The Daily Bread Mailbag returns with Stephen "Breadman" Edwards tackling topics such as Jake Paul, Errol Spence vs. Terence Crawford, Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermall Charlo, unifications in boxing, and more.

Hey Bread,

Belated Merry Christmas to you and yours. Jake Paul is getting better, he's entertaining and has a kill or be killed mentality, by the time he gets to fighting real boxers he'll have enough experience to beat many of them. That being said MMAers are very dismissive of boxing because of the multiple weapons and smaller gloves used in MMA. Taking punches with 4 Oz mma gloves makes them believe being hit by boxers wearing 8 Oz and 10 Oz gloves won't hurt them. MMAers also spar differently, like light sparring rather then all out sparring that boxers do! Boxing sparring is very close to the real combat expected on fight night. One last thing, the stamina requirements of boxing is very different then that of mma - a lot of aerobic conditioning for boxers, more anaerobic conditioning for MMAers. IMHO Woodley lost because he didn't spar the rounds, nor develop solid boxing form and skills.

Bread’s Response: I will say this. Jake Paul is a decent fighter. Better than people realize because of his antics and appearance. And because of the revenue he brings in, he will be able to fight whoever he wants. Because of these factors, I think he’s going to continue to win. 

You’re right about MMAers and they believe a myth. I would actually rather be hit with a 4oz glove than an 8 oz glove. People are probably looking at my comment side eyed but it’s true just do an experiment. I once had a heavy bag type of contraption as a kid and on the instructions it literally said, don’t hit the bad with gloves on. As a kid I didn’t understand why. So I would hit the bag bare fisted. Then once my knuckles started burning I would hit it with gloves on. Each time I hit it with gloves on I would knock it down. Once I got older I realized that you punch harder with gloves on. The reason being is the wrap, tape, wrist etc allows a more secure instrument of destruction. Obviously this doesn’t apply to a 20oz. That’s too big. But an 8 or 10oz gloves with a proper wrap is deadly. Don’t get me wrong the 4oz MMA gloves are also deadly but they aren’t as secure as boxing gloves. 

You can also hurt your had easier in the smaller MMA gloves that’s why they don’t body punch as much because hitting an ELBOW can hurt the puncher as much as the receiver. In the gym fighters actually use smaller gloves in order to build their hands up, so when they punch in a wrapped 8 or 10 oz glove, their hands are hard, and they feel like bricks. Whoever thinks that just because they get hit with 4oz gloves on that an 8 oz or 10 oz gloves won’t hurt them is a darn FOOL. 

The best analogy I can come up with is this. Often times hard punchers break their hands in street fights or with smaller gloves. It’s just not enough protection. It’s like having a choice of being shot with a bullet that will break apart upon impact or a bullet that will stay whole and pierce your body….Think about it. Boxing sparring is much more intense than MMA sparring. I’ve seen it.

Aerobic vs Anaerobic. Man you went deep. Lot’s of people don’t know the difference but I am well versed in both. And I agree with you. I’ve always said that combat sports athletes should do both. People who lean too hard either way, drive me crazy. I can’t say what Woodley did or didn’t do. I do know he has a good trainer in Gerald Tucker with him. I know he’s about 40 years old…..

I hope you’re enjoying the holidays, Mr. Breadman!

As 2021 is wrapping up, I’m curious as to what 2022 holds in store for the boxing world. What do you think 2022 will hold? What are you most looking forward to in the next year?

Greg K.

Bread’s Response: I think 2022 we will see at least 4 more unifications. Unifications are big fights. They mean a lot. They pay a lot. Networks like them and they bring clarity to divisions. So I expect more. I expect to see the top 5 stars in boxing in action at least twice. Canelo Alvarez, Anthony Joshua, Tank Davis, Errol Spence and Tyson Fury will all fight in 2022. I expect all of them to fight at least twice. There are only 12 months in a year. So if the biggest stars fight 10 times, that’s a huge deal. 

I expect Loma to go after a lightweight title. I believe he’s a HOF. I suspect he’s an ATG. He’s going to have a chance to prove it in 2022. 

I expect GGG to fight. I like and respect him. I see what he’s doing at this point in his career. They ducked him. So he’s banking the system. 

I’m looking forward to Jaron Ennis, Shakur Stevenson, Devin Haney, David Benavidez and Vergil Ortiz fighting. It’s big deal when a younger fighter with that type of talent cracks the P4P rankings. 

