The Daily Bread Mailbag returns with Stephen "Breadman" Edwards tackling topics such as Terence Crawford, Davi Benavidez's father ripping on Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, thoughts on the late Marvin Hagler, thoughts on Tim Tszyu, Vergil Ortiz, and more.

Hi Bread Man,

Thanks for all the weekly insights. Hope you are going great. First time writing in. I’m curious about your opinion on Tim Tszyu - I like the guy and was a fan of his dad too. But I know the Australian media tend to hype up their fighters, it’s hard to be objective here - so a few questions come to mind: WBO seem to have him as next in line - even if he wins, will he be able to successfully defend it?

I look at the Ring and other rankings - Tim doesn’t have many fights under his belt so I can’t see him beating the familiar Top 10 names yet except maybe local rival Zerfara (eg Lublin, J Rock, Hurd, Lara, inoue, trout, Charlo etc seem another level) - then again I thought Hogan with his experience would have put up a stronger test. Are we underestimating Tim? WBO aside - what do you think is the roadmap for him to get and win a world title?

Thanks a lot!

Adam. 

Bread’s Response: I think Tim Tszyu can fight. I’m not sure who he can beat and who he can’t beat in the current top 10 but he’s young and fresh. He’s also active. I think they will lure a veteran to Australia. Offer him big money and most likely beat them. Timing is important in boxing. 

The same thing that Hatton’s camp did to his dad, Tszyu will try to do, to an established veteran. I’ve watched Tszyu but I haven’t studied him. I will start to. He’s really ascending. He’s strong. He has balance. And I can tell someone took some serious 1 on 1 time with him for many years. Whatever he doesn’t have in experience, he’s making up for in resources and that 1 on 1 seasoning. I like what I’ve seen so far. 154lbs is super stacked. They may not have a Super Star. But they have a deep roster of talent. I think Team Tszyu will try to over pay to get a champion or top challenger to go to Australia. Travel time. Food ingestion. Time Zone. All of those things count. Most of the better Australian fighters have tried to get the work to come to them. Tim’s dad Kostya was wiling to come over here. But the other top Australian fighter Jeff Fenech was able to lure fighters to come to him. I think they will try to get Tim the advantage. 

I’m curious to see who would be willing to go over there and fight him. He’s a welcomed edition to the division. I don’t know if he can win the title but if he does I expect him to defend it a few times. A fighter like Tszyu will be taken care of. He’s going to get 1 or 2 showcase defenses, to make some money and build his brand. But Charlo and Castano would both be big favorites to come to him. 

Good afternoon Breadman,

I just wanted to know what you think of Reynoso stable and Jose Benavidez sr. comments below:

BENAVIDEZ SR QUESTIONS CANELO’S PHYSIQUE CHANGE

“So to me now, there are some questions to me. All of a sudden, he’s Superman,” Benavidez Sr said about Canelo. “I mean, he got caught with steroids [clenbuterol]. “Now, he’s cut, and he does look strong. All those fighters in that stable [Eddy Reynoso] look like monsters now. Look at Oscar Valdez; he looks strong, man. He looked like an animal. I was impressed, but something is happening there, you know?

“Let me go back to what I was saying. He [Canelo] generates a lot of money, right? So, a little slap [on the hands]. ‘Don’t do it again.’

“With steroids or without steroids, I think David [Benavidez] is going to give fans a good fight [against Canelo Alvarez], and he is going to have problems.

“I’m not saying we’re going to beat him. We’re going to try to beat him. I got to give my respects to him [Canelo].“He’s strong, and he’s disciplined, but at the same time, with steroids or without steroids, we are [ready to take the fight with Alvarez],” said Benavidez Sr.

Canelo testing positive for clenbuterol a couple of years ago was bad for his career, and his excuse about having eaten tainted beef in Mexico didn’t fly with a lot of fans.

Bread’s Response: I never knew Benavidez Sr. made those comments. Deep…..Here is what I will say. Reynoso has a great stable. All of his fighters seem to be performing at a career best level. Canelo, Garcia, Sanchez, Valdez….we haven’t seen Ruiz yet. Can’t hate on Reynoso he’s doing great. 

