Daily Bread Mailbag: Mayweather-Trinidad, PEDs, Rousey, More

By Stephen "Breadman" Edwards

The Daily Bread Mailbag returns with Stephen "Breadman" Edwards giving his thoughts on Oscar De La Hoya's career, Floyd Mayweather Jr. matching up with Felix Trinidad, Manny Pacquiao vs. Terence Crawford, PEDs, Ronda Rousey and more.

Bread,

Merry Xmas, Happy New Year!

Love your fight analysis and hypothetical fights.

Oscar did beat Trinidad clearly and Shane Mosley as well in their rematch.

Floyd took Oscar's jab away with his right cross, Oscar wasn't thinking in this fight either he was too angry based on the prefight buildup-Floyd was in his head. The blow that Hopkins landed on Oscar's liver was a hammer blow, rather than knuckles landing, but it was a punch.

Oscar was taken apart by Felix Sturm in prep for the Hopkins fight and also clearly lost to Pernell Whitaker. Overall with Floyd Mayweather Sr. training him Oscar was 8-1 or 7-2, depending on how you saw those fights. In the latter years of Oscar's career he didn't work as hard as he could've and was constantly beaten up during sparring sessions in his training camps, the devotion just wasn't there.

Floyd would've beat Felix Trinidad, Trinidad had the perfect style for Mayweather to defeat him, it was eerily similar to the fight style of the late Chico Corrales. The fight that tells me this was Trinidad's blowout loss to Winky Wright who basically won that fight with his right jab.

Bread’s Response: I agree. For Oscar to be the star of stars in his era. He caught bad decisions vs Mosley in their rematch and Tito. But to be fair he may have received one vs Felix Sturm. So sometimes the Laws of Karma balances things out. I can’t help but to think what that 2nd Mosley fight did to his psych. He was on a great career run with Mayweather Sr. as his trainer and he was never quite was as sharp again after the 2nd Mosley fight. Look at his career close..

Yeah Floyd did a great job with the counter right hand. But I think Oscar ran out of gas a little bit too. Floyd has a god given ability to be able to concentrate longer than his opponents. It’s really unique. Because there are fighters who have higher workrates, who punch harder, who inflict more damage but for some reason Floyd usually takes the rounds down the stretch. That’s all concentration. He mentally fatigues his opponents and he feels it instinctively as the fight goes on.

Yeah there was some controversy behind that blow to the body that Hopkins stopped Oscar with. But I looked at the replay and I saw Oscar’s eyes and facial expression. Unless he’s a great actor that blow did some serious damage.

In hypothetical matchups one always hypothesizes a flawed day. Floyd’s performance vs Diego Corrales was one for the ages. It was one of the few perfect fights I have ever witnessed. But Corrales was a notch below Tito in my opinion. And Tito was a huge welterweight. I don’t think Floyd’s blows would have affected him the way they did Corrales. It’s a tough call for me because Tito just had a way about him where he wore boxers down. As much as Oscar outboxed him on his “flawed day”. Oscar was worn down late from the fatigue of not being able to comfortably win rounds. Tito carried him fast.

Tito also carried Oba Carr, David Reid and Fernando Vargas fast. I considered the Corrales fight with Floyd. But I also considered the Castillo and Victor Sosa fights. Look at those fights good. Both of those linear stalkers gave Floyd some trouble.

Winky Wright and Bernard Hopkins both had size and physical strength advantages over Tito. He couldn’t move them. So therefore he couldn’t carry them fast and make them over move and use excessive energy…. 

Hello,

Long time follower, reader and admirer, first time asking a question, as a student of the game who wants to acquire as much knowledge as I can and whom is always open to learning new styles or techniques as an amateur boxer, I love watching videos of the best fighters (old generations gone by and current) on youtube and rewatching some their best fights in full, seeing how they go about their business and how they master a highly diverse craft in a unique style and how they adapt to certain situations in order to exert their dominance and win the fight, what I recently discovered a year back is the Lee Wylie account which is phenomenal for analysis and breakdown of various fighters and how little subtleties can open up various options, I was just enquiring to see if there are any more you could recommend especially for a student who wishes to learn about how to really master the fundamentals of boxing (if one ever can truly do so), controlling the distance, using their footwork, rhythm and tempo in order to excel, maybe a youtube account with drills or explanations would be fantastic, or any books, dvds, articles etc which would help one acquire the knowledge to do so, just watching the likes of Rigondeaux, Lomachenko, Ward, GGG, Pacquiao. Hopkins has thought me a lot, Sugar Ray Robinson is another one of my favourites to watch.

Student of the Game,

Europe      

Bread’s Response: Lee Wylie does a great job. I love his work on Roman Gonzalez, GGG and Roberto Duran.

I just watched a video on Sugar Ray Robinson were it showed how he snapped his punches at his elbow which allowed him to speed them up as they went through the air. Check it out. It’s called Perfect punching or something of the sort.

