The Daily Bread Mailbag returns with Stephen "Breadman" Edwards tackling several topics, such as Terence Crawford, Andre Ward vs. Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev, Jaime Munguia vs. John Ryder, and more.

Happy New Year to you and you family, Breadman!  May 2024 bring you and your loved ones continued peace and love!

As always, thank you for all you do! Short and simple question today:  Can you please list some of your most wanted rematches in boxing that unfortunately, for whatever reason(s), never happened?  This could also include trilogies and beyond... ex Holyfield vs Tyson III. Some of mine are: De La Hoya vs Trinidad IILewis vs Klitschko IIHolmes vs Norton IILeonard vs Hagler IIWhitaker vs Chavez and De La Hoya II

Peace, love and happiness to you and everyone, Amir

Bread’s Response: 

Hagler vs Hearns II 

Jackson vs Norris

Jones vs Hopkins sooner

Sanchez vs Nelson II

Hopkins vs Trinidad II

Loma vs Salido II

Lewis vs Bowe as pros, rematch of their amateur fight….

Hey Bread,

Just checking in to say hi. I don't mean to be a nuisance or trying to get out of my lane, however, I think the J Rock vs Benavidez Jr is a great fight...fits all the bills. Former champs, black vs Latino, and crossroads fight. Another fight I like for Davis from your stable is Shane Mosley Jr., Falcao or even Elijah Garcia. Davis is a dog and that'll catapult him up into top 10 of rankings where I truly think he belongs. It's a trip your fighters don't get much love. Seems like you're mostly put in the dog position. You guys would probably be dogs in these fights, I know that both J Rock and Davis can beat all those fighters listed above. Hope the holidays treated you well. This will be a BIG year for you, your stable and family. When Plant gets the opportunity he's going to box circles around Mall. No disrespect to Mall, however, Plant is much better than Benavidez Jr. and he hung in there with him. Blessing bro.

Richard K.

Bread’s Response: Thanks bro. But I don’t mind being a dog in a tough scrap, as long as we have 6 weeks or more to get ready. This isn’t a game where you can feel sorry for yourself, so don’t feel sorry for me or my guys, this is what we sign up for..

I suspect Jermall Charlo is fighting Canelo Alvarez. So it doesn’t look like Jermall and Caleb will be fighting next or if at all…..

Dear Mr. Edwards,    

If I'm going to have the nerve to question one of your judgments, please understand that I do so with the utmost respect. If I didn't have that attitude I wouldn't be reading you so faithfully every week!     You said in your last column that you don't rate Mike Tyson among the top 5 of heavyweights. I wonder if you are basing that judgment on his overall career or on his qualities at his best. I remember one boxing writer (I wish I could remember who) saying that the night Tyson beat Michael Spinks he would have beaten any heavyweight in history. Tyson himself said in an interview that if he had fought Mohammad Ali at Ali's best "It would have been a hell of a fight," but picked himself over everyone else.      

Overall career obviously could have been better, but at his best I feel Tyson might well have beaten everyone except Ali. He had aggression, power, speed, great defense, a great chin. What do you think?

Best,

Leslie Gerber

Woodstock NY

Bread’s Response: It’s ok to question my opinion. It’s just an opinion. I love Mike Tyson. I think he’s an ATG fighter and his career is very underappreciated. But I don’t think he’s a top 5 Heavyweight ever. Let me explain. 

Most of the great heavyweights have had nights that Tyson had vs Spinks. It was a great night. But you can’t judge a fighter on his best night and just throw out all of the other nights. That’s not how it works. George Foreman had that same night vs Joe Frazier. Joe Frazier had that same night vs Bob Foster. Ali had that same night vs Cleveland Williams. It’s more to boxing than one great night, although it does count. In terms of natural talent and peak value Tyson rates really high. But in terms of overall accomplishments and response to adversity Tyson’s stock drops somewhat. Tyson also took bad losses as a great fighter. What I mean by that is Tyson was a heavy favorite in each fight that he lost, for the exception of his Lennox Lewis loss. Buster Douglas, Danny Williams and Kevin McBride…

Ok so here are the best/greatest heavyweights ever and I will tell you where Tyson fits in. Ali, Joe Louis and Jack Johnson were the most dominant great heavyweights over their respective eras in real time, considering everything. Larry Holmes, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Sonny Liston, Jack Dempsey and Rocky Marciano all have very strong arguments to be ranked over Tyson. 

