By Stephen 'Breadman' Edwards

The Daily Bread Mailbag returns with Stephen 'Breadman' Edwards to answer questions on Muhammad Ali, Gennady Golovkin, Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter and more.

Lately the sexy word in boxing has been demographic. It seems that certain groups of people have certain allegiances to certain demographics. For some reason you may be the only media member with an influential platform who is 100% objective. You’re black but you seem to be a fan of GGG. Which is rare because I know you are also a big fan of Andre Ward. You were the same way with Mayweather and Pacquiao.

Let’s touch both cases. For a very long time people thought Pacquiao refused to do blood testing. They assumed he was a cheater. But now that we can universally agree that VADA is more efficient than USADA and the test Floyd wanted was USADA, Pacquiao looks more innocent. The icing on the  cake has been the settlement. I have a degree in law. Yes that’s right I’m no couch potato. Floyd Mayweather had Team Pacquiao by the balls. If Mayweather went forward with the case we would know a lot more. But instead he settled for a huge sum. There is a term in law that no one is mentioning that seems to have scared Team Mayweather. The term is full disclosure. Mayweather’s test result would have been subpoenaed also along with everything else pertinent to the case. I’m no boxing expert, but I do know law. It’s common sense that there was something in his test results he didn’t want known to the public. The general media seems to overlook this and I don’t get why.

I’m black but I don’t get how this is a racial thing. It’s a common sense thing. Floyd accused Pacquiao of being a cheater. When it came time to prove it instead of proving it, Floyd settled the case and paid Pacquiao off. He escapes all of the scrutiny that should have come with that. With Pacquiao now testing under VADA after the dust has settled he seems to be the cleaner of the two athletes. I personally think both fighters have used PEDs. But one has tested under more stringent testing and the same one was ready and willing to fully disclose. The one was Manny Pacquiao.

Bread I know you are cool with Paulie Malignaggi but the guy is a turd. If he’s objective he attacks Marquez, Mosley and Mayweather along with Pacquiao. But he singles out Manny and disregards the indiscretions of the other suspects. Showtime should can that asshole. The media and the fans have drawn the same line Malignaggi has, totally disregarding the evidence. The problem is Paulie should be bigger than that and he likes leading the witchhunt. Paulie seems obsessively jealous of Manny. Paulie was never more than an average fighter with marketability. But he used to have some integrity. Now he’s nothing more than a Floyd Mayweather spokesperson. It’s amazing he can be so in awe of a fighter he could’ve fought. He’s not worth anymore of my time I will go on to the next topic.

Next up the Ward vs GGG drama. I along with you I favor Ward to defeat GGG. But people who complain that GGG wants Ward to come to 164 are ridiculously biased. GGG was willing to move to 168 for lesser fighters. Ward is the best in the world and on equal terms a few pounds matter. Those same people don’t give Floyd crap for fighting Canelo at 152 yet he fought Oscar and Cotto at 154 with no catchweight. The reason why was because Canelo was younger and more of a threat. Just like Ward is more of a threat than Froch and Chavez. It’s not a black and white thing. I think we need to use the race card when it really counts not as a fan boy ploy.

Abel Sanchez recently stated that Golovkin would garner Floyd Mayweather a nine figure payday, agree or disagree?

I need your take on all of this. By the way I think you will be the top commentator in boxing within the next 10 years along with Max Kellerman. For the road a few mythicals…Michael Spinks vs Sergey Kovalev, Floyd Mayweather vs Carmen Basilio.

Bread’s Response: From your words to God’s ears. I would love a commentating gig.

I won’t comment on every topic you stated. I just don’t have the room and some of it I have talked about before.

I openly admit that there are still racial barriers in boxing. All you have to do is look at the comment sections on youtube and different websites. How about take a look at how mid level non black talents are allowed to get deeper in their careers without being tested…. But that doesn’t mean a racial line has to be drawn in every case.