But Benavidez is a trainer and a father.  And if he has a concern he has a right to express it respectfully. That’s his son getting in that ring and I’m sure he loves him as a father. As a trainer I’m sure he loves him As a fighter. It’s natural protect your fighters and children. Sometimes you have to be willing to make enemies doing so. 

Personally I never understood why PEDs is an offensive issue to anyone. If you are doing them, then you know what you did and the outrage is fake. If you ARE NOT or HAVE NOT did them the PED talk should be taken as a compliment. Basically what someone is saying, is that your performances or fighter’s performances are so special that they “appear” to be enhanced. That’s a compliment to a clean fighter. And if you have done them and people keep bringing them up, then you shouldn’t have done them. People have a right to question you. You have to live with the “speculation”.

Hi Bread I’m writing in for the first time. I’m a huge fan of your mailbag and your boxing knowledge is insane. I’m an avid boxing fan since the 70’s.After watching a recent fight with Ricky Hatton’s son Campbell making his pro debut I started thinking about the greatest father and son boxers of all time.

I’m curious to see your top ten rankings of all time father and son fighters. Out of the current crop of Tszyu, Benn and Eubanks who do you think is the best?

Thank you Tom from Staten Island

Bread’s Response: I like Tszyu the most at this point. He seems more natural than the other two. He also can “box” better.

Bread,

One of the best young fighters in the game will be fighting this Saturday and I know he is someone you have been very high on for a while. Some are killing him for his resume' but I think that is complete BS since he's not with a big promoter, he just has to take the fights he can get at this point until he forces a big fight through his mandatory or eliminator. Just curious, while he was a very good amateur, he wasn't a GREAT amateur so what do you think is the difference for why he's been able to be so dominant in the pro ranks? Granted, he hasn't faced a top level fighter yet, but just watching him you just know he has that "it" factor.

Also, both Haney and Ennis didn't sign with a big promoter when they turned pro and ended up getting more volume fights than other fighters who did sign with a big promoter, but they lacked any solid names on their resume'. Eventually you just have to sign with one of the top guys to get the fights you want and Haney did that with Matchroom and I'm sure Ennis when he is able to will sign with either TR or PBC. My question is, what is the better route to take when turning pro? Look at their counterparts, these two have way more fights than them and got to develop at a quicker pace because of it. The downside is again, not being able to get certain fights you want. Look at Gary Antuanne Russell, he was the reason Ennis did not make the Olympic team and he signed with Haymon out of the Olympics and only has 13 fights while Ennis is going on fight number 27. I'm sure the money for Ennis wasn't as good but if you were to compare where those two are right now in their careers, it's not even close! Russell is hardly talked about while Ennis is getting thrown in hypothetical match ups against the likes of Ortiz Jr, Spence and Crawford. Curious to hear what you think.

Take care, Brad

Bread’s Response: Financially it’s better to sign with a big promoter. But development wise I would rather have the higher volume of fights. Just making weight, going through camp and performing in real fights will get you more comfortable in the ring. Both have their ups and downs. Big promoters don’t have any incentive to put their B stable in with a blue chip up and comer if that blue chipper is not signed with them. It’s really that simple. Boxing is a business. I don’t listen to people when they attack certain fighter’s resumes. Ennis’s resume is fine for where he is. Forget who hasn’t fought. Some of these critics should ask fighters will they fight him. I haven’t seen one notable welterweight even mention his name. Not once! The reason being is they know Ennis wants to fight and he would take the fight. Therefore no one even says his name. You have to look deeper than the surface level. Depending upon his performance Saturday you will see whether or not he gets fights. If he destroys Lipinets, he won’t. If he struggles to a SD or gets dropped he will. It’s just how boxing is in this era and no one wants to admit it. 

Hi Breadman,

Many of the younger boxing fans probably are unaware that in the 70’s and 80’s the biggest fights took place not on Saturday night but Monday night.

Was that due to Boxing being unable to secure a Saturday night slot or because boxing was big enough to showcase a super fight even on a weekday night ?Also, I understand  the concern over the safety  issues  associates with  15 round fights but I still crave them. Why? There are so many historic moments like Leonard-Hearns 1, Frazier-Ali 1, Weaver-Tate, Louis-Conn, Marciano-Charles (Marciano would’ve likely lost had it been 12 rounds ) and my favorite fight of all time ,Pryor~Arguello (bottle I mixed).What are your thoughts on 15 rounds and can you think of any big fights where one fighter was losing steam at the end of 12  and would have likely been ko’d if there were three more rounds. First time writing in and I appreciate your time.

