The Daily Bread Mailbag returns with Stephen “Breadman” Edwards tackling topics such as Gervonta Davis, Oleksandr Usyk, Canelo vs. Ryder, Canelo’s options, Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Devin Haney, and more.
Hey Mr. Edwards,
Thank you for the last mailbag. I note that the hotline was not so hot on the Davis-Garcia showdown. I think I was on the money when I said the fight would be won and lost in the footwork department. Tank was simply too swift of foot, turned Garcia rather easily and forced him to sprint after him, a rookie mistake against a vaunted puncher like Tank. Funny, I feel if Garcia skips 140 and goes to 147, he has a great chance to forge a great career. He has the size and I think he will carry his speed and power with him. He is unlikely to face either Terrence Crawford or Errol Spence Jr and he can out-wait both Jaron Ennis and Vergil Ortiz who look increasingly to me like they will outgrow 147 sooner rather than later.
With those four out of the way, I’m not sure a lot of guys at 147 can handle Garcia. In my view, he may also stand a better chance of beating guys like Teofimo Lopez, Devin Haney and Shakur Stevenson at 147 rather than 140. I don’t see Tank going up to 147. What do you think?The more I look at it, Tank could run the table at 135. His power there is forbidding and there is nothing wrong with his skills set. Size-wise he’s just about ok for 135. He might end up at 140 but I think he’d be foolish because Devin and Shakur will carry that weight far better than he does and they are not Barrios.
But at 135, I think he clips them. Lastly, and without us knowing anything much about what happened in the background, is Tyson Fury really not ducking Oleksandr Usyk? I have never heard of a man with so many belts taking a deal as rotten as Usyk is reported to have accepted against Fury and the fight still collapses like it did. I told you many mailbags ago that the suggestions being made at the time by many, yourself included, that Fury could be too much to deal with for Muhammad Ali was just about the most absurd thing I had ever heard. I am going to tell you something right now. Fury has looked deep into Usyk’s eyes and I think he felt a little queasy feeling in his stomach and he knows that Usyk is not the easy work he has tried to make everyone believe he is. Usyk is nowhere near as dynamic as Ali was at Heavyweight and I still maintain that there is no way Fury’s size is a problem for all-time greats like Ali, Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano despite their small stature.
I think Mike Tyson, before he fired his great team (Kevin Rooney and others) was so swift in his attacks that Fury’s size would not have been too much of a problem. And if Steve Cunningham could knock Fury down, so could Mike Tyson. And Mike Tyson was a far better finisher than Cunningham and Deontay Wilder put together. Wilder is only a better one-punch knockout artist than Iron Mike but certainly not a better finisher. Your thoughts?I will write in with my prediction for Devin v Loma closer to that fight. MMJoe Frazier v Mike Tyson.I was very uneasy about what Oscar Bonavena was able to do to Frazier and something tells me Frazier doesn’t fare all that much better against Tyson than his son Marvis did. Your thoughts?Keep punching sir KatlholoJohannesburg, South Africa.
Bread’s Response: Tank has great feet. He can get to spots fast and he can generate power in small spaces. He keeps himself in punching position. He doesn’t let anyone make him move faster than he wants to. He’s not always fast but he’s always fast enough. Ryan Garcia has to figure some things out as far as his career before I can say what he will do at 147lbs. Right now he’s a talented fighter with some flaws. He also has to deal with his inner team issues. Whenever a fighter loses as badly as he did, heads will roll on his team. It’s just how it is. Tank would be the favorite over every fighter at 135 right now as we speak. That says a lot because many think this is a golden era of lightweight. But fights aren’t won on paper. Let’s see if the fights get made.
I don’t know what happened with Fury vs Usyk. But as a person of considerable discernment. I don’t believe Usyk ruins deals. His track record and his performances tell me he doesn’t care who he fights. Period!
I have never suggested or said that Tyson Fury could beat Muhammad Ali. I don’t care about the size of the modern heavyweight. 6’3” 220lbs is all you need. Ali is the best and greatest heavyweight in history. What I said is would be a tough fight because Fury has skills and he has the type of guts and mental strength that would allow him to be competitive with the greats of the past.
I agree Wilder is not the finisher Mike Tyson was. One punch kos and finishing a hurt or wounded fighter is not the same. Tyson was a lights out finisher. Wilder had Fury hurt 4 different times and didn’t finish him. I’m a big Wilder fan but you’re right. That did happen. I think Wilder is a good finisher. Just not like Tyson. I think the reason being is Tyson has a better 2 fisted attack and a bigger variety of punches from all ranges. Where as Wilder is still looking for the sling shot right hand that he initially hurt you with. I’ve seen Tyson finish guys with uppercuts, hooks and right hands. I’ve even seen him turn southpaw. So he has more tools in box when it comes to finishing. Both are mean savages but Tyson is definitely the better finisher.