Genady Golovkin is a tremendous fighter. And anybody who can’t see that is blind and biased. Andre Ward is also. I understand why GGG asked for a 164lb catchweight vs Ward. Ward is a bigger threat than Carl Froch and Julio Cesar Chavez at 168lbs. It’s simple. So he wanted more advantages. That was his way of admitting Ward was a bigger threat without coming out and saying it. I think Golovkin’s team has done a great job with him. The only PR mistake they made was saying he would fight anybody from 154-168. What they meant was almost anybody except Andre Ward. I agree with Ward in this case but I don’t hate GGG because of it. I still appreciate him as a fighter. He just wasn’t ready to move to 168 to fight Andre Ward…

You said a mouth full my friend and I can tell you’re an educated man. But the Floyd vs Manny PED saga is getting old to me and I’m burnt out on the subject so I won’t get into much. But something tells me it will be a sports history question in 20 years.

I will say this and leave it alone. If a fighter is not testing 365-24/7 with VADA there is no way to determine if he’s truly a clean athlete. I also believe that the way wrestlers are dying these days from sudden illnesses in their 50s, boxers of this era will also…..

I agree with Abel. Abel is not only a solid coach but he does great PR for his guys. He’s a good interview. Although GGG didn’t do great at the box office in his first PPV I think that was more the promoter’s fault than his. He shouldn’t have been on PPV vs David Lemiuex.

But GGG vs Floyd Mayweather would be a huge sell and here is why. What is Floyd Mayweather’s greatest appeal? His perfect record…..Ok now when is the last time the general and hard core public thought he would truly lose. In 2009 the split with him vs Manny was about 50/50 but the fight didn’t happen until 2015…

If Mayweather were to fight GGG not only would he be the underdog in the fight. But most would favor GGG to ko him. That would be the ultimate sell because many people want to see the Money Man take an L. I agree 100% with Sanchez about this fight but don’t hold your breath bro. I don’t believe it will happen. GGG is just too big and too risky for Floyd to fight at this point in his career.

I would take Spinks Jinx to run Kovalev into a ko shot sometime midway through the fight. Spinks was an underrated explosive puncher. His sudden ko of Marvin Johnson is still one of the best one punch kos I have ever seen. He’s just as good as a puncher Krusher is, he’s just not known for it. I also think his IQ would get him through in a great fight.

Mayweather vs Basilio is a tough scrap. Basilio is guy who was typical of his era. He had a spotty record but once he hit his stride he was murder. He was a volume puncher with a granite chin and he was brutal to the body. Basilio could be the greatest action fighter ever. If I’m not mistaken he was involved in 4 Fight of the Year contest.

Mayweather is greater in a pound for pound sense. He’s also greater in a historical sense. But that doesn’t equate to winning head to head. Basilio is better than both Jose Luis Castillo and Marcos Maidana. And despite myth, both of those guys had major success in both fights despite losing the rematches cleanly. For arguments sake I say Mayweather and Basilio would have to fight 3 times to settle it.

How much do you factor in the outcome of Keith Thurman’s and Shawn Porter’s sparring session? It seems that Porter thinks he got the best of it and he feels as though the fight will go similar. Is this a false sense of confidence or is this in legit context?

Bread’s Response: Sparring is not the same as an actual fight but it’s the closest thing you can get to an actual fight without actually fighting. I hope you followed that.

If sparring was not important fighters and their teams wouldn’t spend thousands of dollars each camp hiring sparring partners. Sparring is the most costly training expense by far…..

Because of the way Porter fights I can see him getting the better of Thurman in camp. Porter just goes harder. His style is predicated on fighting hard at full speed. He wouldn’t be as effective laying back sort of “just working”. Thurman is not the Terminator is KO% suggest he is.

But you have to understand sparring is not the end all although it’s a huge factor. You would have to factor in what part of camp Thurman was in, was he peaking or was he getting in shape. How many other sparring partners Thurman used when he boxed Shawn? There is a difference in coming in as the fresh guy or boxing first. For example if Thurman boxed a few rounds with someone else, then he brought Shawn in on the back end of the session he probably wouldn’t be as sharp for Shawn. From my understanding the sparring was also a few years back.

