By Stephen "Breadman" Edwards

The Daily Bread Mailbag returns with Stephen "Breadman" Edwards tackling topics on Miguel Cotto vs. James Kirkland, Floyd Mayweather stating that he's greater than Muhammad Ali, the welterweight battle between Amir Khan and Kell Brook, and much more.

Hi Breadman.

I'm kev from Sunderland England. I read all your mailbags as well as other sites (which a lot of Brit bashing about our boxers goes on) but have to say your straight as they come and great breakdown on degale and jack, hope degale reads this and takes advice from it.

Anyway my question is your opinion or breakdown on two fights biggest on British soil if made. Kell brook v khan and Joshua v fury. Think these fights have to be made for the fans. And long continue you unbiased mailbag. Respect

Kev Sunderland

Bread’s Response: Thank you. I know there may be some bashing in the UK but you guys support your fighters much more than we do here in the US. It’s not even close. So I guess you will have to take the good with the bad.

Kell Brook vs Amir Khan will be a shootout. You have two offensive fighters who really don’t like each other going at it. I think Khan would have a big advantage if the fight is at 147lbs. I don’t care what anyone says if Brook fights at 147 again his performances would be compromised. If the fight is at 154 I think Brook is the stronger more studier fighter. Great fight either way.

Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury. Let’s just hope that Fury’s health improves. Before we think about a fight let’s hope the young man is ok to live his life outside of boxing.

Breadman

Props for teaching us all about winning the event versus winning the fight.   I love what badou jack did and felt he won but degale has flashy combos some of which are deflected that appeal to fans and judges.   Hence the draw.  

Where do you think badou jack rates amongst light heavies.   Would love to see him fight Stevenson.  Ward.  Or kovalev.   Can u tell us more about his trainer?   Do you know what happened with Eddie mustafaa?

Tank was impressive.    What must he do to get better other than keep his chin tucked. 

Has J Rock started training yet?   How are you picking cotton vs Kirkland?

Billy Bomaye

Bread’s Response: Thank you. I thought Jack won the event and probably the fight but I didn’t score with a pen and pad. Sometimes it comes down to simple math. Who won more rounds…..If you notice the fighter who finishes stronger or outperforms expectations usually wins the event. Think about that. Jack was the underdog and he finished stronger.  I think this was a case of Degale winning more early rounds than the consensus thought.

Badou Jack’s trainer is Lou Del Valle. He seems to be doing a great job with Jack and from Jack’s statement he’s responsible for a lot of his improvement. Del Valle was a good light heavyweight champion in the 90s. He fought Virgil Hill and actually fought a unification match vs Roy Jones on HBO. If I’m not mistaken he was the 1st fighter to knock Roy Jones down. Del Valle and Jack seem to have a good chemistry together. Jack looked excellent walking Degale down after a slow start.

I would rank Jack as a top 10 light heavyweight right now.  The best super middleweight in the world deserves that.

Gervontae Davis looked sensational. All he needs is experience and exposure to different styles without being put in over his head. If he gets the right matchmaking over the next 3 years he can be a p4p level fighter.

I’m picking Cotto over Kirkland but I’m not counting Kirkland out. He seems like a better fighter under Ann Wolfe and Cotto can be pressured into mistakes. The problem for Kirkland is his style accentuates a fast decline. He gets hurt and staggered in every fight lately. And he’s averaging about 1 fight every 18 months. There has never been a violent pressure fighter like Kirkland in the history of boxing who has excelled after being inactive. Ricky Hatton, Antonio Margarito, Jeff Fenech, Aaron Pryor, Joe Frazier I don’t care who you name. Once they got to 30 years old and became inactive they slipped drastically.

Hey Bread,

Just got my boxing fix from your latest MB!

AJ ends Wladdy's career, if Emanuel Steward was still with us I believe that Wladimir would bust the inexperienced fighter up.

I see Danny Garcia's left hook as the great equalizer. Thurman's style is perfect for Swift to lay back and let Thurman walk into it. Thurman flurries with his punches and is open to that punch. Danny Garcia by late rounds KO, for some reason Thurman is no longer Improving as a fighter, he thinks he already has arrived, and doesn't need to improve.

I see a fight between Money Mayweather and Connor McGregor in different ways,

1) we all say he has nothing to prove so why not fight McGregor? Deep down a lot of fight fans-for and against, believe Floyd does still have something to prove and that's why they're against this fight.

2) this fight WILL garner a lot of interest and PPV buys most likely WAY MORE than Mayweather/Pacquiao, maybe 6M-8M PPV buys.

3) McGregor may not have traditional boxing skills, BUT, his athleticism is his great equalizer, along with a chin that is used to taking punches from 4oz gloves that are damn near bare hands compared to 8oz gloves of boxing, this IS a dangerous fight for a 40 year old fighter, but this is a fight that Floyd can GET UP for that's why he wants it, Floyd has fought his best fights against fighters who call him out and fighters he 'gets up' for (Corrales, N'Dou, Hatton, JMM, Mosley, Hernandez, Canelo, Guerrero), Floyd wasn't so enthusiastic for Castillo, Oscar, Maidana and  Pacquiao. A lot of fighters are wary to call Floyd out, even GGG hasn't called Floyd out. GGG has said he'd like to fight Floyd and that he'd go down to 154lbs, but he hasn't called Floyd out Hatton, Mosley or Guerrero style.