Bonavena did hurt Frazier. But I saw all of Frazier’s fights from 1967-71. He was a great, great fighter. His performance vs Ali has a case for being the best pressure performance ever. I think Tyson is a bad style match up for Frazier but I’m not convinced he beats Frazier. If we watch the Bonanvena fight, we have to watch the Buster Mathis Jr. fight with Tyson. Tyson had trouble finding a fighter short in stature like himself. He consistently missed and looked out of sorts…Tyson vs Frazier in my opinion would come down to a tale of 2 fights. Tyson within 4 or Frazier by late round drowning after 4.
Breadman,
Another weekend of competing PPV’s between boxing and UFC. The vast majority prefer one or the other, I enjoy both so it’s a juggling act. Nonetheless, Ryder is not getting enough credit for his valiant effort. He earned the right to fight for the title as Danny Jacobs is no pushover even at this stage of the game and neither is Zach Parker. Do I think Ryder gives Caleb Plant, David Morrell and David Benavidez a rough time… not so sure. Those three have looked really good in their last performance.That being said, Canelo appears to be on the decline. I feel as though Plant was his last great performance and Bivol caught a declining Canelo as well as anyone who fights him after.
While 32 may be young in age, the human body, can only sustain so many ring wars before the effects begin to show. A great example is Loma & Bud, similar in age, vastly different number of fights. Even though Loma had a ton of amateur fights, the pro fights have had a greater effect on him than those that Bud has been in. Thus, you see Bud still a lot fresher than Loma at this stage.At this point, I think we should just appreciate Canelo for as long as he sticks around. If it’s too long and he continues facing mandatories or young/top guns, he’ll continue to rack up losses. He was a bright and shining star while at his apex. Now it’s time to let Stevenson, Haney, Tank, Boots, Vargas brothers, Jared Anderson and all the younger fighters to rise up and carry the sport into greater heights.Side note, if Loma wins on 5/20, I would consider that win one of his top 3. Hard to top gold medals and first championship. Many blessings to you.
Richard KOregon
Bread’s Response: Ryder did decent. I thought he would go the distance and he did. I’ve been saying since the GGG third fight that Canelo is declining. It’s not rapid but it’s noticeable. One of the things to take notice of is, when a fighter starts to grind harder than he has to, to win. When great fighters are at their peak, they don’t usually have to win fights with their will or grinding gear. They can usually make it look a little easy. Canelo is supremely skilled but he had to grind in certain spots vs Ryder. Two years ago he stops him in 8 with his corner or referee just stopping it because Ryder is too brave for his own good. Canelo is not going to retire but he can be smart as he continues. He wants to fight Bivol. But a fighter close to his size that would be a great dance partner is Jermall Charlo.
Charlo has been off 2 years but he’s a recognizable name. He’s undefeated. He’s a 2 division champion and 168 would be his 3rd division title try. That’s a big deal. Charlo is not a mover with the pedigree or size of Bivol. So it would be a dog fight. Charlo has a great jab and chin but Canelo won’t have to go looking for him. Canelo doesn’t have the legs to fight Bivol at this point with that in and out bounce. I should be getting paid for this ADVICE. But Charlo is the perfect fight for Canelo. I’m not suggesting it’s an easy fight or a fight Canelo will win. I’m saying it’s a better match up than a light heavyweight in Bivol.
Benavidez is huge and he throws a million punches. Plus he’s much younger. Morrell is a southpaw and he’s younger than Benavidez and he looks like a natural light heavyweight. Andrade is a mover and Canelo doesn’t like movers at this point. Then you have Bivol and Beterbiev. Beterbiev is giving out brain damage packages. And Bivol already beat him. Charlo is the guy, he’s also is from Texas which has a large Mexican community.
Charlo is black and the black vs Mexican PPV format has worked over and over. Plus, last but not least their styles mesh. It’s a fire fight. Benavidez vs Canelo is the Super Fight. I love the fight for boxing. But it’s clear that Canelo doesn’t want to fight Benavidez. So if no Benavidez fight, then fight Charlo. Perfect style clash. Big punchers, with big chins, who fight violently and go for kos. It’s a can’t miss fight.
If Loma beats Haney it would be the biggest WIN of his professional career. This is the first fight he’s been in where he was the underdog. He’s 35 years old. He’s the underdog. Haney has 4 belts. If Loma wins this fight he moves up drastically on the ATG list.