Aaron from Cleveland 

Bread’s Response: You know I don’t get into that because fighters train for the number of rounds and pace themselves accordingly. The greater and better fighters will be better over longer rounds. Class shows over time. But If a fighter knew he was fighting a 15 round fight, he would fight and train accordingly. It’s a mental and physical application. Whatever era you are in, you will somewhat adapt to the best of your ability. So just because a fighter say comes on late in a 15 round fight and wins. It doesn’t mean he couldn’t have beaten that same opponent in a 12 round fight. He may have approached the fight differently if he knew he had less time.

I love 15 round fights. It’s the standard bearer marker for greatness in my opinion. But I understand why fights were shortened because of health and safety concerns. I don’t think fights will ever be 15 rounds again. But I wish they were. The landscape would be different. Only a special fighter can rule for a long time in a 15 round era. Big fights used to be on weekdays periods. Monday and Tuesday nights mostly. In the 90s the Saturday became the go to day. But some of the biggest fights in history were on weekdays. I actually like that because people are not doing much on a week night and I feel the boxing world would tune in more without the options of “going out”.

As a kid I couldn’t see all of the big fights because they were on weekdays and my mom wouldn’t let me take off from school and watch the big PPV. I got to see Hagler vs Mugabi but she wouldn’t let me go see Hagler vs Leonard. I was gutted. Leonard was my child hood hero. However I was able to see Tyson vs Spinks. That was huge. I was graduating from the 6th grade. What a big deal that was to me. Spinks spent lots of time in Philly and I was around him a little bit. I was mortified for him vs Tyson. It’s funny how you look back on your feelings “at that time”. 

Breadman,

By process of elimination the answer to your question would have to be Cherry vs Douglas.

I have seen the other three fights and even though Leonard and Hagler was close I felt Leonard was crisper with his punches and had no problem with him winning. I had no problem with Floyd winning his fight even though some felt otherwise but no big dispute. Taylor beat Spinks fairly handily so no issue except it should have been a UD. So by process of elimination it must be Cherry vs Douglas but I could not find a full fight replay on youtube just highlights.  But in those highlights Douglas counter left hooks were the hardest and most effective punches I thought.  But without seeing the fight that is just a guess.

Take care, Rich Mathews

Bread’s Response: Yes sir! You’re the only person to guess correctly. If you ever watch that whole fight, there is literally no way Cherry won. IMPOSSIBLE. He got outclassed by at least 7 rounds to 3. Most likely 8-2.

Sup Bread, hope everything is well.

Man, I've been trying to stay patient with Terence Crawford for a while now but I'm actually starting to wonder if he's becoming his own worst enemy. First he (and Spence to be fair) decide to play the blame game with each other while holding up the WW division, then he turns down the Ortiz Jr fight, THEN he accuses Canelo of avoiding Black fighters.

Crawford is obviously a great fighter, but at almost 34, you have to think he's gotta start making some big moves fast.. right? He may never get the big money Pacman showdown that he wants and is wasting valuable time on it.

Bread’s Response: I am a Terence Crawford supporter. I really think he’s special fighter. I would like to see him get a legacy defining fight before he retires. I read his team was in talks with the Pacman. That’s a big fight for him. Let’s see how it plays out. I have no idea if the fight will get made. But, I actually agree with you about Vergil Ortiz. If Ortiz wants the smoke it’s not Crawford’s job to tell him he’s not ready. It’s Crawford’s job to SHOW him he’s not ready. As much as I respect and admire Crawford I don’t agree with a champion telling a young challenger that he’s not ready. 

