The Daily Bread Mailbag returns with Stephen "Breadman" Edwards tackling topics such as Gervonta Davis and his recent knockout of Mario Barrios, the big win by Vasiliy Lomachenko, the continue run of Erikson Lubin, mythical matchups, and more.

You know bread I was thinking, boxing is a weird sport. It's all about timing and opportunity. Tank is a great fighter and is deserving of PPV status. He's not the most engaging personality, but he has that Mayweather backing, but then I think of guys like Crawford, Charlo, Ennis (jury still out) who are exciting or good trash talkers, but don't move the needle as much. Why is that and can you think of any other fighters who were exciting during their time, but never made it mainstream? 

Bread’s Response: Great Question! I think the moving of the needle happens for many reasons. Some fighters have an IT factor. Where it’s not their styles but it’s their personalities that attract the masses. Like Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather’s skillset was respected but the masses complained about his style. But they always tuned in to watch him because of his intriguing personality and his fights meant so much. If an event is BIG enough the action of the fight will be intriguing. Every punch will matter. 

Some fighters let off an energy like Mike Tyson that will make you watch them. Even when Tyson was shot and many years past his prime, people paid to see him and they actually believed he would win when he had no chance. 

Then you have certain fighters who are STAMPED when they are associated with greatness. Tank has a Tyson like quality. He’s from a HOT urban area. But Floyd Mayweather STAMPED him. That matters. Now I know Mayweather has had other fighters but Tank has been his best and Mayweather having the instincts he has rode Tank and hit the jackpot with him. 

There have been plenty of EXCITING fighters who didn’t turn out to be Super Stars. Gerald McClellan and Julian Jackson come to mind immediately. Both were straight killers who pretty much knocked out all of their opponents but neither crossed over. McClellan got injured but even before his injury he was never the headline of a big show, despite scoring KOs in each of his middleweight title fights. 

Often times the powers that be can make or break a fighter. Their CHOICE of how they match certain fighters and what type of promotion they put behind them matters. Lots of reason why certain fighters turn into Super Stars….Lots and lots of reasons. “IT” FACTOR, promotional backing, favoritism, match making and timing.

Your call of Lubin vs Rosario was perfect. You actually said Lubin by KO between 6-8. You said Rosario front runs but is not an exact front runner and that he couldn’t take shots high on the head or to the body. Wow! My question to you is about Julian Williams. This may be personal but it seems that Williams is too good of a fighter to be stopped and lose his title that bad to Jeison Rosario. Williams has been making some curious statements lately and some regarding you. He says your relationship became stale. It seemed you guys were very close. The way you cried together after he beat Hurd was touching. That was his career best performance directly before the stale fight vs Rosario. You brought him back from an embarrassing ko to Charlo to being on top of the world. Williams has also said on the telecast that his injury was not that bad. How do you pull out of a PPV card, on that platform with an injury that’s not that bad? He hasn’t fought in almost two years.

With Rosario being kod in his two back to back fights after beating Williams, I’m curious as to how you guys viewed Rosario and what was your game plan going into the fight and what went wrong. You seem to know Rosario well, you also predicted Charlo would stop him and you showed your betting slips on twitter. That’s telling even thought he stopped your fighter. If you don’t want to answer this, I had to ask.

I also noticed a trend with Hurd, Williams and Rosario. Hurd left his trainer after Williams beat him and has not looked good. Williams left you after Rosario beat him and we still haven’t seen him. Rosario left his trainer after Charlo beat him and was stopped again. Why do these fighters do this after a loss? It’s really blaming the trainer for the loss. Do you agree? I’ve seen Danny Jacobs and Andre Rozier reunite, is there any chance you guys will. I thought you were a great team.

Bread’s Response: You know what I get these questions often but I never really delve publicly. But you asked me in such a respectful non intrusive way I will give you something that I never gave out publicly.

Julian Williams getting stopped by Rosario was the most disappointing day of my life, including death of family members. I hate talking about it til this day….. Julian was having a great camp. He was dominating fighters in sparring he had previously struggled with in other camps. He had stopped 2 sparring partners with body shots. But his weight was high and a month before the fight he caught a FLU. The flu turned his performance level in camp down a notch. I really think it affected him. 

Cutting approximately 30lbs and then getting the flu will cause some drop off in performance. I thought about cancelling the fight but Julian insisted he would be ok once fully rehydrated and that we had time to get things together, which we did, he caught the flu about a month out. After Julian lost his title, he suggested that his cut on his eye and game plan were the biggest issues on why he lost. If offended me.

His cut was stopped by our cutman Mike Rodriguez who in my opinion is the best in business. It was under control……It also wasn’t the first time he had been cut. He had been cut in 7 previous fights and won each one of them.

