By Stephen 'Breadman' Edwards

The Daily Bread Mailbag returns as Stephen 'Breadman' Edwards discusses Floyd Mayweather vs. Andre Berto, the struggles of Demetrius Andrade, Danny Garcia's move to the welterweight division, the path of Gennady Golovkin, manager/adviser Al Haymon, and more.

I just wanted to get your thoughts on the fights this weekend:

1. Jacobs-Mora: I think there is unfinished business there and it didn't look like Mora's fall was a result of a punch.  They had traded knockdowns and I don't see where Jacobs established a clear advantage to where he could automatically rule out a rematch.

2. Garcia-Malignaggi: First let me say that Danny did what he had to do against a crafty veteran.  He was patient and fought a disciplined fight.  As for Malignaggi I think he was able to do some good things defensively and he deserves credit for being a career overachiever.  Plenty of fighters have accomplished less with greater physical gifts and I hope Paulie sticks to commentating from now on.  He's had a solid career.

3. I'm sure you have read Austin Trout's comments towards J-Rock on boxingscene so I wanted to see if you have any thoughts or a response?  I hope you guys get that fight sometime in the near future.

Peace,

William in West Palm

Bread’s Response: I agree with you about Jacobs vs Mora. Jacobs look like he was gaining momentum but it was too early to draw conclusions in my opinion. I think Mora was legitimately injured and they do have unfinished business.

Danny Garcia fought a good fight. I don’t get all of the criticism he’s been getting. Danny is not overwhelming in one area. He’s not an offensive titan like Felix Trinidad who will just have a dozen 3 or 4 round slaughters on his resume. He’s not a defensive wizard like Pernell Whitaker where he will have a dozen 12 zip decision white washes. He’s a gifted counter puncher, who has a rock chin. He incorporates a brawling style with a solid amateur foundation. His sum total  outweighs his parts broken down.

I thought he handled Paulie. Paulie did not look shot to me. He was vibrant, he was quick and he did some good things. Danny just took his legs away from him with brutal right hands to the body. Danny has an IQ. He hit the closest body part Paulie exposed, which was the left side of his torso and his left shoulder. That is what slowed Paulie down in my opinion.

Paulie is without a doubt a career overachiever. Paulie always gives it his all and most times he’s outgunned. The guy also fought most of his career with a bum hand. Paulie can hold his head up because he gave it his all and that’s all you can do at the end of the day. Paulie will be one of the top boxing commentators over the next decade. He does an outstanding job. If you ever are at a big fight he’s great to talk shop with.

Bread:

I enjoy reading your column and wanted to take a moment to follow up as far as several comments recently about GGG.

Like you, I feel that he should take a page from the Marvelous Marvin Hagler school of ruling one division. GGG has the opportunity to absolutely dominant the Middleweight Division, as I do not believe  there is any fighter in the world who can beat GGG at 160 pounds. I have huge respect for Miquel Cotto but he will never step in the ring  with him and neither will Canelo unless Lemieux exposes some real vulnerabilities in Gennedy when they fight in October. If GGG knocks him out within 3 rounds, Canelo (assuming he wins against Cotto) vacates the title and moves on. So If GGG is just patient he has the opportunity to be the undisputed Middleweight Champion of the world next year.

Especially If he can land a fight with Jacobs/Mora and/or Lee/Saunders winners.

To think GGG was ducking Erislandy Lara is absurd, it just really makes no sense financially and this is a sum numbers game. To drop to 154 to fight Floyd is a completely different story, the money and the magnitude of that fight would be enormous. GGG-Lara would appeal to purist only.

Waste of time as GGG really should focus on Middleweights only, clean out the division and then move up. Not down, unless Floyd wants GGG for his 50th but this is the exception for obvious reasons. Would love to see it as I would love to marry Angie Everheart as well, but alias will ever happen.

For quite a while Gennedy has been choosing his words very careful with what he has been saying, however; his team should put some restraint on speaking before thinking like most do.  Like Freddie Roach, I personally cannot stand catch-weights but that is another conversation.

There was a bit of duplicity when the GGG team indicated that they would fight Chavez Jr. & Froch at 168 but not Andre Ward. That said, I believe it was a respect issue as GGG destroys Chavez Jr. and beats Froch as well (albeit with a bit more difficulty). GGG has no business stepping up to fight Andre Ward at 168 (not yet) nor should they be demanding that he comes down to a weight that his team knows Andre just cannot do.

As a huge fan of GGG, I thought it was a bit hypocritical. Cest La Vie!

Thank you sir,

James J. Holmes

Bread’s Response: GGG has a big fight coming up vs David Lemieux. If he gets by Lemieux he has a few options but not as many as you suggest. The Cotto vs Canelo winner does not HAVE to fight him right away. So what’s wrong with fighting Erislandy Lara at 160lbs. Lara is the only guy calling his name right now 160 or below. I mean if he can fight Willie Monroe he can certainly fight Erislandy Lara. If he takes a page out of Marvin Hagler’s book, the Lara fight makes sense. All of Hagler’s big fights of the 80s were against fighters rising in weight. Duran, Hearns, Mugabi and Leonard.

