Bouie Fisher, the septuagenarian former trainer/father figure of one Bernard Hopkins, will be honored as Outstanding Citizen of the Year by The Friends of Labor in Philadelphia, on Saturday, October 19 at 6:00 p.m. The Hyatt Regency Philadelphia @Penns Landing will host the event.

While Hopkins continues to stew in his own juices, unable to secure a network, or a profitable money fight, Bouie Fisher -as well as advisor Lou DiBella- have entrusted their SEPARATE claims against the boxer to legal eagle Judd Burstein.

Long Island's own Judd Burstein has proven himself to be nothing short of brilliant; a champion in the courtroom where he has scored decisive and costly KOs for some of boxing's most recognized names. Who can forget the $7,400,000 federal court judgment he secured against undisputed heavyweight champion of the world Lennox Lewis against Panos Eliade for racketeering and fraud?

Judd Burstein prides himself in loving the sport of boxing, and is angered by the exploitation of its athletes, most of whom, according to Burstein are treated "like indentured servants. Any time you get together large amounts of money and uneducated minority athletes, you have a breeding ground for exploitation and corruption. Golf and tennis have a totally different social demographic. The team sports have unions. But the stuff that goes on in boxing is mind-boggling to me."

Bragging Rights Corner spoke to Judd Burstein regarding Mr. Fisher's lawsuit. This is what he told us:

"The lawsuit alleges that Bernard Hopkins and Bouie Fisher had an agreement that Bouie Fisher would remain as Bernard's trainer the rest of Bernard's career. There is a notarized, written agreement which says that in bouts where Bernard gets extra training expenses beyond his purse, Bouie Fisher is to receive 10% of Bernard's purse. There are three, possibly four fights, where Bernard did get extra training expenses and he did not pay Bouie the 10% that was due to Bouie.

"In addition, we are claiming that Bouie is entitled to the reasonable value of his services. If this is the case, essentially, it's about... it's disloyalty and dishonesty and it's a tragic case. Bouie Fisher is a wonderful man who was very devoted to Bernard and he was repaid with somebody who didn't treat him right."

Bouie Fisher deserves better than the hypocritical Hopkins has dealt him. By Hopkins' own admission, Fisher took him in like a son. It was Bouie who upon Bernard's release from the big house gave him a job at his transmission shop, paying him $200 a week, although Hopkins knew zilch about transmissions. He trained him for over a decade; fine tuning Hopkins' aging engine and engineering the explosive stoppage of the fighter who gave Hopkins his biggest payday, el gran campeón Félix "Tito" Trinidad.

The Friends of Labor will hold this wonderful and well deserved tribute dinner for Bouie Fisher, and it is Bragging Rights Corner's hope that justice be done, and that we -along with the great majority of boxing fans- may soon celebrate a victory by tag team Fisher-Burstein against the classless Bernard Hopkins.

We wish to thank Mr. Burstein for being so gracious, and we sincerely congratulate Bouie Fisher on this great honor.