Our game plan was this. Not let Rosario build a head of steam. We weren’t fixated on going forward or backwards. But we planned on not letting Rosario take more than 2 steps forward without feinting or jabbing him. Julian has a great jab and we worked on a jab and a straight right hand to the body combination for 10 weeks. I didn’t feel that Rosario defended his body well or took it to the body well. His anatomy is that of a long torso and trunk. He also holds his hands up and high. Body, body, body…

When Julian was a very young pro we used to box Gabe Rosado. Rosado was very similar to Rosario 10 years ago. He used to put lots of pressure on opponents and Rosado was more physically mature than Julian at the time. Julian and I came up with a gameplan to not let Gabe “build a head steam”. We would always stab Gabe to the body and not move too far away, so Gabe didn’t get a chance to sort of build momentum before he punched.

When we signed to fight Rosario I reminded Julian of how he used to box Gabe. He AGREEED. He agreed with the concept and game plan the same way he agreed to the concept and game plan of every other fight we had over the last decade. After he lost, he had people telling him everything that went wrong, which is easy after it went wrong. He complained to me about the game plan, although he agreed to it. During the fight I tried to tweak it some and make adjustments because Rosario got off to a good start. I told Julian to put his fire out with water, which means to CALM the fight down for a few rounds. Julian was very intense that night and I think the hometown crowd brought that about. The commentators actually mentioned me telling him to calm down during the broadcast. Julian never acknowledged that I told him the fight was too chaotic. For some reason he wanted to blame me for getting stopped and he has never talked about the fact that he cut almost 30lbs with a FLU. 

So besides the DISTRACTIONS of fighting at home from media, family and friends which is never an excuse because if you want to be a star in boxing, fighting at home is an ingredient for success. The FLU and weight cut bothered him in my opinion. And I know he took Rosario lightly. He trained hard physically but mentally he wasn’t leery of Rosario. Rosario had been kod by a fighter in Nathaniel Gallimore that Julian previously beat. So his level of threat he felt from Rosario wasn’t the same. I warned him over and over about being dismissive towards Rosario. In camp I kept telling Julian that Rosario would be better than we saw on video. Julian got a little frustrated with me and told me “I can’t make him see something in Rosario that he didn’t see.” It scared me because I used to be able to tell Julian that fighters with .500 records were killers and he believed me. That was no longer the case.

You asked me what went wrong…. The fight was like Murphy’s law. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. I also believed Rosario fought the fight of his life. He fought over his head. He was better than he ever was before or obviously after. 

What’s very revealing to me is that Jermell Charlo and Erickson Lubin, especially Lubin fought in a similar style that I Planned for Julian to fight in. Both stopped Rosario with BODY SHOTS. Both hit Rosario with plenty of jabs. Both held their ground enough to hurt Rosario several times even before the stoppage. We worked on that and Julian looked great doing it in camp. I don’t know if the FLU compromised Julian’s punch resistance but we never made it to the part of the fight to take advantage of Rosario’s front running. To hear Julian indirectly blame me for him getting stopped was disappointing but expected. And that’s why I removed myself from working with him. He didn’t let me go, I QUIT because of principle, frustration and disappointment. 

Rosario is a solid fighter but Julian made him look better than he ever was or is and that to me is the worst part. But I’ve learned acceptance in life and in boxing and moved on. For the record I didn’t wait until AFTER the fight to correct the problems. During camp when I saw his weight was stagnant, I started to make his food like I’ve always did. I would make him hot fresh meals everyday and bring them to the gym. When I saw that he wasn’t feeling well, I brought in vitamin infused chicken soup. When I saw he was being distracted and overwhelmed outside of the gym. I told him me and my wife would take his children for 2 weeks before the fight so after the gym he wouldn’t have to pick them up or drop them off. All I wanted him to do was concentrate on training and recovery without anything else. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for him within the rules to help him win. Julian Williams is a CLEAN fighter and I know all of the Little Things Matter. #thelittlethings. 

I felt betrayed with his attitude towards me after he lost because he knows what I did to prevent that loss. He knows the truth….He started repeating to me, what “they” had to say. That didn’t fly too well with me. I’ve always told him the truth without being disrespectful or intrusive. There have been wins I wasn’t happy with like the Ishe Smith win. There have been losses I was proud of him in vs Jermall Charlo. He fought his ass off vs Charlo. The only thing that changed after the Rosario fight was his status and acceptance of the truth. 

What happens in boxing is you have CYNICS, who have a negative opinion about everything. “They” usually don’t serve a significant purpose. “They” always give their cynical hypothetical outcome. When we fought Jarrett Hurd in his hometown, “they” said why would we go to his hometown to fight him. “If” we would have lost, “they” would have said why did we fight him on the “inside”. But we won, so “they” couldn’t say anything afterwards. Before we fought Rosario, “they” said there is too much pressure on Julian to fight at home. Well he lost. But the way “they” operate they can’t lose because they only have to be correct once, to seem like a genius. Julian became too accessible to “their” opinions and it killed us as a team. 

The one mistake I think I made was even agreeing to the Rosario fight in general. I admit that’s on me. It’s not that Rosario is Carlos Monzon or anything but I know Julian is better when he’s counted OUT and not counted ON. When he told me he wanted Rosario I should have been more FIRM in my stance and FORBID the fight. For some reason he likes it when everyone is against him. That fuels him more. That’s the gas he needs in his engine. I should have went straight to the Charlo unification or Brian Castano fight which I liked and I admit that was MY RESPONSIBILTY. But Charlo had lost to Harrison and the rematch dates didn't coincide with our date. But I knew better. Julian would have been UP for Charlo or Castano and he would have performed much better. And that my friend is the TRUTH.