I can’t wait to see Terence Crawford fight. I don’t know who it will be but I think we are watching a fighter who is special and when special fighters fight, close to or near their primes we should enjoy it. Truly special fighters don’t come along as often as the word is used.

Nonito Donaire and Chocolatito will continue to be great. Oleksandr Usyk will do what he does. And boxing fans and media will continue to help and hurt the sport at the same time. 

Hey Bread, I'm writing in because my little nephew is now 4 and he's already crazy for boxing, I was just wondering if you'd give me tips or ideas on any drills I could teach him and what would you be trying to instill in a kid from such a young age? Hope I make sense with what I've wrote. I personally would appreciate any response / tips. Thank you for taking the time to read my questions and I hope you and family are happy healthy and had a great holidays!

Lewis, Hull (UK) 

Bread’s Response: People learn to box with their hands before they learn to box with their feet. When building a house you don’t start from the roof, you start from the ground. At 4 I’m assuming his attention span is short. So for as long as he will pay attention put him in a proper stance and have him move forward, backwards, and side to side on the balls of his feet in a proper stance. Bouncing and stepping. Then slowly move on from their but get his balance and feet executing before you put him on youtube throwing punches. 

Do you really think Jermall Charlo has a chance against Canelo? Like what percentage of chance. I’m sorry I just can’t see it. He struggles with guys like Montiel and Korobov that Canelo would ice in three rounds. You’re a super smart guy when it comes to boxing but I think you overrate a few fighters. Charlo is one of them. 

Bread’s Response: I don’t have a pick in the fight right now. And I never said that I would pick Jermall to beat Canelo. That’s a hard fight for Jermall. But he’s not over his head. It’s a fight at the end of the day. Right now I say Canelo 65/35 but that’s not a PICK, let me be clear. That’s the same probability I gave Canelo vs GGG. I couldn’t understand why they were avoiding GGG so much. I knew Canelo could hang with him. 

So here is the thing….I see what Canelo is doing to fighters. He’s breaking them. See the Saunders and Smith fights. So Charlo may have some flaws but he’s a MEAN DUDE. He fights and he fights hard. He’s also durable! That counts. He’s going to try to win from round 1-12. He doesn’t stop trying hard. Determination counts just as much as skill. 

However, I do think Charlo has done himself one disservice. A fighter is like a diamond. He has to put himself under pressure in order to shine. People love to say that Devrenchenko was his best win and opponent. But I didn’t hear many people before the fight pick Devrenchenko although I think it was a SOLID win. But Devrenchenko is 13-4 and he lost to the best 4 opponents he’s ever fought and he’s an older fighter. I thought he was simply too small for Charlo and I think Charlo beat whatever was left of Devrenchenko’s prime out of him. I know Montiel, Korobov and even Brandon Adams gave Charlo some tough moments. Korobov has a case for winning. But no one thought that before those fights, that’s why the critics were hard on Jermall. All of those guys surprised him with tough performances and going the distance. 

The last time Charlo entered a fight going IN, that 50 people thought he would lose and 50 people thought he would win, was vs Julian Williams in 2016. That’s 5 years ago! On that night Williams was as sharp as a RAZOR. He was as ON as a fighter could be. He countered everything Charlo did. And Charlo raised his game to a point where he still got the win with one of the best counters you will ever see. That’s what you call raising your game. 

The issue for Charlo is he hasn’t looked that good, before or since and it’s not because he doesn’t have it in him. He proved he could raise his game. It’s because he hasn’t had anyone to bring it out of him. Charlo could've moved up to 160 and vacated his title but he decided to stay down at 154 and defend agianst an undefeated #1 contender who was calling him out. That's being a fighter. Fighters in this era don’t reach the peaks of fighters 20 years ago because they don't do this enough. 

I don’t expect a fighter to fight Murderer’s Row in every single fight. But honestly when you fight once every 8 months, you should NEVER fight back to back showcase or 80/20 or more fights. It’s ok if all you care about his milking the money train. But there comes a time when the networks and the demand is heavy for a BIG fight. And that BIG fight is also a hard fight and you just don’t have the gear to raise your game because you haven’t been under the GUN. I see this as the biggest issue for Charlo. It’s not that he hasn’t had hard fights. All fights at the top level are hard. But I’m talking about THAT fight. The fight that makes you stay up at night. The opponent that makes you a little nervous. But it’s a good nervous not a bad nervous. 