Ssup Bread,
Hope you are having a great day, brother. I watched Leonard vs Hagler, Brawl in Montreal and Leonard vs Benitez this weekend. Good god, so much boxing excellence in just three bouts, I don’t even know where to begin. I had a couple of observations – 1. Leonard landed solid hard punches on Hagler all night long and Hagler being the iron chinned guy that he is, didn’t even react. Hell, his head didn’t move back despite absorbing a crazy hard shot. It was like he was an immovable object. Leonard dug down deep to keep fighting and just fought on pure guts cause he was dead tired by midway. Part of the reason why I feel that some people think Hagler won is because Leonard was tired and obviously a punch with similar power will have more impact on a tired person. So, while Leonard’s hard punches were not even moving Hagler’s head back, Hagler’s not so hard punches also got a reaction out of Leonard. I guess, this is why this fight is so tricky to score. I scored it 115-113 for Leonard because I could see that Leonard landed more hard punches. It’s just that Hagler is built from iron from head to toe. I judge fights on the amount of clean impactful punches that were landed. Lot of Leonard’s punches were blocked but he still landed more shots. We can’t give a fight to Hagler because he has a strong chin. You have 12 rounds to land more punches and he didn’t.2. What an adjuster Leonard was? I mean, just wow.
People say he fought the wrong fight against Duran but I dare them to score the fight from 5 to 15. I bet more people will have it for Leonard than Duran. It is just that Duran had won the first 4 rounds unanimously and he couldn’t close that 4-point gap. Having said that, even fighting the way he did, he made enough adjustments to slightly outperform Duran from 5 to 15.3. Has there ever been a better display of pure boxing at the centre of the ring than Leonard vs Benitez, especially from rounds 5 to 15. Leonard won the first 4 rounds and post the knockdown in the fourth round, the display of pure boxing excellence at the centre of ring is unparalleled.4. After all this, I am really intrigued with the thought of who would win between SRR and SRL. How do you think that bout goes?
Regards, Saurabh
Bread’s Response: Good observations. Hagler has an atomic chin. One of the best in history. Maybe the best. But a chin may win a fight, but it doesn’t score you points if that makes sense. Hagler’s ability to take a punch is impressive but taking a punch doesn’t score points. Leonard landed the cleaner punches and he threw less so he was more efficient. Yes he fatigued and often times that gives the impression that a fighter is losing or being beat up. In this case, it just simply him getting tired. Now here is one more thing I will add. Leonard’s defense and ring generalship won him that fight. The notion that he only fought in spurts is overstated. If no one heard him say he was trying to steal rounds at the end, then it would’ve been viewed as a good boxing. But Hagler’s fans wanted a conspiracy theory. So that gave them one. But whenever I watch the fight with one of Hagler’s fans, I always ask them about how often Leonard made him miss. Leonard’s defense was on point and Hagler couldn’t find him the way he wanted to.
If you look at any video of the post fight of Duran vs Leonard 1, you will realize that the fight was considered controversial back in 1980. It was a great performance by Duran but Leonard outfought him down the stretch. Leonard also won the 13th, 14th and 15th rounds. He really closed out. So while it was a great performance by Duran. Maybe the best WIN ever. If you watch that fight closely, you can see why Leonard had so much confidence in asking for an immediately rematch.
Leonard vs Benitez was awesome. I thought Leonard got a little sloppy with trying to land his overhand right. But he adjusted by landing an UP JAB. Benitez liked to roll under shots with his built in radar but for some reason he couldn’t see Leonard’s up jab. Leonard knocked him down with it and landed it consistently all night.
You know if Ray Leonard doesn’t retire in 1982, with the field of welterweights, junior middleweights and middleweights of the early to mid 80s, he had a chance to surpass Robinson. Rematches with Hearns, Benitez and Duran at 154. Davey Moore, Mike McCallum and Tony Ayala ascending at 154. Mark Breland, Marlon Starling and Donald Curry coming at 147. And Aaron Pryor moving up from 140. If Leonard wins 80% of those fights he’s sitting on the throne next to Robinson. The thing that really separates them is number of fights.
So Robinson has 5x more fights. It’s hard to overcome that when the skills are even. So best night for best night I think Robinson may edge it. He’s everything Leonard is but a harder puncher for one shot and slightly taller. I did see some footage of Robinson at 147 and he’s everything they say he is. But in fairness to the great Ray Leonard. I don’t think anyone in history from 147-154 can beat him 3 fights in a row. So if he fought Robinson 3x, he would win 1. By the way Robinson is the only fighter from 147-154 that I would pick to beat Leonard.
What are your thoughts on Andy Cruz fighting Keyshawn Davis in his pro debut? Do you think it would happen and if it did who would you favor?