Bread,

What a fabulous weekend of fights, wouldn't you say? We saw everything from the Tank/Barrios, Lomachenko/Nakatani, DAZN and PBC on FOX cards. Took me a while to catch up on all the fights but I was amazed all weekend from what I saw. I want to mainly touch on Davis/Barrios and the Lubin/Rosario fights. First off to the Davis/Barrios fight. The popular consensus going into the fight was Davis by stoppage and that proved to be true but listening to interviews of fighters who sparred both fighters, they were convinced this was going to be a very competitive fight. And that also proved to be true!

What I was most interested in was how Tank was going to get on the inside and if he would be active enough to win rounds against the bigger Barrios. Well, for the first four rounds he found it extremely difficult to get inside as Barrios was doing a great job of turning Tank and keeping him at bay with his size/length. The one issue was that Barrios never landed a shot that discouraged Tank from coming forward. By the 5th round on, Tank started landing more and more body shots and straight lefts. Nothing that was hurting Barrios at that point but the feel of the fight started to change. It was like when Canelo was losing some early rounds to Kovalev due to his jab but still staying disciplined in his game plan and continuing to chip away.

Speaking of Canelo, the first knockdown with how Tank changed levels before throwing that hook was Canelo like. In a way, they have similar builds and are very strong and that allows them to walk bigger fighters down. Tyson was obviously like that as well. But anyways, even after Tank knocked Barrios down two times, the man from San Antonio came back in the 9th round and pressed the action and actually won the round! This is why when you put two young fighters in their primes, you get this type of fight. Barrios at that point was hurt and overmatched, but he had no quit in him and was going to make Tank EARN the win. If Barrios was in his 30s and had already become a 2X champion or what not, he may not have had the same determination to continue on. I don't know if you agree, but sometimes fighting someone who is less talented or has less skills but in their 20s and prime is tougher than fighting someone who is seen as elite but in their 30s. These are the types of fights that will help Tank get to the next level. He has proven he is a huge draw and for someone lower than WW size to be this type of draw is special. We don't see it often. Hopefully we end up getting the fights we want to see and Tank gets to prove just how good he is.

On to Lubin/Rosario. This fight lived up to the billing and you were dead on with this prediction. Lubin, while still vulnerable to taking flush shots was just not going to be denied and was too sharp all fight long. Rosario is a hard guy to win rounds off of unless you drop him and I felt he won majority of the rounds he didn't get KD vs Charlo. There may have been one round that Charlo won where he didn't drop Rosario but even that was questionable. Lubin on the other hand was in control from the start of the fight and was very sharp with his jab, looping hooks and his body work. Lubin may be the most talented 154 pounder in the world and that is saying something with how good that division is but he really can do it all. It's amazing to think he is still only 25 years old but he's starting to build a very good resume. But the elephant in the room is still his chin. It seems like when he gets caught with shots that he doesn't expect out of the clinch, his knees start to buckle. How would you change that if you were his trainer? Because in the 5th round he took two or three big shots but didn't even blink. How was it possible for him to take those bigger shots but not the one that hurt him? To his credit, he stayed composed and recovered well after being hurt and got back in his groove towards the end of the 5th round and took the fight over. Coach Cunningham has done a fabulous job with him and if he can clean up Lubin getting hit with shots out of the clinch, it's going to be EXTREMELY difficult to beat this young man. How do you see him faring against Fundora?

Take care! 

Bread’s Response: Loma looked excellent. Nothing more to say about that. Teo gets extra credit for the performance now. Loma is a HOF and one big win over these under 25 studs in he’s an ATG.

Tank has a very good chin. That’s something people don’t give him credit for. When he goes in attack mode he really gets to his man. He walks through the fire. That’s a great trait to have. Some fighters show fake hustle and pressure but they don’t really bring it. Tank really STEPS to his man. He puts himself in harm’s way in order to get the kos he scores. Mario can PUNCH and like you said, Tank was never discouraged. Tank also has good defense. It’s not as good as Floyd’s who he gets compared to but it doesn’t have to be. For his violent style it’s more than good enough. Mario fought his A$$ off. He’s not a speedster but his speed was very good vs Tank. He processed very well. That tells me that Virgil Hunter had him prepared really well. I think Mario needs to move up at this point. I saw a 6’1 fighter who barely makes 140lbs, start to weaken as the fight went on. There is only but so much rehydration you can do. Tank also weakened him but Mario is a big kid and once you start to teeter out, your reaction time and spark is gone. 7lbs of carbs, calories and fluid will help him a lot. Mario has a bright future. He gave Tank his toughest fight. 

You make a great point about Mario fighting through adversity. I say it all the time. PSA! The older a fighter gets, the chances he loses his WILL becomes greater. Take the heavy work in your prime. Stop ducking the work.