I’m not saying it didn’t mean anything. But I am saying before you get too caught up in who got the better of it you have lots of things to factor in. For the record I think this is a 50/50 fight. But I’m slightly leaning towards Porter for a few reasons. One is I think Thurman has been quietly struggling for about 4 fights now and most haven’t noticed. Two it scares me for him that he’s barely sparred because of his neck injury. And three I think Keith over moves and he doesn’t infight. I think Porter will carry him really fast and cause him to burn his legs out by constantly switching directions.

Keith has a great chance to win because he could simply run Porter into a big shot. Keith is a big puncher and Shawn does rush in recklessly at times. But Shawn has shown a good chin and good conditioning and it’s hard for me to pick the boxer when his best chance is to land a big punch.

Hey Bread,

I think Ward adjusts and takes away Kovalev's power. Same with Stevenson. Outboxes and roughs up GGG.

The main advantage that all 3 of these guys have is that they're stronger and more powerful than their opponents. Those opponents also weren't defensively responsible, and none of them outside of Lemieux and Curtis Stevens could punch.

Ward goes into a fight with all of them with less punching power, but with great boxing skills, fighting IQ and great ring discipline. The more I think about it, Ward makes the Kovalev fight look easy, but many fans won't like it.

Bread’s Response: Interesting…. Sun Tzu. “What the ancients call a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.”

If Ward “easily” defeats Kovalev we need to walk him into the HOF immediately after the fight. I think he wins the fight but I don’t think he wins easy. Kovalev is extremely accurate. Accurate power punchers are hard to defeat in their primes. The threat of being hit by them cleanly causes their opponents to fight in different forms. For example Thomas Hearns was defeated by Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler. But because of his power and accuracy neither fight was easy. I don’t expect this one to be easy either. We shall see. I see Ward winning by a close decision.

Man, it was shocking and downright dirty, the way Golden St. walked us down en route to another Western Conference title.  What upset me the most was the way in which we lost our composure in crucial moments of the games. I suppose we see it in various sports and areas of life. Times where the moment seems to be too big for players. How do you deal with that amongst your fighters? Is fortitude/clutch gene something that some guys are born with or can it be developed or harnessed? I mean, it seems that winners win and losers always find a way to come up short. Again, how do you deal with the psyche of an athlete to ensure he’s prepared mentally?         

Dant'e

Okc

Bread’s Response: Man you have to be sick as a OKC fan. Being clutch is the ability to come up big when the stakes are high. The ability to do the same thing you can in practice or when no one is around that you can do in a crucial moment.

The key is, knowing the athlete. Since every athlete is different. Different things will make them tick in their moment of truth. I have noticed lots of things about clutch athletes. One is over thinkers usually are spotty in the clutch. The reason being is they make the moment bigger than it is and it freezes them up.  An athlete should embrace the moment but not overthink it. A clutch moment is unique. You have to embrace but not overthink it, while simultaneously becoming bigger than the moment.

Bread I know how you felt about Muhammad Ali. But tell me a few things. How did you become such a fan of his? Is he truly the greatest? Why do so many people bring up the negative things about him like his taunts of Joe Frazier? Anything else you can add I would appreciate it.

Bread’s Response: Obviously I have been bombarded with Ali questions. But this was the best and most simple. Before I talk about Ali I have to talk about when I was born, where I was born and who helped raise me.

I was born in 1976 in Philadelphia, Pa. I bring that up because Ali’s biggest rival was a Philadelphia resident, Joe Frazier and it’s relevant as to where I’m going. My grandfather helped raised me. He was a Korean War Veteran. Ali didn’t believe in the war. My grandfather had 8 children by the same woman. Ali had several wives and several children by them. My grandfather was a Baptist. Ali was a Muslim. My grandfather was about 10 years older than Ali.

