I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Hall of Fame inductee, journalist, author, and veteran broadcaster, Al Bernstein. In this exclusive interview, Al shares his thoughts on the recent Alvarez-Lara fight and if he believes Lara will get a rematch. Bernstein also talks about the Pacquiao-Algieri match which has just been announced and also discussed the rematch between Marcos Maidana and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Here is what Al Bernstein had to say in part 1 of his interview.

Robert Brown: What was your assessment on the Canelo vs. Lara fight?

Al Bernstein: I thought it was a very close fight. I thought the two judges that had it 115-113, one for Canelo and one for Lara, either of those scores are plausible. The 117-11 score by Levi Martinez I thought was pretty far off. Clearly Erislandy Lara did not engage that much — he fought a very defensive fight, he moved a lot — however he did land effective punches and his movement was an issue for Canelo Alvarez, however, Canelo had to make the fight.

Canelo did land a lot of good body shots and that’s why I think a lot of the rounds were close. The early rounds were good for Lara, in the middle of the fight Canelo came back and then the last couple of rounds were close but depending on how you looked at them, that’s probably how you ended up scoring the fight.

Robert Brown: How did you score the fight in the end?

Al Bernstein: I didn’t really score it round for round but I thought it was very close.

Robert Brown: Do you think this fight deservers a rematch? Do you think Lara has the marketability to get the rematch?

Al Bernstein: No, honestly I don’t and I think part of the issue is, when he fought Alfredo Angulo, he was forced to fight a more active fight — Angulo was able to push him in the corner and he had to fight back and of course he did and it was a wildly exciting fight but this one wasn’t.

Lara has the right to box and he has the right to fight a tactical fight, but the problem is, he fought such a tactical fight that I don’t know if people would want a rematch. I think because he didn’t fight a very aggressive fight, it probably gives Canelo Alvarez the leeway to probably not do the rematch. Of course Canelo would like to fight Cotto next in what would be a big money fight, or the other option is James Kirkland. I think Lara may be out in the cold for a little bit.

Robert Brown: One fight that was talked about was a possible Canelo vs. Pacquiao match. Is this a realistic fight?

Al Bernstein: No they’re not gonna fight. I don’t think in terms of weight they’re compatible, because Canelo can almost go up to middleweight. At the end of the day I just don’t see the two of them getting together. Oscar De La Hoya and Bob Arum have had talks about doing fights together and they may well do a couple but that won’t be one of them.

Robert Brown: Chris Algieri is going to be Pacquiao’s next opponent. What’s your assessment of that fight?

Al Bernstein: I think it’s an interesting fight, I think it’s appropriate. Chris Algieri is a young guy who got a very big win over Ruslan Provodnikov in a close fight, he had to get past early adversity — getting knocked down twice and terrible swelling around his right eye — he was able to get past it and fight very well, get an important win. Why not reward him with a big fight? That’s what it is against Pacquiao.

Chris Algieri is not going to be an easy foe for Pacquiao because he’s a very good boxer, he’s got a good jab, good straight right hand. That’s a tricky fight for Pacquiao, I think Chris Algieri is the real deal, I think he’s a very good fighter. They’ll fight at a weight slightly higher than 140lbs, but then again, Pacquiao isn’t really a big welterweight anyway so I don’t think he has the size edge on Algieri.

Robert Brown: How do you feel about the upcoming Mayweather-Maidana rematch?

Al Bernstein: I think it’s an appropriate choice for Floyd Mayweather to pick him as an opponent because it was a compelling fight. Their first fight was the most competitive that Mayweather has had probably since the first Jose Luis Castillo fight, and as a result of that, it seems wholly appropriate.

I’m one of those people that I don’t think he totally figured out Maidana in the last half of that fight. He did better in the last half of the fight, but it wasn’t as if Maidana had no moments of effectiveness. I don’t see this as a walkover for Mayweather in any way, shape, or form. He’s a big betting favorite already but I think Marcos Maidana is gonna still make things difficult for him.