Hi Mr. Edwards,

I just wanted to get your take on the terrible way things have gone lately with Demetrius Andrade.

It looked like things were going well for him. He beat Vanes and Brian Rose on HBO, and it seemed like he would be able to get some regular fights on that network and maybe even considered for a Canelo fight. Next thing, there were rumors of him fighting Charlo on Showtime, but then stories surfaced that he wasn't happy with the money and the fight died. Now we are reading the legal mumbo jumbo about him and his promoters suing Roc Nation. Not to mention he's been stripped.

Once he got his mandatory out of the way with Rose, I think he should have tried to make some good coin on the second defense. Even if it meant going to Germany or Russia or England to get a bigger purse if he wasn't happy with the Charlo money. But it also seems like he would have to give up a good chunk of the money to his two promoters.

Anyway, at this point, where do you think he goes from here? If you were handling him, what would you try to do next? I'm guessing the PBC is the only way he can revive his career. I think that's one drawback of having small time promoters like Pelullo and De Guardia. They don't have the pull with HBO or Showtime, and now we have an unbeaten fighter who was an Olympian with his career at rock bottom.

Respect

Buffalo

Bread’s Response: The biggest mistake Demetrius Andrade made was signing with a smaller promoter and taking a signing bonus coming out of the amateurs, because that contract has him trapped and he has to honor it or buy out of it.

The second biggest mistake Andrade ever made was listening to someone who was unqualified to advise. Whoever told him to allow Showtime to promote the fight between him and Charlo, advertise commercials and buy posters and stand them up at the alter had no foresight. Andrade is in trouble. When you do something like it ruins your credibility with the folks upstairs.

Andrade can’t go back in past but he sure can fix his future. The kid is over 6ft tall and he reportedly has trouble making 154lbs. If I were advising him I would move him to 160 and go straight after GGG. With his undefeated record and Olympic background he could get over 1 million dollars to face GGG. I don’t believe he is upside down. GGG is 33 years old and he can be hit. Andrade is fast, tall and busy. Did I mention he was a southpaw? That would put him in good graces with HBO as long as he performs well and it would put him back in the spotlight.

He was just stripped of is 154lb title. His promoters don’t have much juice so their fighters have to come in on the B side. Most of the better junior middleweights are over at the PBC. The other top junior middleweight is Canelo Alvarez and he’s about to fight for the middleweight title. I really think this is a no brainer.

If he fights GGG he can get 3 fights out of HBO. One tune up because GGG is busy with Lemiuex. Then the GGG fight if GGG beats Lemieux, and if he performs well another big fight. That’s over 2 million dollars in the young man’s pocket and by then he should be out of his deal with his promoters and a star on HBO. I really see no other way.

Bread

I commented on al haymon being disliked based on him being black. You asked my race. I am white but I have mixed kids, so I see things and hear things a bit different than most. People make comments to me with out knowing about my kids that are offensive at best. I've never blew up and had physical conflicts, but I have reminded people it's 2015. People are people. Love is love. Some times they look very ashamed of themselves. Other times they come up with some bullsh*t about being jumped or raped by someone of color. It's silly. As far as the media being against al haymon I have no idea. But as u said the fans for sure have a hard time with it. I also think some people involved with boxing do too. Just my 2 cents. Maybe I don't know squat. 

DJ

Kck

Bread’s Response: Thanks for writing back. I agree with you 100%. It is 2015. I also agree that some of these fans are absolutely disgusting. They can hide behind fake account names and troll at their leisure. They don’t have to be accountable for their actions and their comments show it.

Bread you are my man but I see you giving passes lately. You know dam well that if Paulie was black he wouldn’t get this many chances. Paulie is a C level fighter and every time he steps up he loses and loses big. He runs his mouth about Pacquiao but claims he’s getting older. Pacquiao is older than Paulie and has had way more fights. He attributes Manny’s slipping to lack of PED use but his slipping to getting older. Yeah f***ing right Paulie. You’re a C class bum. A poor man’s Vinny Pazienza.

Then Bread you give your Philly boy Danny Garcia breaks. I notice you never say anything bad about Danny. Your the sharpest guy in the game at picking apart technical stuff a fighter should do and you never say nothing about Danny. Danny looked like crap. He misses punches so wide. His feet are slow and he comes in squared up. If I can see it I know you do. Your the best in the game bro, but you need to act like it and start calling these guys like you used too.

Bread’s Response: Dam Dam Dam. Dam if I do Dam if I don’t. Ok where do I start…

Copy and Paste where I said Paulie Malignaggi is the second coming of Willie Pep or Tony Canzoneri. Sure I like Paulie but I am fair and objective. I didn’t pick him to win this fight and I never overrate him. Paulie is a good fighter who overachieved and won two titles. Sure his personality and Italian heritage is used as appeal, especially in the New York area but that’s not Paulie’s fault. Sure he has had chances but guess what he doesn’t get set up fights. He gets brought in on the B side against killers. Top level competition. Miguel Cotto, Juan Diaz, Ricky Hatton, Amir Khan, Adrien Broner, Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia gave Paulie all of his losses. He came in as the underdog in each of those fights. So the dude had to really fight despite the favorable treatment you suggest. Your venom is misguided.