Canelo gets over on these young guys he may or may not fight because he’s literally been under the gun for most of his career. He’s calm under the gun. After some great matchmaking The 1st time Canelo was in THAT fight was when he was 23 vs Austin Trout. After the Trout fight, he went straight to Mayweather. He may have sprinkled showcase fights in the mix like Angulo, Kirland, Khan, Liam Smith, Chavez Jr, Sergey Kovalev and Rocky Fielding. But he never got complacent with his matchmaking. He also didn’t go 2 or more fights in a row without testing himself vs a Miguel Cotto, Danny Jacobs, GGG2x, Caleb Plant, Billy Joe Saunders or Callum Smith. Those things count. 

So to prepare for this moment, both fighters are the same age but Canelo has been put himself under much harder test. Saying the word EXPERIENCE is a disservice to what I’m saying. It’s more than that. Jermall Charlo will have to overcome a fighter who has sharpened his tool to the max for the last 8 years, while he hasn’t. But that doesn’t mean Charlo can’t win but I think his chances would be better if he had fought Danny Jacobs, Demtrius Andrade, GGG or even Chris Eubank. It does mean he’s going to have to have the best camp of his life and take his mind to another LEVEL. He’s going to have to be at his best  when his best is needed. He’s going to have to SHOW UP better than he ever has before. He can do it because he’s raised his game before but this will be whole new level for him. I would love to see him try. I think if it happens Jermall will fight his heart out. He’s a GAMER but he’s going to have to prove if he has the A+ game to beat Canelo.

Who are the active fighters who you believe are HOFs if they stopped boxing today? And who are the ATG? I often hear you speak of this but you don’t usually clarify. I want to see if we are on the same page.

Bread’s response: I’m going to go down from heavyweight to strawweight off the top of my head with both. The ATGs are in my opinion: Canelo, Crawford, Loma, Donaire, Inoue and Choc. I want to say I feel Usyk is on the cusp. If he beats Fury he’s an ATG.

The HOFs are: Fury, , Usyk, Beterbiev, Kovalev, Canelo, GGG, Spence, Crawford, Loma, Nonito, Inoue, Choc, Estrada and Tanaka.

There a few fighters are who are 1 or 2 big wins away from being HOF. Like the Charlos Bros. Think about if Jermall were to beat Andrade and Canelo. He’s 34-0 and he’s in. Think about if Jermell were to beat Castano and either Hurd or Williams. He would have cleared out an entire era of 154lbers. Fighters who clear out entire eras in stacked divisions are in.

Erislandy Lara is an odd case. He has 3 draws and 3 losses and each one was razor close. No one has ever beaten him convincingly. If he gets a CLEAR win over a great fighter, there will be a case for him. 

If Danny Garcia wins a real title at 154lbs he will have a case. 

Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder both have cases. But if one more big win and they’re both locks. The 2nd best heavyweight of every era gets in the HOF. Often times the 3rd. Before you dispute that take a look at history.

If Josh Taylor defends his 140lb title vs a great fighter and/or if he wins the welterweight title he’s in. Sometimes while you’re in an era, it’s common to not appreciate the fighters in it. But if you look at the history of the HOF and what credentials each fighter had, often current fighters have exceeded the qualifications without anyone realizing it.

Happy Holidays Breadman,

With all the talk and clamor over Jake Paul and his ko of the year over Woodley. If he were given a title against Mairis Breidis, how do you see that one going . People are so worked up about Paul , I have even had people tell me he would beat Breidis. This looks more like a toughman champion vs real boxing champion. I just don't see it . But he has done a great job marketing himself and creating interest in novelty boxing , even past the point of real fighters.

What do you think Breadman , give us some insight.

Thank You J.B.

Bread’s Response: Maris Breidis almost beat Usyk! Come on man! It’s not even a logical fight at this time.

Hey Mr Edwards, Merry Christmas

I know you've covered this before, but once and for all, can you educate boxing people on what is a duck? I raise this because there's talk doing the rounds that Canelo Alvarez is ducking David Benavidez, Jermall Charlo etc. Canelo fought the best at 168 and beat them all decisively. Is that not enough? The next thing we hear will be that he's ducking Oleksandr Usyk and Jared Anderson. Please tell people what a duck is. I have a question for you. Did you get any sense in his last fight that, perhaps at age 34, Terrence Crawford is losing a step or two? I ask this because the Errol Spence Jr camp's strategy is to wait for TC to show signs of slipping before they agree to fight him. Shouldn't TC just walk away from the Spence fight and look towards Jermell Charlo? I think that is a better legacy defining fight for TC because, for the first time, he will come up against a fighter who is gifted enough to make the size difference count. If he overcomes Jermell, which I believe he can do even though it doesn't come without dangers, he's ATG.