Lubin’s team is doing a great job. Kevin Cunningham and Jason Galarza have him doing great. He may be the most talented fighter at 154. I actually agree with that. But he also gets hurt…..As far as what they could do. Maybe they are correcting it. I don’t know why he gets hurt. Maybe some shots catch him by surprise. Maybe he loses track of them. Maybe he thought Rosarios’ jab wouldn’t have that type of steam on it. I feel like everything can be taught. I work on my fighter’s necks, jaws and spines. I also work on them processing punches. It seems like Lubin gets caught by surprise by certain shots. If he sees the shots, he’s ok but when they catch him by surprise they rattle him. 

But look he’s not gun shy. He brings it and no one will beat him easy. I also love how Lubin is taking REAL fights to get better and not sitting around waiting for his title shot. I think Lubin is probably too sharp for Fundora but Fundora is scary. He seems to be getting stronger and more physically imposing. That’s a 55/45 in Lubin’s favor. It’s a great fight. Fundora reminds me of a heavier handed Paul Williams who had a really good peak. If Lubin couldn’t hurt him that fight would get really interesting.

Response to Nonito's statement from Jim Lampley. "Put it this way: this is a bigger win for him than winning the fight. This is a win for ethics and principle".

Howyalikeit?

Bread’s Response: Nonito Donaire can NEVER get enough credit for what he did. He’s the first GREAT fighter to voluntarily go in 365/24/7 VADA and he was at his PEAK when he did it and won FOY. No one else can say that. Nonito is the Ken Griffey Jr. of this era.

Hey how are you Bread?

First off you were dead on about Erickson Lubin and your prediction of a Knockout of Resario. I see Lubin as a future champion who learned from his loss to Charlo. What are your thoughts? In your opinion can 2 fighters who really want to fight each other make a fight happen despite being with competitor promoters?  For example can Spence and Crawford force the fight? Tired of the excuses and very mediocre PPVs.

I watched a very entertaining cruiserweight bout (Apochi v Glanton) This past weekend. Why do you think the cruiserweight  division has never really garnered any attention from the public? My faves are Evander Holyfield , Carlos Deleon, Anaclet Wamba and my man Dwight Qawi were all great but only one if those guys is known and that’s  for being a heavyweight.

Finally does Bernard Hopkins get enough respect? I’ve been reading your mailbag back since the boxingtalk days and I can’t remember anyone in writing in about  this dude. He had nearly a 30 year career and a stretch of 12 years Of being  undefeated following the Roy Jones fight. I didn’t love his style but he almost always found a way to win.

MM Prime Antonio Tarver  and a Prime Joe Calzaghe

Take care,

Aaron from Cleveland 

Bread’s Response: Lubin will be rewarded by the boxing gods for being a real fighter. He’s not trying to overthink being great. He’s just being a fighter. I don’t know for sure if he will be champion but I suspect he will be. He’s fighting and not trying to be a manager which is good and refreshing in this era.

I think Hopkins gets respect. I have said several times he fought arguably the most perfect fight in history vs Tito Trinidad. Hopkins has also won 3 huge fights as a prohibitive underdog. Trinidad, Pavlik and Tarver. People ask me about often. 

I think Cruiserweight is just too close to heavyweight to gain the respect it deserves. If TWO fighters really want to fight each other they will fight but both have to equally want it. They will simply instruct their teams to make the fight and if they don’t they get fired. When you see two fighters not fighting it’s because the fighters allow their teams to tell them not to fight. By the way it’s why fighters pay their teams to make these decisions. I’m just giving you the real reason. Then the team as any good team does saves the fighter’s pride and they falsify why the fight wasn’t made. It happens every single time we hear both sides of why the fight wasn’t made. Someone has to be lying because rarely does anyone ever says my fighter is not ready. 

Tarver vs Calzaghe. Ooh great fight. I say Calzaghe by decision after being dropped.

Greetings Mr. Breadman,  I hope you and your family are healthy and well!  I just finished watching the 4 Kings documentary and they all left no stone unturned! As a longtime boxing fan now in my early 40’s, I have a greater appreciation for boxers as I have come to learn about their journey to greatness.. I hope I am wrong, but I do not believe we will ever see another 4 kings in our lifetime. I agree with your assessments that you have shared in your weekly mailbag, Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, Tank Davis, and Teofilo Lopez are unlikely to reach those heights. For beginners they need to start fighting each other by 2022 and not wait forever for it to marinate.  

With social media, different boxing promotions (Top Rank, PBC, DAZN, Golden Boy), and decisions being made solely on money versus risk, make it very challenging for all those dominos to fall in place. For every Marvin Hagler, Lennox Lewis and Andre Ward that retired early, unfortunately, you have remarkable fighters like Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Mike Tyson, and Roy Jones Jr that were not able to leave the sport at the right time.  

I have two questions for you.  1)    If opportunity presented itself, would you ever train a fighter even though you believe they shouldn’t be fighting anymore?   2)    Who do you believe would have won: Carlos Monzon vs Marvin Hagler?

Thank you always for the weekly mailbag!  

Kind regards, Eman 

Bread’s Response: Lots of media members are going to wish they didn’t write articles calling Garcia, Tank, Haney and Lopez the 4 Kings. It was too SOON!