Although Tyson beat Holmes head to head. Holmes reigned longer, had more title defenses and makes a strong case for being an overall greater fighter. I would rank Holmes over Tyson All Time. Although Tyson’s ko of Holmes is underrated because Holmes beat an undefeated Ray Mercer, 3 years AFTER Tyson stopped him. 

George Foreman is style nightmare for Tyson. He doesn’t have Tyson’s numbers because Ali halted his reign but he responded to adversity better and he has the Moorer and Frazier wins.

Lennox Lewis beat Tyson head to head. He may not have had Tyson’s peak. But he outlasted Tyson in their eras. He’s a year older. He beat Holyfield who Tyson couldn’t beat. And he was more consistent. Lewis has to be rated over Tyson.

Joe Frazier and Tyson would have been a great fight. It’s a very even match up. I’m not sure who would’ve won but I am sure Tyson would have to get Frazier within the first 4-5 rounds or he would be in big trouble. What I am not sure about is if Tyson could get him early. Only Foreman was able to and Foreman is much taller with a different style. Foreman was able to STEER Frazier. Tyson would have to meet him head on and Frazier is a better infighter than Tyson.

So after we consider the head to head, Frazier has the Ali win. He won the biggest fight in history over the best heavyweight in history. He also had a dominant reign and he showed true chops in a 15 round era. If you say they’re even I won’t argue but I think Frazier edges it slightly. 

Rocky Marciano never lost. Undefeated records aren’t EVERYTHING but they do count for something. Marciano was undersized so it’s easy to assume he wouldn’t do well head to head. But he can only fight in the era he was born in. I think Tyson probably beats him head to head. But I don’t know it because every single time Marciano had to dig down and win, he did. He never showed up out of shape and he never had a night bad enough to cost him a win. You have to reward Marciano for his excellence and give him an edge over Tyson, Marciano’s discipline didn’t allow him to have that Buster Douglas night. 

Next we have Evander Holyfield. By no metric can Tyson be rated over Holyfield. Holyfield stopped him twice head to head. Holyfield is smaller and he’s 4 years older. So whatever slippage that was on Tyson, it was also on Holyfield who was older and had harder fights. Holyfield also outperformed Tyson vs common opponents. Holyfield fought Lewis much tougher. Holyfield stopped Douglas. You can’t rate Tyson over Holyfield no matter how hard you try.

Sonny Liston didn’t have Tyson’s title reign numbers. But again he ran into the Greatest. But Liston was just as dominant over similar opposition. He poses a great threat to beat Tyson head to head. But I wouldn’t argue with anyone who had Tyson over Liston.

Jack Dempsey was Mike Tyson before Mike Tyson was born. Big punching, smaller heavyweight who was hell in the early rounds. I won’t compare them head to head because it’s just too much of a time span to fairly assess both. I would assume most historians rank Dempsey over Tyson. But I think Tyson’s reign was better. I think Tyson was the more dominant fighter at his peak in context with the eras. And Dempsey drew the color line, where as Tyson fought the notable heavyweights of the 80s and best two of the 90s in Lewis and Holyfield. I think it’s close but I think Tyson gets a slight edge over Dempsey.

So now we have Ali, Louis, Johnson, Foreman, Holmes, Lewis and Holyfield as 7 fighters who are definitely reside at a higher place than Tyson among heavyweight greats. Then you have Marciano, Frazier, Dempsey and Liston who all have cases. I would say Marciano and Frazier most likely. Liston and Dempsey less likely. So that’s about 9. Other than them you can possibly name some contemporaries over Tyson in Wlad Klitshcko and Tyson Fury. I won’t do that to Mike Tyson. But I’m just showing you it’s not hard to get out of the top 10. So for now let’s say Tyson rates somewhere in the midst of the Frazier’s , Liston’s and Marciano’s. That’s the bottom half of the top 10ish.

I hope I explained that in an objective but open minded way.

What do you expect from Jaime Munguia-John Ryder? It seems like a clash that could either be an early fight of the year candidate or a statement win for the young fighter.

Thank you!!!

Bread’s Response: I expect Munguia to win. It wouldn’t be a statement for Munguia in my opinion. Munguia has been fighting this same EXACT fight for his entire career. He’s 42-0! I don’t criticize fighters strongly. I’m very careful with my words because I think the media and fans are unfair and overly critical of fighters. But if I’m being candid and honest, Munguia has been fighting the same fight over and over since his disputed win over Denis Hogan about 5 years ago.