Bread’s Response: I think it has ZERO % chance of happening. No one would risk two blue chip fighters this early. But if it did I don’t know who wins. I haven’t seen Andy Cruz as a pro and 3 rounds is different from 10. He’s super talented but there are levels to development and I just haven’t seen Cruz yet as a pro. However I’m looking forward to seeing him.
Hi Bread- hope all is well. Canelo thoroughly beat Ryder over 12 rounds. Ryder is tough as nails and more talented than people realize. That said, it still just seemed like Canelo has slipped a tiny bit. I’ve seen him cruise 12 rounds before but despite dominating on the cards (he always get favorable judging anyway), it just looked like he had to work hard. There is no way he wasn’t going for the emphatic KO in his hometown! He’s definitely still elite, but in my eyes, he is no longer in debate for #1 or #2 P4P. As a trainer, you probably know slippage before the fighter does. How do you then train differently to compensate for whatever that slip is (chin, skill, will, killer instinct, stamina, injury, etc.)? Thanks. Ken from New Jersey
Bread’s Response: Dealing with slippage is not something that any young trainer wants to hear but it’s a reality of this game. Canelo still has a lot left and against the right opponent he’s going to be UP. That being said I think he’s definitely slipped maybe 5%.As a trainer you have to determine if a guy is in a rut or has he actually slipped. If it’s not something drastic then you just observe him closely and put the work in. Often times the slippage is more mental than physical. Sometimes athletes just get tired of being great. It’s a big responsibility and it takes a lot of focus. They come back down to earth.
Personally I don’t think much needs to be done with Canelo because he can get up for the right guy even though he’s slipped. In more pronounced cases you just have to watch closely and trust your instincts. You can’t be squeamish and retire a guy too soon. And you also can’t be foolish and allow him to get hurt. And You can’t be afraid to hurt his feelings if you feel the slippage is dangerous. Great question by the way.
Reports are out that Zhilei Zhang is now the front runner to fight Tyson Fury in the summer. If Zhang somehow beats Fury, is he suddenly the biggest name in boxing? Is he maybe even the biggest name in all of sports? I would say yes, to even the second question. It’s hard to ignore the population of China and the Chinese population in key markets in the United States. It feels like a heavyweight champion from China would produce an experience like the NBA’s “Linsanity”, but even bigger. I would love to hear your thoughts on where Zhang’s name would rank in the sporting world if he did somehow beat Fury.
Thank you!!!
Bread’s Response: Boxing is racially and regionally promoted. So a heavyweight champion of Chinese descent would be enormous. Obviously he has to have the personality to match but I think you’re right. But before we go too far, he has to win the fight first. Fury is a great fighter.
Hello Bread,1st I want to give you props your intel is almost always spot on, RESPECT. Now, mythical matchups. How do you see Roy Jones prime 168 vs Andre Ward prime 168? I see Roy being a little too athletic and awkward for SOG. 2nd how would Shane Mosley 135 vs prime Julio Cesar Chavez prime 135 look? My brother thinks it would be a carbon copy of JCC VS TAYLOR 1, I disagree, I think Shane had a great mental fortitude and would not wilt under Chavez pressure like Taylor did. Also I think Shane hit harder than Taylor and Chavez would’ve taken more damage. Lastly I hope Benavidez vs Morrell happens but not right now I’m afraid that fight would be BRUTAL and 1 or both fighter’s might not be the same afterwards
Bread’s Response: Jones vs Ward is a great fight. Going by the issues Roy had with Montell Griffin’s chest jab and low approach I think Ward is live in the fight. Jone’s Achille’s heel is his penchant to hold his hands up and go straight back to ropes. Ward would love that. I think Roy would have to keep the fight in the center of the ring and offset Ward’s jab. I think Roy edges it because he’s a more dynamic fighter but it would be highly competitive because while Ward may not be as fast, his mind processes so fast it would close the gap in physical speed. Great tactical fight.
Chavez vs Shane is a brutal great fight. I think both Shane and Oscar would give Chavez hell at 135. But the Chavez that beat Rosario is a better boxer than Shane. He may not be faster but he’s a better boxer and he’s better defensively. I don’t think either would score a stoppage but I give an advantage to the fighter who has better craft in a war. Chavez has better craft. I think the fight would look similar to Shane vs Cotto.
Benavidez vs Morrell is wonderful match up. I want to see it. I think it’s just about a 50/50 fight right now. Benavidez has a slight edge but Morrell can punch, he has pedigree, he’s a southpaw, he’s big and he’s going to be really up for Benavidez.
Benavidez has been the HUNTER in terms of wanting to fight everyone and securing big fights. Well now Morrell seems to be the only fighter who HUNTING him. Morrell wants the smoke with Benavidez. That will be new to Benavidez because he’s not used to guys WANTING to fight him. I’m curious to see that dynamic between them.
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