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Al Bernstein relishes spot in Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame

Updated May 9, 2018 - 5:14 pm

Al Bernstein almost chose the path of a politician when he was a managing editor at Lerner Newspapers in Chicago.

“On three different occasions they came to me to run for office,” Bernstein said. “It was for state senate and one time for state rep, and I was close to saying yes. It was a pretty easy get with a congressional seat down the road.”

But Bernstein didn’t see himself as a politician or news reporter. His heart led him to the sweet science as a boxing analyst and eventually to Las Vegas.

Three thousand boxing matches later, the Chicago-raised Bernstein will be honored in his hometown of the past 28 years.

Bernstein, 67, will be inducted into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, along with Forrest Griffin, Jim Reitz, Armon Gilliam, Rossi Ralenkotter and the Las Vegas Thunder hockey team. The induction ceremony will be at Orleans Arena.

“Just shows how life would be to take one path over the other,” said Bernstein, a Showtime boxing analyst since 2003.

Bernstein isn’t new to hall of fame ceremonies. He received boxing’s highest honor in 2012 when he was enshrined into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

“It’s very significant to me because of the fact that it’s in Las Vegas and this is my home,” Bernstein said of entering the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame. “Secondly, it’s a sports hall of fame, not just for boxing.

“This is very special to me. I know it’s a significant group. I know so many people who have been inducted to it, and it means a lot to me.”

Bernstein moved to Las Vegas in 1990, but originally planned to leave Chicago for Los Angeles.

“I was about to go to Los Angeles to sign a lease,” Bernstein said. “I had friends tell me why not move (to Las Vegas)? I had friends here and worked here often. Made sense, and once I got here, I loved it.”

SHORT DESCRIPTION (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Bernstein guessed he’s been ringside for 3,000 fights, with many in Las Vegas. He called the thrilling 2005 bout between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo at the Mandalay Bay Events Center as “the best fight I’ve announced in my 35-year career.”

The classic 1985 three-round bout between Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns at Caesars Palace was a close second on Bernstein’s list.

In 1980, Bernstein joined ESPN to start a 23-year run as the network’s boxing voice. He was an analyst and at times a host for the weekly Top Rank Boxing series on ESPN.

“I knew ESPN was coming to Chicago, and I set my goal to be a part of their broadcast,” said Bernstein, who had little broadcasting experience before joining ESPN. “I did some thing for them for free. I scratched and clawed my way to bigger opportunities.”

Bernstein also covered MLB, NBA and the NFL draft for ESPN.

‘You hope it’s a perfect storm of opportunities, and with your own effort, you hope it comes together at the right time, and it kind of happened that way for me,” Bernstein said.

More boxing: Follow all of our boxing coverage online at reviewjournal.com/boxing and @RJ_Sports on Twitter.

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GManzano24 on Twitter.

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