For my opening interview of 2014 I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Hall of Fame inductee, journalist, author, and veteran broadcaster Al Bernstein. In this exclusive interview, a variety of topics were discussed, including the future of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr, as well as the heavyweight division. Bernstein also talks about Adrien Broner’s upset loss to Marcos Maidana, and whether he can come back from it. His latest book is also discussed, Al Bernstein: 30 Years, 30 Undeniable Truths About Boxing, Sports, and TV.

Topics

Detailed Discussion about Al Bernstein’s latest book

Thoughts on the likely matchup between Floyd Mayweather and Amir Khan

Thoughts on Manny Pacquiao’s performance against Brandon Rios and possible future opponents Timothy Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov

Changing landscape of the heavyweight division in wake of Vitali Klitschko’s Retirement

Deontay Wilder

Quotes

“My opinion is most sports fans don’t want you to overshadow the event, they want you to enhance it.”

“I never thought 147 was a good weight for Adrien Broner.”

“I’m not even sure that 140 is perfect for Adrien Broner, I’m not sure he can handle the Lucas Matthysee’s and the Danny Garcia’s. “

“I think at 135 Broner’s power is more than people can handle but at the other weight classes it isn’t and that’s an issue.”

“I think Khan probably got this fight in many respects, because he is a marketable opponent.”

“What Amir Khan does bring to this fight is more hand speed; foot speed and pure boxing ability than probably a number of Mayweather opponents have in recent times.”

“I think the biggest challenger to Floyd Mayweather in a couple of fights could be Keith Thurman”

“Rios didn’t really fight a good pressure fight, he didn’t fight a really good pressure fight, he did not do what he has done in other fights.”

“I’d like to see a healthy Bradley fight a more focused Pacquiao.”

“When Pacquiao uses the right hook , boxing skills and ring generalship he is still a tough man to deal with”

“Provodnikov won’t get dissuaded like Rios did against Pacquiao”

“I’d like to see Wilder fight Fury.”

“I think Mikey Garcia and Keith Thurman will really step up in 2014.”

“I hope they make the Stevenson-Kolvalev fight, what’s gonna happen if they don’t make it soon is somebody’s going to lose.”

“I think Canelo-Angulo will create some fireworks.”

It was a great experience spending time with a legend of the sport Al Bernstein, I hope everybody enjoyed this interview and I wish Al continued success in 2014.