By Stephen 'Breadman' Edwards

The Daily Bread Mailbag returns with Stephen 'Breadman' Edwards answering questions on the Tarver-Cunningham / Huck-Glowacki PBC doubleheader, Wladimir Klitschko vs. James Toney, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and more

What did you think of the Tarver-Cunningham and Huck-Glowacki doubleheader and where do you rate Steve Cunningham all-time at cruiserweight?

Also you did an excellent breakdown of how you would gameplan with J-Rock against a prime Winky Wright so i have another retired junior middleweight: Fernando Vargas

Keep up the good work

William in West Palm

Bread’s Response: I thought Huck vs Glowacki was a terrific fight. One of the best of the year thusfar. Glowacki did a great job. Cruiserweight is actually looking good at this moment.

Cunningham vs Tarver was razor close. Steve was outworking Tarver early but Tarver stole some rounds late with his clean counter punching.

Fernando Vargas was a tremendous all around fighter. He was quicker than most Mexican fighters and he could get it done from the outside and inside. I think his flaw was his temperament. If you could keep a calm head you could run him into stuff. Vargas could be jabbed. But after you hit him,be set to counter punch because his “temperament” didn’t allow him to be hit and not want to get it back immediately. That’s how Oscar was able to overcome him. He had a cooler head and he knew Vargas wanted to get everything back immediately. So Oscar “waited” on him with that hook.

Really enjoyed your opinion of James Toney. Some say Wladimir Klitschko avoided Toney circa 2003-2006 or so. Do you think Toney would have had a shot to beat Wlad back then?

thanks!

Gabe/Prunedale, CA

Bread’s Response: First I want to give props to Wlad Klitschko. He consistently takes on the best available guy. For the last 7 or 8 years he has done so and I love that. He’s in a weak era but there are no big misses or ducks on his resume since he reinvented himself.

Now Wlad turned pro in 1996. So early on I think he was steered away from some of the better heavyweights of the late 90s and early 2000s. HE never fought Michael Grant, David Tua, Shannon Briggs, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis etc. HE sort of waited that era out.

I actually think Toney would have been all wrong for him in 2004. Wlad is fragile mentally and he had just had hell with two guys in Brewster and Peter that Toney was more skilled than.

Manny Steward knew Toney well and admittedly kept Tommy Hearns away from him in the gym. Toney is the kind of guy that smells weakness on a fighter. But Toney tested positive for PEDs vs John Ruiz and simply never got his career back to where it was in 2003 when he was the Fighter of the Year. So there was really no huge clamor for Toney and Wlad to fight. But I do think Wlad was pushed away from Bad Ass James Toney.

Hi Breadman,

I pray you and your family are doing well . I don’t dislike Floyd Mayweather the person. A part of me is proud to see a black man get crazy paid like he does.  I admire him for making something out of himself and from coming out of a bad environment and doing well for himself. I just hate his boxing performances. I thought he was fantastic early in his career when he fought at junior lightweight but after the Castillo fight it seemed he got very defensive and didn’t care to much about offense.

If you grew up watching Pryor,Hearns,Saad Muhamad, Ali,Frazier,Foreman,Leonard, Hagler ,Chavez,Toney,Mccallum,Duran and others who gave you such great  offensive performances, It is hard to me to get into Fraud. I loved Floyd Mayweather but Fraud the guy who stinks it out I can’t watch. I don’t care for Mike Jordan or OJ Simpson as people because I feel both are Uncle Toms and sellouts but I loved a Michael Jordan basketball performance and I couldn’t take my eyes off of OJ when he was running with the rock. They both were outstanding entertainers. Fraud doesn’t have that wow factor about him. I could care less about personalities, I just want to see a great performances  That is why I’m a Breadman fan because you always give a great performance. You haven’t written or done a bad mailbag yet. Your insight and intelligence that you use in your writing has made me a better and more educated boxing fan. Thanks for that and keep up the great work.

Blood and Guts from Philly. 

Bread’s Response: You have a right to your opinion and the way you articulate it deserves a place in the mailbag. You bring up some interesting points about Michael Jordan and OJ Simpson. Both of the guys were beloved “while” they were playing. But their post career aura has suffered a great deal. I’m interested to see the “political” take on Floyd after he retires. I feel he will be more “accepted” than those two.  

Hey Bread,

Andre Ward is a very good fighter, some may say great. That being said I don’t think Ward/GGG ever gets made. For what GGG is currently doing it’s his right to say that he’s the ‘A side’, but his whole body of work CAN’T compare to what Ward has done, which would make Ward the ‘A side’. Ward is never going to be the B-fighter, so that reduces the odds of that fight ever being made. Of course Ward will get the blame for this, disregarding the fact that GGG was willing to fight Chavez Jr. and Carl Froch at the 168lb limit but wants to face Ward at a 164lb catchweight.

