\u00a0 Years after Shelley and I are sitting together at ringside up by that big boxing ring in the sky, people will read this interview.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I am going to say, that when they do, they to, will realize we did something very special here over the last two days. Finally, I want to thank Shelley and Sarah Berman or as I like to call them, Shelley and Sarah \u201cBoom Boom\u201d Berman for doing this interview.<\/em><\/strong>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

To find out more about Shelley Berman Visit His Website<\/a><\/p>\n

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Exclusive Interview by \u201cBad\u201d Brad Berkwitt (Reposted for Archive Purposes) “I am flattered that you asked me about boxing because I am not an outsider when it comes to the sport.\u00a0 Sarah and I are really a couple of boxing nuts.”– Shelley Berman Yesterday, in Part I of RSR\u2019s interview with Shelley Berman, we discussed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[50,105,390,462,521,654],"class_list":["post-1999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews-by-bad-brad-berkwitt","tag-amazing-stories","tag-boxing","tag-joe-louis","tag-love-for-the-sport","tag-muhummad-ali","tag-shelley-berman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}