1) This is a tough question. I have been approached by fighters who I didn’t think should fight anymore and I told them no. But training a fighter who is not in their prime and a fighter who shouldn’t fight anymore is different. I would definitely train a fighter who is not in their prime. As far as training a fighter who shouldn't be fighting anymore I would probably not do it but I can’t say for certain. I would have to look at them closely. And I would tell them before the fight if I don’t like what I see I’m throwing the towel in.

2) I can’t call Monzon vs Hagler. I see most people picking Monzon and that’s fair but it’s a tough fight. If they would have fought in 1977 or 78 around the time Monzon retired it would have been rough on Monzon. He was 35-36. Monzon was special but he struggled bad with Emille Griffin and Rodrigo Valdes. I feel like Hagler was better than Valdes and as good but fresher than Griffin. Monzon was a great fighter but he wasn’t as dominant as you would think. He had 8 draws on his record. And close calls vs not only Griffin and Valdes but also to Bennie Briscoe. I honestly don’t know who would have won. Monzon raised his game according to opponents. His jab and right hand were like trucks. But Hagler also had a ram rod jab. I think Hagler’s feet were more nimble and he was busier. I could see a series of close fights between them with neither ever scoring a stoppage.

Hey Bread, blessings. Was Floyd allowed to be on the ring mat like that giving advice and telling him he's down on the unofficial cards? I thought that was unethical since he wasn't apart of the official training team. Secondly I'm very impressed with the punch placement of Tank. He always seem to throw the right punch at the right time. To me Tank, Canelo, Loma and Crawford have the best punch placement in boxing. My favorite style of boxer is the boxer puncher. Intelligent, but entertaining.

Tank doesn't get enough credit for his IQ. He did a great job offsetting the jab of Barrios by parrying it with his right hand. He also throws a beautiful straight left. He ducked and rotated his upper body at times which was impressive. Barrios should've set on his punches and went to body more as he was successful and Tank looked slightly bothered by it. No one beats Tank at 130-135 except maybe Teo, he is that good. However he better stay away from Josh Taylor. Lubin is the 2nd best at 154, however he is chinny. He can be beat vs a downhill fighter/non-stop pressure guy. Although he could possibly beat Charlo, I don't think he deserves a rematch due to him getting KO'd. Lastly Loma is still a threat at 135, hopefully one of the young guys steps up and fights him. 

Bread’s Response: I don’t know rules of the Georgia State Athletic commission. I can’t say if Floyd is allowed to be in that area. But Team Barrios should have addressed it. It’s too late now. 

Tank is must see tv. I love watching his fights. I’ve always said he was one of the best punchers in boxing. At this point he may be the best. He has a 2 fisted attack. I’ve seen him ko guys with every shot. And he has elite IQ and punch selection. He can go!

I won’t say no one beats Tank from 130-35. We have to fight the fights. They aren’t won on paper. They are won in the ring. I will say he would be the favorite over everyone except Teo. I don’t think Tank has to STAY away from anyone. He’s a talented fighter. Josh Taylor is the real deal but he’s not invincible. Taylor brings his head down at times to land certain shots. Tank could clip Josh, just like Josh could outbox Tanks. That’s a hard fight for both. 

After seeing tank vs Barrios I think Tank's 50/50 or better with everyone from 140lbs on down. Taylor is the champion but that doesn’t mean he could beat Tank. Every fight and every camp is different. That’s a harder fight for Josh than you make think.

I think Lubin deserves a rematch. It’s not an immediate rematch. He’s 6-0 since losing and it’s been 4 years. I strongly disagree with you. If a fighter redeems himself after a ko and the person who kod him is still champion, why can’t he fight him again. I really don’t even get your logic behind that. 

Hi Breadman, hoping you are good. Want to get your opinion on two fights.

What's your opinion on Usyk-AJ? I reckon it's a very intriguing fight. General consensus here in England seems to be that it will be a routine victory for AJ. AJ is a great athletic fighter with formidable punching power and hand speed, but he seems somewhat linear with his footwork and struggles with thinking on his feet; he fights reflexively sometimes, losing concentration, and this is something that gets him hurt IMO.

Unless Usyk has significantly physically declined, I think it will take a herculean showing from AJ to come away decisively with the victory. I know Usyk looked below-par against Chisora but everyone is allowed a few bad days at the office, and AJ is less inclined towards using his physicality/strength since being hurt/dropped in high-profile fights. What do you think?

Spence-Pacquiao. A couple of years ago, I would have viewed this a something of a mismatch. A few years after that, following Errol's accident and the uncertainty that followed, I would have seen it as a more intriguing affair. Now, in light of Errol's solid comeback performance against Danny Garcia, I have come full circle and strongly favour him to emerge victorious against Manny. I don't think he's as explosive or as surgical as Crawford for example, so Errol might not be able to get the statement stoppage win early on, if Manny can keep any action/exchanges in the middle of the ring, but ultimately this is a bad fight for the Pacman IMO.

