Al Bernstein: “It’s hard for me to figure out a way that Canelo can beat Gennady Golovkin”

Al Bernstein is one of the most recognized boxing commentators in the sport as he has called some of the biggest matches in boxing for over thirty five years. Just last year Bernstein took part in commentating the most hyped fight in boxing history, Mayweather-Pacquiao, an event that not only saw the fighters finally meeting in the ring but also the networks Showtime and HBO working together once again.

In this “On The Ropes” boxing radio interview with Al Bernstein, I discuss with him the impact of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao on the sport and he gives his thoughts on Manny Pacquiao possibly walking away from the sport this year. Bernstein also talks about the light heavyweight division and possible match ups between Andre Ward, Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson. Additionally, Al shares his thoughts on who he would favor in a Saul Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin bout. Here is what Al Bernstein had to say.

Jenna J: Do you think the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight hurt or helped boxing? The fans got what they wanted to see but most were disappointed with the fight itself.

Al Bernstein: At the end of the day it probably doesn’t help the sport. I think you’d have to be a really good spin doctor to say that it helped the sport, and the reason is because not only did it end up being not as scintillating and let’s face it, there was some expectation that the fight might not be scintillating.

Floyd Mayweather’s style is such that he takes the air out of fights, and Manny Pacquiao was diminished apparently, and that was a big factor, that did not help. It would have been one thing if the fight was just not thrilling and exciting, but the controversy following the fight where there was some question about Pacquiao being one hundred percent coming in and people paying so much money to get the fight. At the end of the day, big pay-per-views that get crossover audiences — and this was the ultimate — that don’t deliver, in general they don’t help the sport.

Jenna J: Pacquiao has stated that his next fight, the rematch with Bradley, will be the last of his career, do you think it will be?

Al Bernstein: I think it will be unless by some miracle there will be a second Mayweather fight. Maybe Mayweather is laying in the weeds, even though he said he’s done with boxing, and if Pacquiao delivers a brilliant performance and knocks out Tim Bradley, could that resuscitate the kind of interest that would make for a second fight with Mayweather? I would say no.

Jenna J: The light heavyweight division has been getting a lot of attention. Andre Ward has announced his move up to the weight class now, Sergey Kovalev holds three of the belts. What are your thoughts on the division?

Al Bernstein: Well it’s an interesting division now, you have Kovalev, Beterbiev, Stevenson, and now Andre Ward’s in the division. If those people can find a way to fight each other — they’re talking very much about a Ward-Kovalev fight for later in the year. Ward is going to have one tune up fight, probably two, and you would hope that Andre Ward’s gonna fight one of the better light heavyweight contenders for his second fight. There’s Andrzej Fonfara who I really like, he had a wild fight with Nathan Cleverly in that division. The division has big names in it, the trick is getting them in the ring against each other.

Jenna J: How good do you think Andre Ward can do in the light heavyweight division? He was dominant at 168lbs, but how will he do here against bigger men?

Al Bernstein: I think Andre Ward can end up being a terrific light heavyweight. He’s as skilled a fighter as exists and has existed. He’s had some layoffs, some forced and some through injury, and we don’t know which Andre Ward is at north of thirty is going to show up for this final act of his career.

If it’s the Andre Ward that we saw at his peak, he’s a very difficult fighter for either Stevenson or Kovalev to fight, but he’s fighting men who are punching harder, so it’s gonna be intriguing. I think Andre Ward is the wildcard here. I’m a big believer in Andre Ward’s skillset and if he can fight at 175lbs as well as he fought at 168lbs, he’s gonna be a tough man to beat.

Jenna J: Another fight that has been talked about for a long time is Sergey Kovalev vs. Adonis Stevenson, a fight for all the title belts. Do you think we can have a potential situation where the two networks come together to make a really big fight?

Al Bernstein: There have been discussions that I’ve heard about for the networks to find a way to try to collaborate again. I don’t know if this fight is big enough for all of them to want to do it. Maybe they can and that would be great, I’d love to see that fight for boxing fans, they’ve been waiting to see Kovalev-Stevenson and that would be fantastic. There are complications because of the promoters and because of the networks, but you hope that maybe there’s a way to circumvent that in this instance. Whether they can make it happen remains to be seen.

Jenna J: The biggest fight that all the fans want to see is a Saul Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin fight. They are both going to have a tune up fight and they may fight in September. If the fight happens, who do you see winning it?

Al Bernstein: Well I hope it happens this September, that would give Canelo time to gain his weight. Gennady Golovkin’s problem is that nobody will fight him for the most part. I hope that fight happens, I think Golovkin is the clear winner in that fight, it’s hard for me to figure out a way that Canelo can beat him. It could be a very interesting and exciting fight, potentially, but Canelo isn’t a big middleweight and Golovkin has certainly been at 160lbs for a long time. I just can’t imagine Golovkin losing that fight, but I hope it happens, it would be a monstrous fight for the sport.