Spence has clearly evaded a fight with TC for as long as he can. It's now a Mayweather-Pacquiao scenario and we all know what a dud that fight was. Of course, TC will still take care of business by late round stoppage but it's not exactly the same as when they would have fought 2 or 3 years ago. For me, Spence is not even worthy of a nomination for the HOF, let alone getting inducted. What are the two fights you would put together in the first three months of 2022 if you were a promoter

MM: What if Roberto Duran does not leapfrog junior welterweight and actually comes up against Antonio Cervantes? Does Duran do to Cervantes what Aaron Pryor did to him or does Cervantes succeed in keeping him at bay and picking him off?

Keep punching Mr Edwards.

Katlholo

Johannesburg, South Africa.

Bread’s Response: A duck is simple. When a fighter can make a viable and logical fight and he chooses not to for an extended period of time. A fighter can only fight 1 fight at a time. So just because he doesn’t give you a fight as soon as it becomes viable that doesn’t mean it’s a duck. Here is an example. 

Roberto Duran beat Davey Moore in June of 1983 for the WBA junior middleweight belt. In his very next fight in November of 1983, he fights Marvelous Marvin Hagler for the undisputed middleweight title. Then in his very next fight in June of 1984 he fights Tommy Hearns. Many people mistakenly think Hearns vs Duran was a unification for the WBA and WBC junior middleweight titles. But it wasn’t. Duran vacated the WBA title because he didn’t fight leading contender Mike McCallum. Obviously Duran could have fought McCallum but McCallum was NOT a champion in 1983. He was just a rising contender. He had just turned pro in 1981. So Duran takes a fight as a huge underdog vs then champion Moore. He beats him. Then he immediately moves up and takes on Hagler who along with Hearns are considered the best 2 fighters on the planet in 1983 with Ray Leonard being retired. Then after Duran loses valiantly to Hagler, he challenges Hearns but he gets stripped. No one knew McCallum and no one knew he would be a great fighter. He’s just a contender in now, 1984. So Duran takes a more prestigious, bigger and what’s thought to be a more dangerous fight in 1984 vs Tommy Hearns. He loses by KO and takes off a few years. 

There is NO WAY Duran ducked McCallum. That’s not a duck. That’s just a miss for equally or better fighters, that were way bigger and offered better paydays. McCallum would become champion late in 1984. A duck is what Floyd Patterson was doing to Sonny Liston in the early 1960s. Liston was the leading guy for a few years and Patterson was being kept away from him and he knew it. So he did the right thing and fought him. For the record I think Floyd Patterson is a great fighter and he matches up very well with any fighter in history circa 175-185lbs. I don’t think Canelo is ducking anyone at this current moment. He’s a super middleweight and he unified the hard way. He beat 3 undefeated fighters to do it. All were in their primes. He scored 2 kos and he scored 1 perfect shut out decision. But if Canelo continues to stay at 168 and he doesn’t fight leading contender David Benavidez, that’s a duck. Let’s see what he does next. He didn’t duck Benavidez because Benavidez wasn’t the champion when Canelo invaded the division. That’s not on Canelo. Ask me this question at the end of 2022. 

Canelo could fight Charlo but Charlo is at 160. He’s not at 168. So being able to make a fight and not making it, is not the same as a duck. I will say this. Canelo put the GGG fight off longer than it had to be put off to let GGG age a little bit. It wasn’t a clear duck but it was what I call a “WAIT OUT” or “COOL OFF”. Canelo waited on GGG until GGG looked human vs Kell Brook then lost 5 or 6 rounds to Danny Jacobs. I only bring that up is because of what he did after he beat Cotto for the lineal middleweight title. I get the Khan fight. Every star has a right to a money grab. So Khan wanted the fight, got a huge payday and a concussion. Any fighter in Canelo’s shoes would take that payday. But after the Khan fight, he moved back down to 154lbs. A weight he was publicly well known to struggle to make, to fight Liam Smith for the WBO title that Demetrius Andrade had given up and Liam Smith had won. So while Canelo is a great, great fighter. Two fighters that he stalled out or avoided were GGG and Andrade. People don’t like to hear that but…..

