By Stephen 'Breadman' Edwards
The Daily Bread Mailbag returns with Stephen 'Breadman' Edwards discussing the huge fight which takes place later tonight, between IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev and Olympic gold medal winner Andre Ward, giving his thoughts on Manny Pacquiao, and more.
Hey Bread - I find it ironic that boxing heads seemed to criticize Kovalev for struggling with Isaac Chilemba, because I was A: Impressed that he would take on Chilemba at all with a Ward fight guaranteed and B. impressed with Chilemba but not surprised. Chilemba is a tough cookie and a proven light heavyweight. KK dominated the fight. Winning is enough for me. That said, I'm rooting for Ward but the more I think about it the more I wonder if Krusher can stop S.O.G. Rooting for Ward because I'm a bay area guy but my money would have to go on Krusher if I were attending.
thanks!
Gabe, Prundedale
Bread’s Response: Critics will be critics. But I think it’s a fair comparison to look at the Chilemba fight and then assess how Kovalev will do with Ward. Sure Kovalev will be in better shape and more focused for Ward. But the technical aspect does not change and Chilemba was able to do some things to Kovalev that Ward can conceivably do better.
I’m picking Ward by decision but if the Krusher stops him then I will give you full props.
Hey Breadman,
Hope you're well.
Always wondered about Aaron Pryor vs Pacquiao or Mayweather at 135 or 140?
Thank you!
Franz
Bread’s Response: Tough fight. I really think it’s 50/50. I think they would have to fight 3 times to settle it.
Hi Bread,
Thank's a lot for the detailed answer to my question but I need to follow up.
You said that modern fighters get more injuries compared to old-school fighters because they over train and some get injured because of PED use. But, why in this case do fighters train for so long and so hard then? Surely if you're aware of how yesterdays fighters trained and you dont fight as often as them nor for as many rounds as them then you won't need to go HAM. Is it because they are aware that others are on PED's and they need to stay near that same level? What method/style of training do you use for your fighters?
I watched an interview with Victor Conti on the Joe Rogan podcast and he said that everyone's on PED's these days and those who get caught are just too dumb to hide it.
Lastly, Ortiz vs Scott-does this "fight" expose Ortiz or do we put it down to simply a bad day at the office?
Cheers Bread!
Sash
Bread’s Response: There are lots of reasons. As time goes on training evolves. Some new methods are better just not all. Obviously sports science has advanced. But lots of the freakish injuries still come from doing too much that is not applicable to boxing. They do too much because everyone wants the edge. You see your competition doing certain things and you go out and hire someone who coaches those things. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
I don’t believe everyone is on PEDs but I do believe a large number of top fighters are.
One thing you should factor in is not all injuries are real injuries. Often times fighters claim injuries so they can cycle off of whatever they were on. Think about that.
Luis Ortiz wasn’t exposed. Let me tell you why. Ortiz is a stalker not a pressure fighter. Stalkers like Kovalev, Hearns and Ortiz are coming towards their opponents but at the same time trying to keep a certain amount of distance to keep you on the end of their punches. Joe Frazier and GGG are pressure fighters. The pressure is different because they want to get UP on you. Pressure fighters do much better with survivors because of how they go about it.
I’m not saying stalkers can’t ko survivors but it’s more difficult. That’s why Chilemba and Hopkins were able to go the distance with Kovalev. And why Wilfred Benitez and Luigi Minchillo were able to go the distance with Hearns. Stalkers want you on the end of their punches and survivors are moving away. So two things happen. It gives the survivor room and it limits the ring cutting.
I think Ortiz is a little older. He’s inactive and Scott is terrible style for most heavyweights if they can’t catch him. Let’s see how Ortiz looks against a more willing opponent.
What's up, Bread -
Longtime reader, second time writing in. Before I state my reason for writing in, I'd like to begin by saying I agree with about 85 percent of your opinions, comments, and statements! In short, in my boxing mind, your almost always on point! Usually, when I don't agree with your comments, it almost always has something to do with Manny (I'll tell you why below).
The reason I am writing is to be the first to go on the mailbag record and say, not only will Floyd be back, but he will be back two times in 2017. The way "they" have been cross promoting, I believe he will fight the winner of Danny vs Thurman, and then he will rematch Manny if Manny keeps winning. If Manny loses to, let's say Amir Khan, or some other big name, Floyd will take that fight. As we know, Floyd has a history of fighting fighters that are hot off of big wins. Floyd fighting the winner of Danny vs Thurman makes sense because it's "in house" and they are PBC fighters under Al...we all know the history there, so no need for me to go into detail.