Ali was ready for Liston. Lopez was ready for Loma. Benitez was ready for Cervantes. Taylor was ready for McGirt. Bowe was ready for Holyfield. Duran was ready for Buchanon. I can go on about that. Terence Crawford is a HOF fighter. People don’t like to say it but he is. No fighter in history has won 3 titles in 3 weight classes. Including unifying one division completely and reached 37-0 and not be a HOF. No fighter with his resume has NOT been put in the HOF. Right now he’s fighting for ATG status. He’s may be 2 big wins away. I actually can’t call any of the fights you gave me. He’s that good. I need to see more of him vs fighters I also feel that are special to assess him better. He’s reaching a rare place with the Eye Ball test. So now I have to see him vs special opponents.

Hello Bread,

This is my first time sending you an email, I hope you see this. I am just fresh from watching Vergil Ortiz stop Maurice Hooker in a war. I feel he is somewhat similar to an orthodox errol spence. What do you think about Vergil Ortiz after this fight, do you think he is ready for a fight with Bud Crawford ( although Ready or not I want to see the fight happen if the bud vs spence fight ain't happening), how does he fair against those champs, personally I think he has a better chance against spence, bud is such a versatile fighter that It'll be more difficult to beat him, although he could mess around and catch bud with a good right, cause bud takes some unnecessary punches like he did against the mean machine. Also I have always said in my head that it'll be an easier task to beat spence that bud(not by Ortiz, am speaking generally based on style), but sometimes I feel like I am 100% wrong, but my thinking is that spence is a textbook fighter who follows the script exceptionally well, but bud doesn't even read the script, so It'll be easier to beat a guy who you understand his script. Can I get your opinion on this, based on their styles, who do you think would be tougher/slightly easier to beat?

Thank you and have a good one.

Bread’s Response: I think Ortiz fought well vs Hooker but he may be a year away from his peak. If anyone besides Spence and Crawford were champions I would say he would win the title now. But I’m not sure if could beat them in his very next fight. But hey, it’s not up to me. He may prove us all wrong. With a great camp sometimes young fighters rise to the occasion. Remember Teofimo Lopez struggled vs the tall Japanese fighter before he fought Loma. But he beat Loma. Sometimes a fighter rises up and gets better for the best.

No two fighters are exactly alike. Ortiz doesn’t remind me of Spence. Spence is sort of a mix of Hagler and McCallum. Ortiz reminds me of Juan Diaz mixed with Fernando Vargas. I think he’s excellent. But I want to say that style burns out early. I don’t blame him for wanting his big fights now. It would be hard for him to carry that type of snappy intensity into his 30s.

Did you know Criminal Investigators know different things about humans because we will favor the right or left side of our brains under specific circumstances. The left side is the practical side. The right side is the creative side. If someone looks to their right when trying to answer a question, it indicates they are trying to create something. If someone looks to the left they "know" the answer.  Neither side is better because it depends on how one applies them. But when I see Errol Spence I see a fighter who is left brain dominant. He’s a practical fighter. He keeps it simple. Simple can be great. Simple can be special. Don’t get it twisted. Carlos Monzon kept it simple. So did Larry Holmes. So did Lennox Lewis. 

When I see Terence Crawford I see a right brain dominant fighter. He has a more creative approach. He goes outside of the box a little more to get his business done. I think Spence is easier to figure out but that doesn’t mean he’s easier to beat. Because sometimes a fighter can have a tangible or intangible quality that is just hard to overcome. For example. If you look at Winky Wright you don’t see an ultra creative fighter. He’s jab dominant. But he has a rock solid chin. He has will power. He’s a dog. He has good stamina. His defense was simple but effective. Well Wright was very hard to beat all the way up until he became an older fighter. No one had an easy time with Wright. Zab Judah had way more tools than Winky Wright. But respective of their weight classes. I think Wright was the better fighter and harder to beat. Sometimes keeping it simple is the best way. Sometimes the fighters who relies on less tools knows exactly what to look for in high pressure moments. While I think Crawford has more layers to his game than Spence does. Until those 2 young men get in the ring and fight. I’m not going to give one credit over the other. I’ve been around boxing too long to fall into that. There are things that you can’t see until a fighter faces certain opposition. 

Good Evening I'm a soldier writing you from Saudi Arabia.

So I was watching an Eddie Hearn interview & he spoke how Canelo was surprised how much attention to detail he put on the little things like trying to grow his brand in a new city like Miami or having great ring introductions.

