Al Bernstein (born September 15, 1950) is an American sportscaster, writer, stage performer, recording artist, and

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

Journalism career

In the 1970s, Bernstein was a newspaperman, working at

Lerner Newspapers Lerner Newspapers was a chain of weekly newspapers. Founded by Leo Lerner, the chain was a force in community journalism in Chicago from 1926 to 2005, and called itself "the world's largest newspaper group". In its heyday, Lerner published 54 ...

in Chicago. He eventually became a managing editor at that newspaper. In 1978, he wrote ''Boxing For Beginners'', an instructional and historical book on boxing. He also wrote for ''

Boxing Illustrated 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 ...

'' and ''The Ring'' during this period. In 2012, Bernstein released ''30 Years, 30 Undeniable Truths About Boxing, Sports and TV''.

Broadcasting

In 1980, Bernstein joined

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

as boxing analyst for the ''

Top Rank Boxing Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muh ...

'' series. He stayed at ESPN until 2003, and during that time he also worked as a reporter for ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of American cable and satellite television network ESPN. The show covers various sports teams and athletes from around the world and of ...

'', covering major boxing matches,

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

, the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United ...

and the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

. He also wrote and hosted the series Big Fights Boxing Hour for

ESPN Classic ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns 20%). The channel was originally ...

. In 1988, he won the

Sam Taub Award The Sam Taub Award is a yearly award presented by the Boxing Writers Association of America for Excellence in Broadcasting Journalism. The award is named after Sam Taub, a journalist and radio broadcaster who is best known for his work covering box ...

for excellence in boxing broadcasting journalism and in 2012 he was inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The ...

. It was announced in December 2012 that he would be inducted into the

Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame The Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame (abbreviated NVBHOF) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in June 2012 by American sports broadcaster Rich Marotta. The company honors boxers and those in the industry who have significantly contributed to ...

as one of their inaugural inductees in 2013 in the Media category. In 1992 and 1996, he served as the boxing analyst for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

's coverage of the Summer Olympic Games. From 1999–2002, he was a sports anchor for

KVVU KVVU-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Henderson, Nevada, United States, serving the Las Vegas area as an affiliate of the Fox network. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios at the Broadcast Center on West Sunse ...

news in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

. Since 2003, Bernstein has served as the boxing analyst on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global ...

for ''

Showtime Championship Boxing ''Showtime Championship Boxing'' is a television boxing program airing on Showtime. Debuting in March 1986, it is broadcast live on the first Saturday of every month. ''Showtime Championship Boxing'', which is very similar to '' HBO World Champ ...

''. He has been Channel 5's main boxing analyst since 2011.

Music

In 1988, Bernstein recorded his first album ''My Very Own Songs'', with original songs about television and sports. He released ''Let The Games Begin'' in 1996. In 1998, he also began a career as a live musical performer. Since then he has performed at major casinos such as

Caesars Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesar ...

, the

Mandalay Bay Mandalay Bay is a 43-story luxury resort and casino at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Vici Properties and The Blackstone Group and operated by MGM Resorts International. It was developed by Circus Circ ...

and

The Riviera ''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two are ...

, as well as many Indian and Riverboat casinos around the United States.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Al 1950 births Living people American television sports announcers American sports radio personalities American sportswriters Boxing commentators Jewish American writers Journalists from California Journalists from Illinois Journalists from Las Vegas International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees 21st-century American Jews