Now to Manny and why I usually disagree with your analysis. Manny is good and he has always been good; however, whatever "supplement" he was taking during his historic run is what made him appear to be a fighter on fire. The supplement made him awkward for anyone because people just could not take his punching power. To quote Iron Mike, "everyone has a plan until they get hit." With Manny already being good, his increased punching power enhanced his abilities and enhanced his ability against much larger men. Example, Manny demolished and KO'd a great Miguel Cotto and then Canelo, who is bigger and on track to be an all-time great, could not do what Manny did to Miguel. Another example is Marquez. I believe Manny stopped taking his supplement prior to the Marquez fight because there was too much talk about him taking something and who knows what effect it was having on his body. Why would he need it anyway against Marquez, someone he's fought many times?! They've fought before and Manny won...whatever happens, happens, right? Yet, the unthinkable happened and Manny got KO'd. Again, Manny being a good fighter without the supplement, he goes on to face and beat others, e.g Rios. I don't think Floyd was avoiding Manny at all, it was all about getting Manny to agree to not only drug testing, but the right kind of testing. Just my opinion. Mosley said he had never been hit that hard in his life and he's fought plenty of greats. Again, that historic run Manny had was highly suspect! Highly!
By the way, Ward will win big this coming Saturday. Sergie is good, but Ward is too good. If Ward does not get hit with a big shot, Ward solidifies his name with this fight and does so very "easily."
Lastly, your fighter, J-Rock, will march through Charlo, its your teams time! Once J-Rock starts sitting down on his punches, Charlo will get on his bike. Great fight and I'm looking forward to it. Oh yeah, not to sound like a groupie, but I'm still waiting on my J-Rock and Breadman signed picture.
Signing off,
J from Jersey
Bread’s Response: Floyd says he’s not coming back. Let’s take his word for it.
As for Manny let me preface my comment. Some scientist 20 years from now may look at all of the top fighters B samples from this era and detect PED use. I don’t know what banned drugs that Manny has or has not done.
But I think the critics pick and choose too many spots when it comes to Manny and give other fighters passes. Ok let’s go into it.
You say Canelo couldn’t ko Cotto but Manny could. But the critics at the time said that Manny weight drained Cotto. So if he was weight drained then the ko shouldn’t be a big deal, right. Double sided critiques…..I personally don’t believe Cotto was weight drained. He was an ex junior welterweight who had to come in at 145lbs….I just think Manny was riding high at his peak and Cotto was a victim of a legendary run.
I also think Manny is more of a vicious attacker than Canelo. So he’s not going to drop rain on Cotto like Manny would. He doesn’t have that kind of volume to his game.
Now here is where you are being subjectively critical. You take it upon yourself to say when Manny stopped doing PEDs. But you contradict yourself and the “critics”. Manny didn’t stop Mosley. He gets flacked for his non ko streak which was during the Mosley fight. So Mosley said Manny hit him harder than he ever did but yet some say he “stopped” using PEDS by 2011. Which one is it?
Then you go to Marquez. Marquez looked like monster the 3rd and 4th times he fought Manny. As far as I know there was no extra testing for either one of those fights. Ask yourself this. If Manny is a cheater why in the hell would he not cheat with a guy that was highly suspected of cheating against him and is physically different than their other two fights.
Manny’s non ko streak started with Joshua Clottey. He didn’t ko Clottey but he threw over 1200 punches in a 12 round fight. That’s 100 punches/round. Man I know some guys who can’t shadowbox at 100 punches/round. That’s remarkable for a 12 round welterweight fight. I say this to say that critics say he stopped using PEDs with his non ko streak, yet he still did some impressive things on his non ko streak.
Manny also has taken VADA about 4 or 5 times which is the most stringent testing in boxing, period….I will leave it at this. There are other fighters who have more glaring evidence of PED use, including failed test that no one even brings them up as PED users or questions their accomplishments. In this era if you aren’t testing VADA all year around you are a suspect. No one is above suspicion. Those suspicions aren’t limited to Manny Pacquiao who is still winning against world class opposition after almost 70 fights and over 20 years in the game.
The one thing about Manny that does bother me is one that you didn’t bring up. He was NOT an advocate for extra testing until after Marquez kod him. I think that makes Manny hypocritical and should be talked about more. You can’t argue with times and dates in this. It’s not speculation or opinion. Until Manny was kod by a fighter who was suspected of PED use he didn’t take enough interest in VADA testing. As much as I respect Manny and his accomplishments I can’t give him a pass on that. As a public figure and politician he made a self serving move and he should have handled the testing better. That being said I still won’t go on a witch hunt and discredit his accomplishments. He was a HOF in my opinion before he ever moved to lightweight.
What did you make of Andre Ward not wanting to shake Kovalev’s hand? Did Kovalev lose the fight with that gesture?
Bread’s Response: Good question. I don’t know. I have to go back and see how Kovalev acted at other press conferences and did he attempt to shake hands. I will say, that Ward means business. Let’s see how much respect they show each other during the
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