Platinum Sports Entertainment Group, Inc. Signs Al Bernstein of Showtime Championship Boxing

July 15, 2009 - PRLog -- “Aside from personalities such Jamie Fox and Usher Raymond, Al Bernstein is probably the most talented and dynamic person that I know, and it brings me great pleasure that he has signed with us for representation,” stated the President & Sports Agent, Allen L. Ellison.

About Al Berstein (www.ABBC.com)

Al Bernstein is best known to a national audience as the voice of boxing, first for ESPN, and now for Showtime, but he has carved out a career of varied endeavors and achieved success in television, movies, and as a live stage performer. Al is considered by many as the most recognizable and respected boxing commentator.  He now serves as the analyst for Showtime Championship Boxing.  Since May of 2003, Al has worked at ringside on the Showtime Network.  “Doing the boxing at Showtime has been a wonderful experience,” Al said, “the matches are terrific and fun to call, and the production values that the Showtime production team puts into these telecasts, makes you feel proud of the overall effort.  This a great endeavor for me.”

In addition to the monthly matches on Showtime, Al has also appeared on the Best of 2003 and Best of 2004 anthology shows.  These shows looked back on the great boxing moments on Showtime.

From 1980 to 2003, Al was known as the voice of boxing for ESPN.  From 1980-1998 he was the analyst (and often host) of the Top Rank Boxing series on ESPN.  This weekly series was a staple of ESPN programming, and helped propel the network to its current status.  “We were inventing cable television back in the early 1980’s, and it was a harrowing, but fun experience to do a weekly boxing series on a shoestring budget.  Top Rank provided exciting matches of young fighters on their way up—and the show became a cult hit,” Al said.

Throughout his 23 years at ESPN Al covered all the major fights for Sportscenter.  In addition Al’s duties for Sportcenter included covering Major League Baseball, NBA Basketball, and the NFL draft “While I was doing the Top Rank series in my first 18 years at ESPN, I only occasionally had the time to cover the other sports for Sportcenter, but for the last five years I was at ESPN, one of the nice things was I got to cover other sports more often,” Al said.

And, one of Al’s signature shows at ESPN was “Big Fights Boxing Hour” which still runs on ESPN Classic Network.  Al wrote and hosted 26 episodes of this show, which chronicles all parts of boxing history by looking at major matches.  “I’m proud of the work we did on those shows, it was just fascinating researching and doing them,” Al said.

In 1992 and 1996 NBC reached out to Al to be its boxing analyst at the Olympic Games.  His work at those two Olympic Games earned him high praise from Sports/TV critics around the country.

Al has been on the telecasts of over 50 major pay per view boxing matches, and he is the ONLY boxing announcer in the history of the sport to have at various times fulfilled the roles of host, blow by blow announcer, analyst, and or roving and in-ring interviewer.  “I set out to be as versatile as possible when I started in television, and I feel comfortable with virtually any role on a boxing broadcast—I love that kind of variety in what I do.”

There is also a variety in the forms of media that have utilized Al’s talents.  On radio he has done several syndicated shows, as well as “Al Bernstein’s Sports Party” which aired 5 days a week on ESPN radio in Las Vegas.  This was a lighthearted, but informative sports and entertainment show that featured big name guests in both sports and entertainment.  “Radio is a wonderful medium in which to be eclectic, and that is what I love to be more than anything.  I have a fairly wide range of interests, and I indulged most of them on this show—and the listeners seem to share my curiosity,” Al said.

Al has now moved into the worldwide web with his Al Bernstein Boxing Channel (ABBC) at www.ibnsports.com. This channel includes great video with Al covering major boxing matches, doing features on the sport and interviewing boxing personalities. There are also exciting matches available for viewing.

Back in 1988 Al began to use his vocal ability as a singer to carve out a dual career as a live performer.  He did a live musical show at Caesar’s Palace on the weekend of the Marvin Hagler-Sugar Ray Leonard fight, that was very well received by both critics and overflow audiences.  Since then he has performed at many major Las Vegas casinos including the Mandalay Bay and Riviera.  He has also performed at dozens of Riverboat and Indian casinos around the country.  “Music is something I love, and when there is the time and opportunity to perform it, I consider it a real gift to me,” he said.

Al has ventured into the world of feature films and television movies and series for a number of appearances.  His movie credits include, “Rocky V”, “Streets of Gold”, and “Play It To The Bone.”  He has made two guest appearances on the HBO series “Arli$$,” and appeared in a Showtime movie “Paradise” and HBO movie “Glory Days.”  

Al began his professional life as a journalist, and was a managing editor at Lerner Newspapers in Chicago from 1974 to 1979.  During that time he won the Chicago Newspaper Guild’s award for best news story—an investigation into illegal land deals by suburban officials. In 1980 Al wrote a book called “Boxing For Beginner,” an instructional—historical book on boxing.  It was published by Contemporary Publishing.  Al also covered boxing for both Ring magazine and Boxing Illustrated in the late 1970’s.

Away from his professional life Al is an avid horseman who has participated in several Ben Johnson Celebrity Rodeos.  Al has competed in penning competitions with his two horses, Sunset Matt, and Paladin.  Al has also served as Grand Marshall for a number of PRCA Rodeos.  “I love riding, and one of the most enjoyable things I do is make appearance from time to time at western and rodeo events—I am ALWAYS available for that,” Al said.  Al also does a lot of trail riding throughout the Southwest, where he says the “solitude and a beauty of nature” offer an interesting counterpoint to an otherwise busy life.

About Platinum Sports Entertainment Group, Inc.

Platinum Sports Entertainment Group, Inc. is a Central Florida based, premiere, full-service sports & entertainment agency with offices in Washington, DC and Great Britain. The company, founded by Mr. Allen L. Ellison, serves clients across the globe, assisting them with contract negotiations, management, client development, public relations and marketing. With a comprehensive and professional approach, Platinum assists clients with endorsement/sponsorship opportunities, corporate development and manage assets, while allowing its clients to focus on the day-to-day activities of increasing productivity.

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Platinum Sports Entertainment Group, Inc. is a Central Florida based, full service sports & entertainment agency with offices in Washington DC and Great Britain.