4) the only big money boxing match for Floyd is against GGG, but it hasn't developed to the level Floyd wants it at. GGG doesn't have the personality of McGregor to make it big

Bread’s Response: Emanuel Steward loves tall rangy boxer puncher killers. He would definitely send Wlad to crush Joshua.  But timing is very important. At 40 years old and coming off of a loss, Joshua would still be a tough out for the great Steward if he were charging Wlad.

Thurman and Garcia both have style advantages. Thurman has a noticeable foot speed advantage over Danny. Danny is going to have to figure out “how” he’s going to fight Thurman. Does he chase him down or wait on him. A man can’t run from you if you don’t chase him.

Danny’s advantage is  Keith throws looping punches while jumping in. Danny seems to catch everybody. Everybody! There is also an advantage that Danny has that no one talks about. Every time he’s the underdog when you see him next to his opponent he seems to be bigger and more dense. Look at him next to Amir Khan, Lucas Matthysse and now Keith Thurman. Danny has a big strong skull, his chest and core are developed and he’s proportioned correctly. Look close.

I still don’t know who wins this fight. But I will say I thought Keith was not improving either until I saw his performance vs Shawn Porter. That was he best he has ever been and that was his last fight.

So you think McGregor is a dangerous fight for Floyd…..I really don’t follow MMA so I don’t speak on it much. McGregor does have good boxing skills for a MMA fighter but I don’t know if he has good boxing skills for an elite level boxer. I get that Floyd is 40 and anyone can be hurt but it would be hard for me to fathom that McGregor could handle Floyd in a boxing ring. Can Floyd stop him who knows, but I definitely think he beats him up.

You think this fight does 6-8 million ppv buys….Wow. If that’s true it will probably get made.

Hey bread hope all is well with you and thank you for being on this platform you are truly one of the few fair knowledgeable and honest journalists in boxing as well as a great trainer and person. I am writing to ask you about the racist emails from golden boy as well as biased journalism in the sport of boxing. Why is it that a certain demographic in media seem to want Al Harmon or a certain demographic of fighters to fail. This is a sport I get that people want heroes they can identify with but the bigotry is unneeded

especially coming from hbo and platforms like espn with Dan Rafael and the boys it's unnecessary and I don't even watch hbo or log onto espn because of it. Back to the original point it seems racist biased emails from a journalist were found and no major boxing sites even reported it but anything bad they can report about Floyd mayweather or al Harmon they don't hesitate true or false.

Bread’s Response: I don’t consider myself a journalist but I am honest and fair. So thank you.

The emails are what they are. It was a guy who seemed to be comfortable using the derogatory term he used to describe Al Haymon. You only use that term in the context he used it in, in comfort and to insult. So that’s that. All you have to do is read some of the comments sections after certain articles and you can see how alive racism is in boxing.  As far it being reported by boxing websites I saw it on a few websites….

I personally don’t indulge too much with the media cliques. I judge everyone on an individual basis. For example I don’t like all of ESPN’s coverage on boxing but I can listen to Max Kellerman talk boxing all day.  Some of the people who talk boxing on ESPN don’t even know the weight limits and divisions. My point is don’t listen to those people. Filter what you expose yourself to.

Sure there are some biased, insulting, ulterior motive based opinions. I see it all the time especially on the social media platform. I also see softball questions in order to remain in good favor. I see micro managed over criticism, where it’s obvious there is a dislike towards the criticized. But listen man this is a tough sport. We have to have thick skin and strong morals. Until some of these critics are held accountable it will continue.

What I suggest to you is follow the guys who you think are good, fair and most of all respectful. There is a degree of respect that comes with objectivity. My personal favorites off the top of my head are Doug Fischer, Lem Satterfield, Gabe Montoya, Lee Wylie, Tim Smith, Cliff Rold, Max Kellerman, Ryan Burton, Percy Crawford, Paulie Mailgnaggi, Roy Jones, Steve Farhood and Al Bernstein. I’m sure I forgot a few media guys that I feel do a good and fair job. But you get my point. Follow, read and listen to whom you enjoy and filter out the rest.  If you notice I’m not locked in to a specific website or network. Judge everyone on an individual basis.

I will also tell you this. If you are fair and open minded. You will like people who don’t like each other. You will read and follow people who may not like people who you admire. It happens to me all the time.

What do you make of Floyd Mayweather’s case as to why he’s greater than Ali? Floyd claims he set more records, took less punishment and has zero losses. And who do you rank as your top 5 fighters ever?

Bread’s Response: I didn’t read Floyd’s comments but going by what you said he has a subjective case. He does have less losses and he has set some great records.

However, there is a difference between better than and greater than. There are fighters who are better than others but they aren’t greater. For example Guillermo Rigondeaux is better than a lot of fighters who are in the Hall of Fame. But because of his lack of competition, accomplishments, marketability etc he’s not greater than say a fighter like Eusabio Pedraza. But he could conceivably be better. So Floyd has a fair case for being “better” than Ali.

Now when you factor in the word great. A lot comes with that. Accomplishments, iconic stature….. it’s just so much so it depends on your criterion. Ali is the greatest in my opinion.

If I’m ranking my top 5 fighters ever. I’m just going to judge on Accomplishments, Eye Ball Test, Competition Faced, Competition missed and simply who would beat the most fighters if matched up in a p4p sense.  #1 Sugar Ray Robinson  #2Muhammad Ali  #3 Harry Greb  #4Henry Armstrong  #5 Roberto Duran.  You can mix and match 2 through 5 but Robinson is the standard bearer in my opinion. Floyd Mayweather is the best fighter of this era. List are subjective preference…..

Send Questions to dabreadman25@hotmail.com