He vacated his Junior Middleweight title in 2019. He’s had 8 fights since then. When the WBO champion moves up they have an automatic mandatory spot. Munguia has just turned a blind eye to taking a title shot at 160lbs. Now he fights at 168 and is taking showcase fight after showcase fight. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a fighter his age, move up and for 4 plus years, just take fights and not take a title shot or BIG fight when he could’ve had plenty.

I get this is a business. But this is even pushing that limit. I hear critics in the media take shots at fighters like Tank Davis, Devin Haney and Boots Ennis over their competition. But Haney and Davis have fought much harder fights than Munguia. Boots has not had any of the showcase opportunities Munguia has had to just stay busy. “They” talk about Ryan Garcia. But Garcia fought Tank. Munguia has yet to take a fight, even close to that level of threat. Andrade and Janibek were available for Munguia to fight….

So when you ask me if Munguia is going to make a statement. He’s been making this same statement for over 4 years. The same kind of fight. With the same level of opponent. Munguia has actually improved since I first saw him. He’s a very good fighter. But seeing him fight the same level guy, fight after fight, is like watching Ground Hog Day on loop. We’ve seen this movie before. And what happens when you keep pressing your luck, you can get stale and have an off night vs someone you’re supposed to beat. See the Devranchenko fight. 

And for the record I’m not really criticizing Munguia. He’s doing what he’s allowed to do, every fighter doesn’t want to be the greatest, or be the best or even go to the HOF. Some want to stay undefeated and make their money. My issue is the bias boxing media who go out of their way to insult fighters consistently for their lack of competition and Munguia has been a headline for fighter for many years, he’s an undefeated ex champion who is 42-0 and you rarely hear a peep about what he’s doing. From a strictly boxing perspective. Again, I actually think he’s a very good action fighter and he would give a good account of himself at 160 and 168 vs the top guys. But we will never know if he doesn't take the fights. Nothing is set in stone in boxing. But I'm relatively sure Munguia will beat Ryder in a good action fight. 

Hey Bread, hope you’re well mate. I read you’re column every week, so naturally I monitor you’re patterns regarding picks for fights etc. I was quite shocked to read how hard you went in picking Beterbiev to best Bivol this far out from the fight, very unlike you especially in a 50/50 fight. I agree by the way I think Beterbiev will get a come from behind type victory. What I didn’t agree with was Benivedez to beat Bivol, I don’t see him beating such a polished 175 ponder. His big advantage at SMW is size over these guys. I think Bivol would box his ears off. But interesting you think Bivol takes L’s to both those guys, it wouldn’t be a shock if Bivol beat both those guys in my opinion. Since we’re on the topic of LHW’s do you think Ward would get the better of Beterbiev and Bivol? I kind of think ward would struggle with Bivol a little more. Also, great pick Bam to beat Sunny Edward’s, I really underestimated Bam and was blinded by Sunnys smooth boxing in previous fights. It will be a long time before someone gets the better of Bam.

Regards, Joe

Bread’s Response: Bam Rodriguez is the truth. Mark down this prediction also. If Bam faces, Juan Estrada NEXT, he’s going to handle him. Estrada is a great fighter, so it won’t be easy. But I don’t think it will be super close. I say Bam takes it 116-112 or 117-111. 

Some fights, I see clear. Some I don’t. I don’t let anyone pressure me into giving a pick before I’m ready. Beterbiev is the fighter I see winning this fight. I just feel with his jab, amateur pedigree and sickly hard hands will be too much. I don’t think Bivol’s in and out rhythm will bother Beterbiev like it did Canelo, who didn’t grow up fighting that style in the amateurs and is also much smaller. I could be wrong but I like AB by late stoppage.

I also like Benavidez over Bivol. It may seem like I’m underestimating Bivol. But I think he’s a fine fighter. But Benavidez seems too violent for Bivol who quells the violence in fights. I also listen closely to fighters. I didn’t see their sparring sessions but Benavidez has a different type of confidence when he speaks of the Bivol sparring. Something tells me he took Bivol apart. Now sparring isn’t the end all but it does have SOME bearing on what will happen in a fight. My guts don’t usually lie to me. I think Benavidez wore him out in sparring and he’s going to go into the fight, super confident. Let’s see what happens….If I’m wrong I will stand on it.