Andrade was the WBO champion at 154 while Canelo was the WBC champion and Canelo had no interest in fighting him. But Andrade gives up his belt and Liam Smith won it and the WBO belt becomes interesting enough for him to move down in weigh to fight for it… Andrade also became a WBO middleweight champion in 2018. He and Canelo were on DAZN at the same time again at the same weight. In 2019 Canelo defended his belts vs Danny Jacobs. Jacobs is a little more well known and he had the GGG fight, but Andrade had a belt, the WBO belt. Canelo had the WBC, WBA and IBF. All he needed was the WBO to get the same 4 he has now at 168. He chose to fight Jacobs who was not a champion then moved up from 160. He was 1 belt away from the undisputed champion at 160….All that stood in the way was Andrade..

I think Canelo would be the favorite over Andrade. I think he’s done more in his career. I think he’s even a better fighter. But that doesn’t mean he can beat him head to head. It’s not the BIGGEST DUCK I’ve ever seen. It may not even be a duck. Canelo has fought bigger and better fights than the Andrade fight. But Andrade has been a champion since 2013. He’s from the same exact era as Canelo. He’s 31-0. He’s been in the same divisions as Canelo, held belts in those divisions and he’s been on the same networks. It’s at least worth mentioning that if it’s not a duck, it’s pretty clear Canelo doesn’t want to fight him.

People always want the biggest star to fight everyone. They said Robinson ducked Burley, myth. They said Marciano ducked Liston, myth. They said the 4 Kings ducked McCallum. Only 1 King had a valid case for a duck and that was Hearns. Hagler, Leonard and Duran don’t have duck cases vs McCallum. They said Leonard ducked Pryor, another myth. I once heard Floyd ducked Vivian Harris, MYTH! Did you hear the one about how Pacquiao ducked Zahir Raheem because Raheem beat Morales. 

So I know Canelo can’t fight everyone. But if you look very, very close to the Andrade case. It has some legs. But Canelo has been on such a tear and he’s been performing so well, history won’t be unkind to him if he never fights Andrade. It’s just one of those things….Similar to how Oscar De La Hoya never fought Vernon Forest or Winky Wright. Oscar fought so many great fighters no one ever calls those misses a DUCK. Canelo is in the same boat because of his hard schedule.

So you think Crawford should go up to 154lbs and fight Jermell Charlo and forget about Errol Spence. Hmm….I don’t know. Charlo and Spence are promotional and training stable mates. I’m not sure how that would work. I don’t have a comment because I don’t how that plays out. It is interesting though. I have heard people say that Crawford has slipped. I think they are just saying that because he’s 34. I don’t feel like he’s slipped but I’m going to study harder. But here is what I do know. When a fighter gets hit or loses some rounds at 24 it’s a bad night. If it happens at 34 he’s slipping. I don’t really see slippage in Crawford. But I do see a fighter who has found the sweet spot as far as getting knockouts so he’s sacrificing certain things. Crawford knows when to go for kos. He knows how to hit opponents. Where to hit them. So maybe he gives up a round more or a shot more because of this KO GROOVE he’s in. That’s about it. And I don’t know if that’s a bad thing. It definitely hasn’t cost him anything as of yet.

I think Spence is most likely a HOF. At least he’s going towards that direction. He doesn’t have any GREAT WINS. But I do feel as though he has some solid ones. Brook, M. Garcia, D. Garcia and Shawn Porter are solid wins. If he beats Ugas that’s a nice resume. Not a great one but it’s nice. Welterweight is a historically great division and winning 3 belts there is nothing to sneeze at. You don’t like Errol Spence so you’re very hard on him. You have to be objective. He’s had a very good career. Buddy McGirt just went into the HOF. Spence’s career is comparable to McGirt’s if he stopped today as far as accomplishments. Let’s see his career play out….

The two fights I would put together in 2022 over the first three months would be……..I’m going to pick fights and fighters who don’t have dates or opponents as of yet. Tank Davis vs Vasyl Lomachenko and Jermall Charlo vs Demetrius Andrade. Those fights are guaranteed high drama. Tank and Loma bring the pain and are both mid range fighters who like contact. Charlo vs Andrade would clear up a lot of stuff and more importantly they have bad blood and bad blood fights are always high drama. Too much pride at stake for it not to be a good fight.

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