Although he has unquestionably declined in athletic sense throughout the past couple of years, Pacquiao is still a great boxer; he's probably the greatest of my generation, therefore, I fully expect him to 'look' competitive and lively early on, but surely Errol will pull away. He makes everything look so simple; working responsibly off the lead hand. He can be efficient and he can also outfight you. And he's a murderous body puncher. At his age, I don't think Manny has the legs or mobility anymore to survive against someone like Errol, let alone win. I think Errol stops a stubborn Pacquiao in the championship rounds. What do you think?

Bread’s Response: I think Usyk has been in a performance slump lately. I don’t know what it is but he’s not in the same form that he was in in the World Series. I don’t expect him to dominate Joshua. I expect a good competitive fight but I think Joshua wins a decision. 

I think Errol Spence is an athletic grinder. Sort of like Marvin Hagler. He doesn’t look as athletic as some of his counter parts but he has athleticism. Errol was more athletic than Mikey and Danny Garcia. He just doesn’t rely on athleticism to win fights. He relies on fundamentals, physical strength and a good jab. If Pacquiao underestimates his speed, he will be in for a rude awakening. Errol is fast, he’s just not lighting fast. He speed was similar to Hagler’s. Very good. Errol is a technical grinder vs his better opponents I think he will have to be vs Pac. Pac is faster and more explosive and I think it will take Errol some time to get adjusted. I think Errol will go to his body. I also think Errol’s jab will slow Manny down. A constant jab weakens the spine and limits movement. I think Errol wins a 7-5 or 8-4 decision.

Greetings Mr. Edwards!

First of all, I hope you and your loved ones are still safe and sound in these kind of times today.

As always, it's a pleasure to read your mailbags with all of your insights to this great sport; my weekend wouldn't be the same without it.

This is actually my 2nd time writing in to you (your answers to my last questions about the great George Foreman were totally bliss and I was so happy that you took your time to answer these). My question this time may seem like an odd one but still, here I go: What is your opinion of Rus Anber as a cutman? I recently started rewatching Usyk's undisputed conquest at the cruiserweight division and if I remember correctly, he always was (and still is) in Usyk's corner (the same applies to Lomachenko). So in the grand scheme of things, how and where do you rate Rus as foremost a cutman and "general advisor" in between rounds, preparations in camp etc.? Is he as great as e.g. Stitch Duran or other top dogs in the sport? Would really like & appreciate your opinion on this matter!

All the best to you and your loved ones and have a great rest of your day!

Greetings from Germany, Jakob!

Bread’s Response: If I’m not mistaken Abner has something to do with Rival Boxing Gear. I met him once in Montreal at a fight. I also believe we follow each other on social media. I think he’s an excellent cutman. I also believe he does really good hand wraps. He’s very resourceful and it seems as though lots of top fighters want him in and around their teams. He seems to be a person who gives off a winning energy.

What’s good Bread. A lot of exciting matchups the last couple of weeks, I don’t even know where to get started. You astutely pointed out something I don’t think many people saw in the Charlo vs Montiel matchup. Montiel hit Charlo with a nasty body shot that really hurt Charlo but Charlo poker face is so good I’m not sure if Montiel picked up on it during the round but he did eventually pick up on it and begin digging to the body. That took a lot of steam out of Charlo’s punches going down the stretch and possibly saved Montiel from getting knocked out as Charlo was hitting him with everything but the kitchen sink.

I’m going to say something and its not meant to be overly critical because I like the young gun but the knockout Lubin suffered against Charlo was no fluke and I totally expect for fighters at the top of the division to have highlight knockouts against him. Lubin has poor punch resistance. I have seen him hurt several times over the last couple of fights by punches that you don’t expect to hurt him. I know Rosario can crack but he has never been known to have a cracking jab and he threw a soft touch jab and rocked Lubin. Lubin seems to be a smarter version of Khan. We will see.

I have never seen Castano fight but I fully expect for Mell to struggle and its based solely off the fact that he was absolutely loaded at his brothers fight a month out from his own fight. To me that’s so disrespectful and a complete lack of discipline and focus. I know I seen you make a statement about babysitting fighters once but what do you make of a fighter a month away from his fight seemingly intoxicated? In all fairness I am assuming because of the interview he gave on air that night. I was not with him or in his presence but he definitely appeared to be drunk. Stand up Tank!!! I love the movement by the establishments to move fights to black cities. Atlanta showed up and showed out. Houston also had a good crowd. I’m just curious as to why they are moving Tank the way they are. I know that they have a plan but he seems to be great why hasn’t he gone after a top gun. Floyd is guiding Tank’s career much like how he finished his career, taking on perceived threats but know real 50/50 match ups. I would love to see Tank do what Lopez did and go into a 50/50 fight to establish himself as the real deal. I honestly still have questions.

Now Bread, put your trainer hat on. If you were in Wilder’s corner what would be your strategy to beat Fury the 3rd time around. Let us know what he needs to do to have a real chance? What weakness do you see? I always thought Wilder needed to punch through Fury’s faints and not wait. Fury faints also allow him to get into punching position. I think if Wilder punches through the faints it will cause Fury to reset every time.