Hello Breadman,

keep up the great work, long time reader of the mailbag, always look forward to reading. If we do get bivol beterbiev, after that fight it'll feel like we have a pound for pound top five with bud, inoue, usyk, canelo and the winner of the bivol beterbiev fight. Then it's the rest of the pack. I know context needs to be applied to every fight (e.g how they won, time they fought their opponents, what happened in the fight, was their any controversy) however, just on paper who would you say has the best win out of their best wins if you get what I mean. So I'll just jot down who I'd put as their best win feel free to change it on who you think is that significant win in their careers when answering:Crawford over Spence Inoue over Fulton or donaire 2 Usyk over AJ or fury if that happens Canelo over GGG 2 Beterbiev or bivol (whoever wins that one) I just ask this Breadman as although whoever wins the bivol beterbiev fight probably won't be P4P number 1. If all retired next year without a bigger fight then I mentioned could you argue that the winner between that fight has the best win on their resume out of all five P4P stars. Sorry I've been so long-winded hope it makes sense. Would be curious to hear your thoughts on these top fighters significant fights as these are the ones that sort of solidify you as a top top fighter although as previous mentioned context has to be applied.

Kind regards,

Liam 

Bread’s Response: The winner of Beterbiev vs Bivol would have to be top 5 P4P. Would that winner have the best WIN out of the top P4P guys, let’s see how they perform first. It’s too hard to say without seeing the performance. But since you’re asking me a hypothetical question. I would say either Canelo over GGG II or if Uysk beat Fury would be the best wins out of those fighters. GGG was considered a top 2 or 3 P4P fighter. And most thought he beat Canelo in their first fight, so coming back and winning was a big win. And Fury is a HOF, he’s the lineal champion, he’s undefeated. And he’s 50lbs heavier and 6 inches taller than Usyk. If Usyk beats him, it would be hard to out do that in my opinion.

I can remember you campaigning for Performance of the Year award to go along with the Fighter of the Year. Now the award is a real thing. Crawford vs Spence just won it. They steal you’re concepts all the time and because you aren’t loud about it, it goes unnoticed. Or so they think. My question to you, is do you think Crawford deserves it, or because of Spence’s compromised condition another fighter deserves it more. And what you think were the top 10 Performances of the 2010s from 2010-2019?

Bread’s Response: Yeah I see it when a media member who has a bigger platform than myself will say something or do something that I said or did. But as they say, things have a way or working out. "They" know....

Yes I think Crawford deserved Performance of the Year. 100% he did. For the record he also deserved to be the Fighter of the Year but that’s a story for another day.

Top 10 Performances of the 2010s. Great Question. I will try to my best….

Rigondeaux vs Donaire 

Mayweather vs Canelo 

Usyk vs Gassiev

Williams vs Hurd 

Pacquiao vs Margarito

Loma vs Walters

Gonzalez vs Viloria

Donaire vs Montiel

Ward vs Dawson

Canelo vs GGG II

There were many great performances of 2010s but these stood out to me off the top of the DOME.

Bread,

Hope you’re well and your 2024 is off to a blessed start. I realize as I write this how silly it sounds, but please humor me.  If Andre Ward is offered the opportunity by Turki Alalshikh to fight Canelo at a catchweight between SM and LH, how would you rate his chances at this point in time?  Or is this way past the “sell by” date and something you’d rather not see for fear of SOG getting hurt?  Dre certainly seems to have that desire for one last dance judging by comments in recent interviews and a boatload of money would be involved.  Most importantly to him I believe comes the rightful respect on his name and going into the annals of boxing as the undisputed greatest fighter of the 1st quarter of the 21st century, with a win.  It seems absurd considering he’s been retired for a while now, but this isn’t Jess Willard dropping 100lbs to come back for Jack Johnson, and while he may not be in fight shape, he doesn’t look like he strays far from the gym.  This fight would have everything Superfights are made of and would be bigger in this hemisphere than everything already on tap, or seriously talked about.  

I for one couldn’t buy that PPV fast enough. Speaking of potential fights to be made by Alalshikh, and if you were in the position of being an advisor to him, what are 3 fights you make right now? One fight I need to see this fall is Tank vs Loma.  I realize it would be later than fans wanted, but considering how impressive he looked against Haney, not even close to being too late.  Can you frame the historical significance of this potential barnburner between two of the best smaller men of recent times and give some keen insight on how this one potentially goes considering their current form?