Despite some differences there were more similarities. And shockingly to some readers, he absolutely revered Ali! I found out what the meaning of the word reverence meant when my grandfather told me he revered Ali. A deep feeling of respect tinged with awe. My grandfather was no easy man to impress. He was a college graduate and a successful business owner. But he thought Ali was the greatest human being he had ever seen in his lifetime.

If you had a bad word to say about Ali, he would unfriend you. If you disrespected Ali too much in front of him a brutal fist fight would take place. He often cried when he talked about Ali’s courage. He couldn’t believe a man could be that courageous. Despite being a War veteran he agreed with Ali’s stance on the war 100%.

This reverence for Ali was embedded in me as a child. As I grew older I realized it was all justified. From both a humanitarian point of view and a boxing point of view. From a boxing point of view Ali is the only modern great who does not have 1 miss or duck on his resume. Even his most staunch critics can’t come up with a relevant fighter that he didn’t face during his career.

Ali often fought fighters multiple times just to prove his superiority. Henry Cooper. A man who knocked Ali down in their first fight before Ali won his first championship… With controversy surrounding the first victory Ali gave him a rematch for the title. Ali was one of the most honorable fighters in the history of boxing when it came to that. He also fought Cooper twice in the UK and Cooper was from the UK.

He gave the great Sonny Liston a rematch after defeating him for his title. Liston claimed he hurt his shoulder in the their first fight. So Ali made his first defense against guess who, Sonny Liston.

He also fought Floyd Patterson twice. Liston and Patterson were the best two heavyweights of the post Marciano era.

Ali fought Joe Frazier 3 times, Ken Norton 3 times, Jerry Quarry 2 times, Joe Bugner twice and Chuvalo twice. All in all Ali fought 8 men multiple times. The remarkable point of that statistic he often fought them in their hometowns or after they gave him trouble. Ali was the always the A side but it didn’t matter.

Ali fought 10 men who were past, current or future heavyweight champions of the world. Four men who were Olympic Gold Medalists. Two men who were the light heavyweight champions of the world. And 8 Hall of Famers. He did this all in the best era ever of heavyweights.

In my opinion he’s the greatest heavyweight who has ever lived. Historians say he’s amongst the top 5 or 6 p4p fighters ever. There is a difference between being the best and being the greatest. There are a few who have arguments of being better, even less have arguments of being greater. From my personal point of view I rate him as the second best p4p fighter ever. If you factor in the eyeball test of him from 64-67. His top victories of Liston, Frazier and Foreman. His ability to overcome adversity, and his willingness to consistently fight the best competition. Only Ray Robinson can trump Ali. Ali admitted Robinson is the best fighter ever pound for pound….

As a man Ali made some mistakes but in my opinion he more than made up for them. His good outweighs is bad by a long shot. A lot of his bad decisions came at a very young age when society was not very accepting of black people. Ali rebelled. He was a fighter at heart. He didn’t always say and do the right thing but he was a product of the times. As he grew older he became wiser and he not only admitted his mistakes but he became one of the most celebrated humanitarians ever.

The criticism he receives the most is some think he was a draft dodger. But Ali didn’t dodge the draft. He didn’t run to another country and hide until it was over. He refused to go because of his religious beliefs. Those who use that term to criticize him fail to mention the change of his draft status despite no retesting of Ali. They also fail to mention the US Government’s insistence of calling him Cassius Clay at the induction formality when his name was Muhammad Ali.

I believe Ali’s views on white people at the time was a more valid criticism than him not going to the war. He has openly admitted he was wrong…Ali evolved quickly. By the 1970s he knew he was wrong for his view of whites in the 60’s.

You can’t fake the constant crusades Ali went on. You can’t fake the constant trips around the world to aide the poverished people of the world. You can’t fake the hours among hours of talking and signings just to cater to the people. You can’t fake the 3 and a half years he gave up from 25years old  to 28 years old. In my opinion Ali is the greatest human being of my lifetime.

