Al Bernstein Says He Loves Calling JuanMa's Fights As Much As Any Fighter In His Career

AL BERNSTEIN CALLS “JUANMA” A FAN-FRIENDLY CHAMPION

Showtime boxing analyst Al Bernstein will be at ringside calling the action with Gus Johnson for Showtime’s telecast of the Juan Manuel Lopez-Orlando Salido WBO Featherweight title match on Saturday, April 16th.  This will be the fourth Lopez title match he has announced and he said, “I look forward to doing his matches as much as any fighter I’ve ever announced in 30 years of broadcasting.”

Bernstein called “JuanMa” a fan friendly champion, and explained why. “The two best words for the fans that you can put in front of a champion’s name  are exciting and vulnerable,  and those two words are etched in front of the name  of Juan Manuel Lopez.” Even though he is 30-0 with 27 wins by KO, the take no prisoners style of Lopez has led to him being down or staggered in several of his recent fights. “Perhaps the wildest fight I’ve announced in the last five years was the  2009 Lopez fight with Rogers Mtagwa,” Al said. “In the 12th round  Juanma was literally out on his feet for almost all of the last three minutes and yet he remained upright to win a decision—it was remarkable.”

On April 16th he faces a former  world champion and all out aggressor in Orlando Salido. This Mexican brawler has power and a great chin—it could produce another rollercoaster evening for Lopez. “Salido is as live an underdog in this fight as you will ever see,  and even fighting on Lopez’ home soil in Puerto Rico, Salido has a good chance for an upset.”

IN OTHER NEWS:

Bernstein is now filing weekly reports on the CBS radio network for the upcoming May 7th Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley. Al will serve as analyst on that Showtime pay-per-view telecast of boxing’s biggest event of 2011.

Boxing Channel, for which Al serves as executive producer,  now features a special two-part interview that Steve Farhood did with his longtime broadcast partner and friend Nick Charles. “I am happy that we can present this to boxing fans who have followed Nick on his courageous journey in the last two years,” Al said. He added, “Nick is a very special person and there is no one more appropriate than Steve to interview him about the sport of boxing that Nick loves so much, and the difficult personal challenges Nick has been forced to tackle.  It’s impossible not to be in awe of the grace with which he has handled himself. But then, given that it’s Nick, it’s not surprising.” This interview can be seen at  www.boxingchannel.com