It’s important to watch the greats in their primes or close enough to them. I like watching Donald Curry, James Toney, Joe Louis, Eder Jofre, Salvador Sanchez, Ray Leonard and young Ali. 

Lots of questions my brother….Do you think Ronda Rousey should fire her trainer? She has no stand up game whatsoever. What do you think of Pacquiao demanding 20 million to face Crawford? Who wins…Is there a PED epidemic in boxing, James Degale seems to think so?

Bread’s Response: I don’t follow MMA so I don’t comment much on it. I didn’t see Rousey’s fight but obviously I heard she lost. I am not one of those people who criticize out of cruelty or because I am not happy with my life. I have seen some harsh things thrown Rousey’s way that I won’t indulge in that. I decent human being wouldn’t.

Here is what I will say about Rousey and her coach. I don’t know if she should fire her coach or not. But if he’s the coach who helped her get to 12-0 which I believe she was before her last two fights and you weren’t saying he should be fired up until that point…….then you know the rest. Good Blessings Ronda.

I think Pacquiao gets about 20 million/fight. Isn’t that his usual? I think the powers that be need to cough the money up. Pacquiao did over 4 million PPV buys vs Mayweather in 2015. That’s not very long ago. I can definitely understand why he would ask for 20 million to fight an animal like Crawford who he would be the underdog against. Aging greats get paid big money to take fights like that.

I think Crawford beats Manny at this point. Crawford seems to be special and in his prime. Pacquiao is in the fight however. I actually think he’s faster and more naturally athletic. He’s also seen every style imaginable. And he can still shock you with his rhythm. He scores knockdowns with the same left hand shot that no one can seem to avoid.

But Crawford is no slouch in the athletic department. He also has impeccable timing, Ring Generalship, Great stamina and loads of versatility. That on top of the fact that there is enough film study out there for Crawford to steal from in Manny’s fight vs Mayweather, Bradley and Marquez. I believe Crawford and his team will be more than ready. I like Crawford by a 116-112 decision but I wouldn’t rule out Manny scoring an early knockdown. In fact I think both greats get dropped.

Can you blame James Degale? He fought a fighter who seemed to turn back the hands of time against him. Lucian Bute. Then in Bute’s next fight he test positive. So without accusing anyone directly Degale is taking a stand. I agree with him 100%. And I will add.

There is no doubt a PED epidemic going on in boxing. Look out for a few things…. Fighters who always want to take off. Even after huge victories they are willing to kill their momentum and just “take off”.

Look for Fighters who come down from ridiculously high weights and are able to rehydrate after the weigh in and still be “cut up”.  They usually have “thin” skin.

Look for Fighters who show drastic improvement in physical areas. Not subtle improvement but drastic improvement from one fight to the next.

Look for fighters who are aging and on their last leg to suddenly become revitalized and turn in career best performances “after” they looked done.

Look for fighters to mysteriously postpone and put off fights.

Look for fighters who secretly train like savages with NO fight on the books. This is a way to benefit from cycling on without a testing window approaching.

Last but not least look for fighters to shy away from the WBC. The WBC used to be the “belt”. Although I personally think the 4 major belts are all equal. It seemed as though the WBC was the favorite. Now look at how fighters shy away from the Green Belt and angle towards other belts. You know why…. Because of VADA. Look very close.

Oh and one more thing. Off the record ask someone who you know that bets heavy on fights. What is the first question they ask when considering who to bet on? “Is there testing?” Will be their answer. Whether or not there is testing is the number one question that heavy bettors ask in deciding who to bet on in big fights. Everyone is loyal to their money! Think about that.

2017 is shaping up to be a great year. Who are your picks in the upcoming fights? Frampton vs Santa Cruz, Garcia vs Zlaticanin, Jack vs Degale, Pedraza vs Davis, GGG vs Jacobs, Joshua vs Klitschko, Williams vs Browne, Garcia vs Thurman and Ward vs Kovalev 2?

Bread’s Response: I think you skipped around a little bit with the dates…I don’t have a pick for each fight yet but I will do my best.

Frampton vs Santa Cruz is tough for me. I was at the first fight. And while I thought Frampton won I can see a scenario where if the crowd was on Santa Cruz’s side then he could’ve got the decision. Crowd noise and persuasion is a real factor. Given that this fight will be on the West Coast I can see a Santa Cruz victory. My pick is Frampton but something tells me this will controversial.

Mikey Garcia is a real puncher. I think he runs Zlaticanin into something.

Jack vs Degale will be a drawsih type of fight. Jack is super steady and has really come into his own. Degale is super flashy and more talented. But his talent is higher than his execution. He hasn’t proved to be dominant from start to finish. Against a steady competitor this is a recipe for a razor close fight. I think this fight will be a draw.