Kovalev is smart, he paid attention to the Ward/Dawson fight where Dawson said he’d go down to 168 and fight Ward – what a mistake that was. Dawson has never recovered since losing to Ward. Kovalev will bring Ward up to 175lbs to fight him. But the way Ward fights which is kind of a hybrid Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones style is perfectly made to beat Kovalev.  Plus ward is physically stronger than he looks, and a lot of his opponents say that after he beats them. I think Ward dominates Krusher Kovalev.

Your and my opinions of Floyd Mayweather is starting to converge – top 25 fighter all-time. Missed fights he should’ve fought (Casamayor, Freitas, Tszyu, Margarito) got in the ring a little-bit late against some fighters (DeLaHoya, Mosley, Cotto and Pacquiao). Didn’t aggressively beat, hurt or KO guys he beat (Cotto, DLH, Pacquiao, Canelo). Whether it was Floyd’s fault or not, championship caliber fighters find a way to make big fights, not just big money fights. After the Gatti fight, Floyd had arrived, so he was NEVER the aggressive fighter he’d once been. These all have an effect on his rating. Yes…he made a lot of money, and looks to get out of the game with his health, with checks coming in, so probably to him that means TBE, considering most of the greats were unable to escape the ravages of a boxing career (in terms of health and money) once they hung up the gloves. Now if Floyd was to return for his 50th fight against a killer like GGG and beat him that would push Floyd much higher up on the all-time P4P list IMO. But Floyd I think just wants to get out of the game with his health and…his money. So he’ll either rematch Pacquiao (if he can make a case with the boxing public for a rematch) or he’ll face the Canelo/Cotto winner. 

Bread’s Response: Man you are dead on about Floyd. Perfect assessment of his great career.

People who think Ward should play the B side to GGG, just don’t like Ward. GGG is must see TV. There have been ttimes when the more accomplished fighter didn’t have to take a back seat to the more popular fight. Floyd Mayweather vs Ricky Hatton is a perfect example. He’s hotter than Ward is currently. But his peak ratings don’t trump Ward’s to a point where he deserves to dominate at the table. They act as if GGG is Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao or Miguel Cotto. Those are the 4 biggest stars of the last decade. GGG is just getting his feet wet on the big stage. In fact he has only made over 1 million dollars two or three times and he just now getting prepared for his first PPV.

I think Ward and GGG will both elevate themselves to a new level if they fight. Team Golovkin wants no part of Ward and that’s why they are finding a way to not make the fight. They know they are setting terms that a guy like Ward would never take because they know Ward is all wrong for Golovkin. That’s the bottom line. And no one in boxing admits that publicly. But I will say GGG has a much more active and productive promotional team behind him than Ward does. And that’s why he is gathering the public behind him better. But I know better, Ward with a dance partner like GGG will be a big draw. I think they would do over 700k PPV buys together. I don’t expect GGG to do that with Lemieux in his upcoming fight.

I would favor Ward over Kovalev but I don’t think he dominates him. Kovalev has a clever way about him where he can really cover ground without looking over anxious or sloppy. He glides back and forward similar to way Ward does. I can tell they both do lots of stretching to accentuate their strength work. Kovalev is also murder from the long range. He hits everybody with his jab and his right hand. Everybody.

Ward is great from the long range but he works towards the inside and he doesn’t have same two fisted attack The Krusher has from out there. Kovalev is trying to leave you in a coma from the long range. I think Ward can pull it off but getting Kovalev in his comfort zone is no easy task. Everyone Kovalev hits seems to act funny. No one laughs at his power. I think it’s a great fight. I pick Ward to win but he would have his work cut out for him. Backing Kovalev and taking him on the inside is a task because of what you have to go through to get him there.

Whats up Bread ? Again I love the development of Julian Williams, i learn a lot about boxing watching him and listening to ur directives from the corner. Even hearing you adamantly asking for Julians gloves to be dried while he was on the stool,was a hmm never thought of that moment.lol..well anyway,

i have a fighter that is very short for her weight, although she is in shape, she is just not wired (Canelo) to fight in an explosive, inside pressure fighters style, at least in consistent waves.her temperament is to kill everything that moves, but she has to learn how not to "spend all her money in one store"....with that being said, do you have any suggestions for film study (besides Porter n Paq) of short fighters that can effectively box taller fighters on the outside with occasional aggressive "fighting" on the inside?....Thanks coach !

Drew

Bread’s Response: Thanks bro…

Yes have her watch Emille Griffith from the 1960’s not 70’s. He’s one of the better shorter outside boxers you ever want to see. Evander Holyfield vs Riddick Bowe 2 is another example of a shorter fighter boxing a taller fighter from the outside. Lastly watch Jose Naploes. He glides in and around as well as any shorter fighter you want to see.

Send questions to dabreadman25@hotmail.com