Okay, so as much as I like Crawford as a fighter, I have somewhat been critical because of the lack of competition and also his business decisions to resign with Bob when it was clear Bob didn’t have the fighters or a real plan to move his career along. So, Bud tells Porter that he should be landing the fight with Pac and so he didn’t want to entertain a fight with him. We know now that Pac has gone in a different direction and now Bud is totally silent. Shawn has told any and everyone who would listen that he wants to fight Bud and is in a position to fight Bud, neither has a dance partner and now that Pac has chosen his next fight Bud is silent. This is the reason I am critical of Bud!! Also, Spence brought up a great point which bares repeating. Bud is a real confrontational guy and anytime someone says something to or about him he has a response. Bob talks shit about him and he is totally quiet. I really just don’t get it.

Bread’s Response: Jermall Charlo is one of the most durable fighters in boxing. He can TAKE it. That was a nasty body shot. I saw it and he ate it. But his energy level went down. Montiel is a big puncher. It happens, it’s boxing. The issue will be now fighters will be a little more willing to get to Charlo’s body. Devrenchenko landed a nice one also if you remember. 

As a trainer, you have to be able to see the little things. Here is the thing. Fighters will go after Lubin’s chin but Lubin has firepower. It’s not so easy to get to Lubin. Lubin is better than Khan in my opinion. His smarts propel him over Khan. Khan fought at a lower weight also which makes it easier to win titles. Lubin is in a killer division. From 147-168 historically it’s SMOKE. Let’s see how his career plays out. If he never gets stopped again, what we say about his chin. Time will tell. 

I don’t know if Jermell Charlo was drinking or not. I don’t comment on stuff like that unless I know and even so that’s his business. He knows the date of his fight. If he can drink alcohol and perform more power to him. Some fighters drink alcohol, some don’t. I prefer a fighter not drink during his career because alcohol damages the liver, it makes it harder to recover the next day, it dehydrates you and it makes you gain weight. But more fighters drink than will admit they drink. I think Charlo vs Castano is a great fight regardless. Let’s see.

I love the promotion behind Tank. He’s fought in Baltimore and now ATL, two urban hot spots. I also think he’s a tremendous fighter. He showed me something vs Barrios. As for his competition level, it’s solid but not great. It’s just how this era is. They aren’t going to make him run through a brick wall if he doesn’t have to. We are in a different era than Leonard fighting Hearns, Oscar fighting Mosley and Floyd fighting Diego. It’s just different. I no longer compare this era to others. I accept it for what it is. 

Malik Scott appears to be doing a great job. I’m not going to 2nd guess strategy. Or say what I would do because I don’t know what they’re doing in camp. What I will speak on is Tyson Fury’s level performance. Fury fought his career best fight. It’s hard to do that in back to back fights, especially when you have been off a year and a half. In the history of boxing, has a fighter had a career best performance then took a 18 months and put on a better performance? That alone let’s me know Wilder has a better shot than people think. Wilder can be better. But can Fury be better than he was in the rematch. If Fury is not as good and Wilder is a little better……Then What… 

These guys are human beings. Fury also was set on Joshua. Now he has to retool. Wilder’s gumption for wanting the fight tells me something also. Last but not least Fury won’t catch Wilder by surprise with his aggressive tactics. 

I don’t know why Bud and Porter haven’t resumed talks. I hope Bud gets the fight he deserves before he starts to slip. The business side is just as important as the boxing side. This next year will be crucial for his legacy.

Wassup Breadman,

As usual, you've been on point with your predictions.  Lubin stopped Rosario and Davis broke down Barrios utilizing body shots. Man, Tank can hit.  He did show some vulnerabilities along with a decent set of whiskers. What a heart Barrios have to come back after being hurt in the 8th and seem to be still giving Davis some trouble right before being dropped in the 11th.  I found it interesting that he was about to coast and it took Floyd telling him he was unofficially down to get him to go for the stoppage. Where do you think Davis go from here?  Does he stay at 140?  If he goes back down to 135 and maybe even 130.  From 130 to 140, who do you think pose the biggest threat to him.

As a kid, I was a huge Shane Mosley fan.  You couldn't tell me he wasn't the best with his speed, power, and boxing ability.  For some reason, I always think Mosley lost fights that I thought he had the ability to win.  I thought even at his older age, he should've stopped Miguel Cotto.  Against Floyd, he seemed to be strangely jittery and didn't seem to want to engage.  With Mayorga, he looked like he was relying on one shot the entire time.  What do you think were his deficiencies?  Was he just a sucker for a good jab?

Finally, what are your thoughts on doghouse rules sparring? Thanks

Bread’s Response: Tank and Barrios put on a show. They both will ascend from here. I’m glad you mentioned Tank’s chin. He has a good set of whiskers and he’s mean. He didn’t front run. I think Davis will fight big fights from 130-40. His team will create him opponents. I think he will look towards a Ryan Garcia fight. If that can’t be made they will find someone else to fit the bill. They know how to pick opponents. The biggest threat to Tank in my opinions are Teofimo Lopez and Shakur Stevenson equally. You guys may not realize this but the bigger guys may be easier because they’re slower. Tank is a real puncher. With real speed and quickness. He will have the same advantage Pacman had all these years at 140-47.