Pedraza vs Davis. Lots of people are picking Pedraza. I was probably leaning Pedraza too. But after looking at his last few fights it’s clear to me that he’s sort of leveled out. Maybe he will rise to the occasion. But something tells me Davis wins this fight. I can’t quite put my finger on it. But I think Davis will be too quick and explosive.

GGG vs Jacobs. It’s hard to pick against GGG at 160. He does VADA. He still scores big kos. He wants to be active. He seems to have ungodly strength. Him and his coach seem to have great chemistry. I won’t pick against him but I do think Jacobs is live, Especially early.

Joshua vs Klitschko. I think Joshua kos Klitshcko in 3 rounds. Joshua’s persona and outlook on boxing is tops in the game right now. Everytime I hear the kid talk he says all the right things. In an era when fighters are always saying something stupid on social media or in an interview he never does. I don’t know who his PR person is or who raised the young man, but they deserve some credit. Joshua just has IT. A fighter like this only comes along once a decade.

Williams vs Browne. I just saw that this fight was announced. This is a really good fight for a non title fight. Cross roads! The Ex Title Challenger vs the Young gun. This is a 50/50 fight. I think Browne is more athletic but Williams is more battle tested and seems to be able to execute better in a boxing ring. Let me think about my pick more. If Williams doesn’t get careless I would pick him. But he’s such a gunslinger he always opens up to knock his opponent’s head off. But there is a flip side to that. You open yourself up to have your head knocked off also. I will get back to you on that pick.

Garcia vs Thurman. Let me figure out a few things about camps etc before I make a pick here. This is a closer fight than people think.

Wards vs Kovalev2. Did this fight get made or are you just asking? I would say Ward by a close decision. Historically, Fighters with great jabs rarely get dominated. Both of these fighters have great jabs. It should be nip and tuck again. I think these guys will be like Paulie Ayala and Johnny Tapia. Where everytime they fight you can literally spin the bottle and pick one because the fights are so close.

I have noticed you said there are some perfect fights in history. Where a fighter has performed the perfect execution considering his style.  Can you name some so I can go back and review them?

Bread’s Response: I sure can. Off the top of my head here goes. And for the record perfect does not mean a fighter doesn’t get hit or lose a round. It just means that they fought the perfect fight in terms of execution, timely adjustments, focus and most of all gameplan. It also does not mean history's greatest performances. Please don’t confuse the two. For example Ali vs Foreman and Leonard vs Hearns 1 are two of history's greatest performances. But I don’t consider them perfect fights by Ali or Leonard.

Hopkins vs Trinidad. If you can find a better boxing and punching execution against an in his prime killer I would like for you to show me. Tito was bringing heat that night and Hopkins answered every call.

Mayweather vs Corrales. This is equal to Hopkins vs Trinidad. See above.

Pacquiao vs Oscar. This performance gets underrated because of Oscar’s perceived weight depletion. But Pacquiao was a 2 to 1 underdog going in. He actually boxed an active fight without over applying pressure. He countered and blitzed. He fought one of the better smaller man vs bigger man fights in history. He was perfect for 8 rounds.

Buddy McGirt vs Simon Brown. Watch this fight. This is an underrated classic performance. McGirt kept foot feinting and turning Brown. It was masterful.

Hagler vs Hearns. Critics often equate great performances with "boxing". But Hagler blitzed a man who was a better, quicker, longer and younger boxer than himself. He cut the distance in a way where he forced Hearns to fight a kamikaze type of fight. He also stayed in Hearns’s chest and didn’t allow him to get full extension on his best two punches. His jab and straight right hand. This was “real” pressure. Hearns was burnt out by the end of Round 2.

Chavez vs Rosario. This is the greatest pressure fighting performance since 1980. Chavez was catching, parrying and absorbing the incoming. He kept his lead leg in between Rosario’s legs and kept squaring him up. I don’t know if anyone in history could have beaten Chavez on that night. He was truly special.

Whitaker vs Ramirez 2. For some reason people remember Whitake wrong. He wasn’t a runner. And he wasn’t boring. He also was very offensive. This is one of the best jab and step around performances in the history of boxing.

Toney vs Barkley. If this isn’t perfect, modern infighting I don’t know what it.

Jones vs Toney. This was perfect athletic boxing against a great counter puncher. Jones never tried to land a hard right hand on Toney because of the roll and counter. He also ended up behind Toney’s lead shoulder after every exchange. It wasn’t his most exciting performance but his gameplan was perfect.

Khan vs Alexander. Again some people equate perfection with a certain style. Smooth, relaxed, technical styles usually get the moniker. But if watch Khan vs Alexander. You see uber speed, in and out attacking with straight combinations all night. I have never seen such rapid fire combinations without being countered effectively. Khan looked like he was a video game that night. For his style of boxing it was perfect execution.

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