Thanks,

Ray

Bread’s Response: If Andre Ward was offered the Canelo fight and he TOOK it, I would give him a reasonable chance to win it. Ward has shown rare discipline in retiring at 33 years old and not coming back thus far. Ward was a very successful boxer but he wasn’t a guy who made 20M per fight. In comparisons to some of his contemporaries like Mayweather, Pacman, Canelo and AJ, Ward didn’t make the money they made. So his retirement at 33 is even more impressive in my eyes. Ward is such a perfectionist, I feel like he’s candid with himself. Some fighters are delusional. And reality only hits them after embarrassing losses. Ward doesn’t seem like that. He seems to know his limitations. He’s a rare fighter who is smart but not an overthinker. It’s a tough chemistry to have but Ward had it. So to be clear, if Ward signed on to fight Canelo, I would think Ward would be READY to give a great effort. I would say his chances to win would be no less than 40% and that’s just considering the 7 year lay off.

If I were in position to advise Alalshikh, what 3 fights would I advise him to make….Well I don't like to say what I would advise someone to do who didn't ask me for my advise. But here are the fights I would like to see that he could possibly make.....I would say Beterbiev vs Bivol,  Tank vs Shakur. Crawford vs Boots. I tried to match fights with fighters in the same division with a historical significance. All of these guys are undefeated, in the same division and the betting public would be torn as to who the winner would be. 

I’m going to start calling you the Myth Buster. I saw on your page that Hagler also fought Hearns and Mugabi in 12 round fights. For years I thought his fight vs Sugar Ray Leonard was his first and only 12 rounder. I hated Leonard because I thought he pulled a fast one on my favorite fighter. What is even more troubling is you have boxers and prominent media saying Leonard made Hagler take the 12 rounder. I’m just a fan but shouldn’t they know better? On another note are there any other myths that boxing fans repeat that aren’t true?

Bread’s Response: No one takes the time to research anymore. And most people suffer from Subjective Preference Syndrome. What they want to be true, is more important to them than what actually IS true. 

So Hagler’s fans want to make Leonard’s victory over him so tainted. They say everything except the truth. And the truth is simple. Hagler negotiated for money. And that’s what he got. The biggest pay day EVER up until that point in history. And Leonard negotiated for the WIN and that’s what he got. 

The 12 round thing is really a non issue. No fighter with Sugar Ray Leonard’s clout would lose that aspect of the negotiations. Not only was Hagler fighting 12 rounders already. But Hagler vs Leonard was only for the WBC title. Not all 3 belts. The WBC was the 1st organization to go down to 12 rounds because of the Mancini vs Kim tragedy years earlier. The length of the fight never got brought up with Hearns and Mugabi because Hagler stopped them. 

The essential thing that Leonard got that mattered was ring size. He got a 22 x 22 ring. I have no issue admitting that. But he gave up MONEY!!! That’s part of negotiations and every big fight has negotiations. It didn’t start when Hagler and Leonard fought. 

Hagler’s fans won’t acknowledge he was arrogant. He didn’t just want to beat Leonard. He wanted to outbox Leonard. Hagler was a fine boxer himself. Just look at his fights vs Benny Briscoe and Tony Sibson. But he didn’t get the credit for his “boxing” because of his appearance and high ko rate. He also wasn’t a flashy boxer. He was a blue collar technician. So he wanted to outbox Leonard to show his superiority. 

He didn’t start the fight out intense. He started out boxing with the demeanor an older brother plays his younger brother with during a 1 on 1 basketball game. And not only did he start out boxing but boxing right handed! The myth is he stayed right handed for 4 rounds. But it was only 2. The issue was he allowed Ray Leonard, to gain confidence, catch his rhythm and get rolling. And once you allow that with a great fighter, you’re going to have issues. Once Hagler decided to turn it on, it was too late because he was now fighting a man who KNEW he could win, instead of thinking he could win. 

Hagler should have jumped on Leonard right away. Maybe not in the Hearns kamikaze style because that was an outlier but assertive enough to not let Leonard gain any confidence. Who knows how the fight would’ve gone but that’s better than trying to outbox Leonard. For as great as Hagler was, it was poor judgment on his part. And arrogance that made him lose. Not to mention one of the greatest efforts in ring history from Leonard. 

Hagler wasn’t robbed he lost a clean 115-113 and “they” will never be able to live with it, but that’s what happened.

Another boxing myth is……orthodox fighters have to go LEFT against southpaws and keep THEIR lead foot on the outside of the southpaw’s lead foot. I’m not saying it doesn’t work. But it’s not the only way to fight a southpaw. Roy Jones, Floyd Mayweather and Bernard Hopkins are the southpaw slayers of the last 2 decades. They all went to THEIR right against southpaws, more than they went to their left. Don’t take my word just watch them vs southpaws. The truth is depending on the type of southpaw you fight. And depending on how skillful your right hand is. You can go EITHER way to defeat southpaws.

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