Shane Mosley is a HOF and a great fighter. But I think like most talented people he fell in love with his gifts. His speed and power were excellent but Mosley wasn’t the boxer that Leonard and Mayweather were. He got outboxed by Miguel Cotto if you remember. That told me something. I don’t think he was a SUCKER for a jab. A jab is the closest punch to you, so everyone gets hit with them. I just think Mosley was in love with his speed and power. He talked about it all the time. And if he couldn’t overwhelm his opponents, he usually didn’t win. The best adjustment he made was in his first fight with De La Hoya. After that fight he never did that again where he was losing a fight and he turned it around by boxing. I think Mosley was mislabeled all of these years. He was called a boxer puncher. But he was a more of an athletic, fast attacker. 

I like intense sparring for fighters. You hear off all of these different things about sparring safety etc. A good trainer will monitor his fighters but you can’t get in great shape going through the motions in sparring. I don’t know what Dog House rules are but I do believe in intense sparring with the unwritten rule of if you hurt the sparring partner and he’s out on his feet don’t follow up, step back.

The fight was really good. One thing I don't quite understand is how Davis caught Barrios with straight punches sometimes. It was like he didn't expect it. Is it due to Gervonta's speed, positioning or both? Also, should tall fighters only study tall fighters? I'm 6'2 and I do my own little training at home just for exercise nothing serious. Of course I still want to do things properly so I thought I would ask.

Tim from Barbados

Bread’s Response: I think Mario did a good job defensively. Tank is faster, quicker and more talented. He’s going to get hit, it’s a fight. I think Tank landed his looping shots and uppercuts better than his straight shots. He rarely landed a jab. He did land his straight left hand but it wasn’t something that Mario didn’t see or hurt Mario. Tank landed that shot because, he’s a super fighter. He has timing, speed and accuracy. He can hit anyone. Other short fighters like Pernell Whitaker and Manny Pacquiao also had the ability to land long range shots vs taller fighters. They are gifted. 

You should style study fighters with your body type. And you should study fighters who you can pick up things from. Don’t limit yourself. Great fighters will all give you something to pick up on. Tank learns from Floyd but they are built nothing alike. Floyd was a tall 130lber. He had long arms. He was right handed. Tank is shorter, with short arms and he’s a southpaw. Yet he learns from him.

Hi Breadman,

Hope you and yours are well. Another couple of questions for the mail bag if you have a space in the article?

You've stated before that you believe team Canelo waited for GGG to look vulnerable before making the first fight, I agree that this was clear and dependent on the individuals view could be seen as unfair, but my questions are, 1. if they both fought at their primes who comes out on top? 2. Regardless of who wins in this matchup who do you believe has shown a higher apex in their peak?

Also on the topic of "apex", could you rank the following popular all time greats in order of highest to lowest peak as in who was the best at their respective best: Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Pernell Whitaker, Julio Caesar Chavez, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Marvin Hagler, Canelo, GGG.

Many thanks and all the best,

John.

Bread’s Response: A whole era of middleweights waited GGG out not just Canelo. I think if the GGG of 2011-14 fought Canelo at middleweight he would’ve won. But I want to say that I never thought Canelo was over his head vs GGG. I never understood that notion. Canelo got game. And even though I thought GGG won their 1st fight, I thought Canelo executed his gameplan better and showed more skills. GGG just had a better gas tank and didn’t have to take off rounds, which I thought should’ve given him the win. 

I think Canelo had the slightly higher peak. He’s also had a better opportunity to show it. GGG didn’t get these kinds of fights at 30 yrs old. The way Canelo is operating right now. Fielding, Kovalev, Smith and Saunders. Canelo looks awesome. But I have always believed Canelo struggled to make the lower weights. I thought he was great but vulnerable at `154. And since his move up to 168 he’s looked better. 

Disclaimer: Floyd will go down as an overall better fighter than Manny but you are asking me peak and APEX. Manny from David Diaz to Antonio Margarito fought 6 perfect fights. Never lost 2 rounds in a row. It may be the best PPV run in history.

1a. Roberto Duran peak 73-80, apex 1980 Leonard fight.

1b. Sugar Ray Leonard peak 79-92, apex 1981 Hearns

3. Pernell Whitaker peak 89-95, apex 1990 Jose Ramirez 2 

4. Manny Pacquiao peak 08-11, apex 08 De La Hoya

5. Floyd Mayweather peak 98-07, apex 01 Diego Corrales

6. Marvin Hagler peak 78-83, apex 81 Caveman Lee 

7. Julio Cesar Chavez peak 85-92, apex 87 Edwin Rosario

8.Tommy Hearns peak 80-86 , apex 84 Roberto Duran

9. Canelo Alvarez peak 16-present, apex 2020 Callum Smith 

10. Oscar De La Hoya peak 95-00, apex 96 Julio Cesar Chavez

11. GGG peak 10-14, apex 2013 Matthew Macklin

12. Shane Mosley peak 97-02, apex 2000 Oscar De La Hoya

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