So that got me thinking, boxing has stagnated due to the laziness and disconnect of promoters with what fans want. It reminds me of the mob still being in Vegas in the 60s and 70s.These old guys are obsessed with Vegas and NY. Take black fighters like Terence Crawford, Shakur Stevenson grow their brand by going to urban cities like ATL, DC, NO or STL. Pair them with a rapper, have pre-fight meet & greets, buy a shirt get a pic . Have fight after parties, push them on IG/local radio.

I'd also create an environment like a basketball game, have a hypeman shooting t-shirts in the crowd. Also have less time in between in each fight and make these fights a lot earlier, 7pm-10pm. People would be so hype and go to promotion sponsored after parties afterwards. Floyd events did so good because it was more for the spectacle. He may not fought who you liked, but they created a brand and atmosphere you felt you had to be apart of. I'd make Crawford vs Spence in ATL at Mercedes-Benz dome or the Saints dome and follow all those promotion tactics I previously mentioned. I mean am I wrong?

Bread’s Response: You’re not wrong at all. You’re 100% correct. I’m just posting your comment. No need for me to say much.

Boxing All-Star Team

Hi Bread,

Hope you and your are doing well. Thank you as always for imparting wisdom and sharing insight with us. You mentioned in your last mailbag that “ Welterweight is an original 8. In my opinion it’s the most talented division in the history of boxing.” I don’t recall if you’ve done this before, but out of the original 8 divisions weights - how would you rank the Top 3 all time divisions and the Top3 fighters you’d pick from those divisions (fighters in no particular order).

Bread’s Response: I think the top 3 divisions are welterweight, middleweight and heavyweight. The top 3 in each division are as follows. Welterweight: Robinson, Armstrong, Leonard - Middleweight: Robinson, Greb, Hagler - Heavyweight: Ali, Louis, Foreman

Eddie Hearn recently made a comment about Ryan Garcia basically turning down a title shot vs Devin Haney. Do you find it weird that no one in boxing talks about this? Hearn is actually right. Garcia won his eliminator against Luke Campbell. Haney was ready and willing to fight and Garcia went in another direction. The champion shouldn’t have to chase the challenger. I also feel like Jaime Munguia could have had a title shot by now but has chosen not to. Munguia is a solid name. He’s undefeated and he was WBO champion at 154. They install their champions who move up as the number one contenders. Why hasn’t Munguai fought Andrade or Golovkin? Have you ever seen fighters this far along pretty much duck avoid title shots?

Bread’s Response: I’ve seen young fighters who were highly ranked, wait a little while or angle towards an easier belt. But I haven’t really thought about Munguia not fighting for a title. Since you brought it up I do find it interesting he hasn’t fought GGG or Andrade. All 3 fighters are on DAZN. Andrade needs an opponent bad. GGG and Munguia would be fireworks. I don’t know what to say. Maybe they tried to negotiate and couldn’t come to an agreement and no one is talking about it publicly. Who knows…

However I did think about Ryan Garcia vs Devin Haney. When Garcia beat Luke Campbell I was very impressed. He showed me some chops. He made great offensive adjustments. He was fast, sharp and strong. Garcia put on a helluva performance vs Campbell. I thought he would have given Haney some serious trouble. I think Garcia’s height, range and trigger pull would give Haney trouble stylistically because he’s quick enough to challenge Haney’s best punch which is his jab. Haney usually has a height, quickness and reach advantage over smaller lightweights. He wouldn’t have that over Garcia. Then I saw Garcia announce he was going after Pacman, so I sort of stopped thinking about him vs Haney. Then I heard him talk about Gervonta Davis so my attention got taken away again. But neither fight went through. 

Haney would have been the easy fight to make. Maybe it was a timing thing and Team Haney wasn’t going to wait for Garcia to make a decision. After all Haney is the champion. I don’t like to say everything is a duck. Sometimes it’s off timing. But you have a point. Garcia could have fought Haney for a title in a huge fight. Hopefully those young men fight within the next year. Boxing can’t keep losing fights like this. As a community and fraternity it’s not good for the overall sport. Every single great match up won’t be made, but I feel like 75% should be made. Especially when two fighters are with the same platform and are in the same division for more than a year. Given those circumstances, the opportunity is there. We shall see…

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