The Ali vs Joe Frazier rivalry in retrospect was unfortunate. It especially wasn’t fair to Joe Frazier. White America identified with Joe Frazier and I don’t believe Joe Frazier was an Uncle Tom or any of those terrible words that were used to describe him. I think Joe Frazier was used as a pawn by several groups of people. But he wasn’t equipped to deal with certain things. Ali was. Joe Frazier was a great fighter, Ali was a great fighter and then some.

Frazier was not conscious of certain things... One was his relationship with Frank Rizzo. Rizzo was police commissioner and later Mayor here in Philadelphia. There were unfortunate incidents in this city while Rizzo was in control. There several incidents of note where police dogs were made to attack blacks on the street. Rizzo was not well like by a large portion of the black community. Frazier was openly friendly with Rizzo…Ali in turn had very strong ties to Philadelphia. For some reason he was always here in Philly and if I’m not mistaken he had a few homes in the area. He was beloved here. I think Ali used Frazier innocence against him. It wasn’t right but it was a war. As Bryant Gumbel said it was “us vs them.” That’s how it was back in those times…..

The one time I got to meet Ali was in 1981 or 82. There was no internet but word had spread that he would be at a drug store called Leoff’s at a busy intersection in the Wynnefield/West Philly section of Philly.  Leoff’s was about a half of mile from my home with a few streets to cross. At 5 years old I wasn’t allowed to cross the street alone. My mom and my baby sister were walking too slow. I broke free of my mom like a crazy man and I ran towards Ali like a bat out of hell. I crashed into the crowd pushing my way to the front just to play fight with him. He looked huge to me back then.

As a kid your child hood hero’s always seem bigger in a literal and figurative sense. Ali is the only one I had as a kid who still seems that way.

The greatest assessment of Ali I ever heard was by Cus D’mato and my grandfather. They both said the same exact thing at different times in my life. They both said Ali would have defeated everyone in his prime because of his character. His character would not allow him to lose. When I first heard the statement by grand pop I didn’t understand how important character was. When I heard D’mato say it many years later I understood exactly what he meant. Stand up Mr. Ali!

Bread,

I think you hold a unique perspective because of A) your deep boxing knowledge and B)  If any city can judge Ali without natural (and quite deserved) favoritism it is Philly due to the rivalry with Frazier.  

1)  What is image Ali holds in Philly among the boxing community?  Is his ranking as high in Philly as the rest of the rest of the world.

2)  If you were a regular working Joe, what amount of money in today's times for good seats to a live in his prime Ali fight?

3)  Lastly, where do you rank him among Heavyweights?  If there is anyone ranked above him, do you think they would always beat Ali if they fought more than once?

True story...my daughter was born a few days ago on the same day Ali passed.  Everything in body wanted to give her the middle name Ali.  I felt like he deserved his own light though so I decided not to.  I gave her the nickname of little goat though.  That is how much I respected that man.

Take care Bread

Bread’s Response: I almost mailed in my mailbag but I wanted to congratulate you on the birth of your child. I too have a daughter. I named her Ava Ray after the best fighter I have seen in their prime. Sugar Ray Leonard. I named my son Andres Carlito after the movie Carlito’s Way. I tried to change his name to Duran because of my affinity to Roberto Duran. Their mom said no. Can’t win them all.

1. Ali is revered here in Philly like everywhere else. Joe Frazier is loved and respected. But it’s almost not fair to have to be compared to Ali.

2. I would pay whatever I could afford to see the Ali that beat Cleveland Williams. The best punching performance off the back foot in the history of boxing.

3. Ali is the best heavyweight ever. Joe Louis is the greatest puncher I have ever seen. I think he would trouble Ali possibly beating him once in a series of fights. But I think Ali beats everyone in his prime more times than they beat him. Stylistically Larry Holmes, Ken Norton and Joe Frazier are tough fights for him but he’s better than all three.

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