And yes Danny does make mistakes. Yes he has seemed to taper off as far as improving. But I believe Danny is similar to a Carl Froch type where he doesn’t look great but he always finds a way to win. I would rather be Danny than be Jorge Linares or Oba Carr who “look” great but come up short in lots of spots.

And I don’t believe Danny looked like”crap”. He did what he always does find a way to win. I also don’t believe Danny got gifts vs Lamont Peterson and Mauricio Herrera. I watched both of those fights closely. I think Danny gave subpar performances where both of those fighters won the event if not the actual fight. I thought both of those fights were drawish type 1 point fight either way. The fans and media somehow think the last few rounds mean more than the first few rounds. But the last time I checked a 10-9 round in round 1, is the same as a 10-9 round in round 12. Danny faded in those fights but it doesn’t mean he lost. And I’m being as honest as I can I really couldn’t tell who won those fights. They were that close to me. But that doesn’t constitute a robbery.

As far as picking apart Danny’s flaws, here is the thing sometimes people in the media want to sound smart and pick apart every little thing. I’m not like that.  I only get into that if someone keeps getting exposed or I’m breaking down a fight.

But since you brought it up let’s rap…Danny is squared up. But some fighters give up defense to get offense. If Danny is squared up it allows his right hand to be closer to his opponent. Yes his feet are slow, he needs to work on that no doubt. But he sure slowed Paulie down. Danny is far from the perfect fighter but I’m not going to criticize a dominant win. You need to drink some tea big fella.

Greetings Bread,

A few things I wanted to toss at you to get your educated opinion. I just finished watching the Broner vs Porter fight again and I'm noticing a major flaw in Porter's game that I'm sure you pointed out. I really like him but the way he drops both his hands before he charges in with his attack will be his demise. I think Danny Garcia seriously hurts him, knocks him down, or possibly knocks him out with a well timed short left hook or hybrid left hook/uppercut. I also think he hides the fact that he doesn't like to fight at mid range by being extremely aggressive on when his head is in someone's chest and he actually inititiates and causes a lot of the holding in his matches. Not to let Broner and Brook off the hook, but Porter literally smothers his own punches and the opponents punches. By the way, the Broner/Porter fight was pretty close. Will they blackball Rigondeaux out of his prime??? He has an unbelievable skill set the we may really miss out on. Looks to be very unjust due to unnamed reasons. Crawford is Another fighter that I like, but I think he gets knocked out if he faces Mathysse. I don't think he can avoid that power for 12 rounds. Lastly, I can really see why Thurman is hesitant to fight Spence. I agree with Thurman that Spence needs to be a couple of names before he get a shot at a title. But Thurman knows that this kid is more than a legitimate threat. I think Spence would win by TKO in round 8-9 if they ever fought. What are you thoughts on these statements. Much Repect.

J Money

Bread’s Response: I don’t think Porter drops his hands. He keeps his hands up for the most part. I think his flaw is he rises up and tips off when he’s going to jump up and leave his feet.

Now we agree about his mid range game. That’s not his strong point. He starts from the outside and he rough houses his way in and no doubt he smothers his work. I think instinctively that’s part of his defense, because you have to be prepared and brace yourself for him crashing into you with a bull charge. Most of his fights involve lots of rough housing and clinching so I think it’s reasonable to say he’s the common denominator.

But let me tell you something, Shawn is rare in this era. He’s an athletic pressure fighter, who simply does not stop. Stylish boxers have been swamped by Porter in Alexander, Broner and Malignaggi. He won’t be easy for anyone and I’m not so sure Danny will clip Shawn. That’s a rough fight for both guys. Danny has a more versatile offensive attack but Shawn has quicker feet and actually navigates around the ring better.

Rigondeaux has already been blackballed out of his prime. The guy was penalized for beating a top 4 p4p guy in Nonito Donaire. One of the real boxing tragedies if you ask me.

I think Terrence Crawford outboxes Lucas Matthysse.

I like Spence to beat Thurman also if and when they fight. Spence is all wrong for Thurman. He puts too much pressure on, his body work is too good and Keith does not know how to conserve energy. When he gets into his early 30’s and his legs slow down a little bit he better have some money saved up or he’s going to get tore apart. His legs are his defense. I think Spence would make him move all night and burn himself out. Keith’s best chance is to run Errol into something big which can happen, but I don’t like to pick the guy with only the puncher’s chance.

Bread, assuming Berto is Floyd's last fight, what are your thoughts legacy wise if Pac comes back in 2016 and fights and beats the likes of a Crawford, Thurman, Garcia, Khan, Matthyse, or any other legitimate young champion?

I just think Pac still enjoys fighting and will come back for two more fights barring any injuries.

Could Pac still move pass Floyd based on legacy without beating him? I'm sure you can run off a long list but Pep vs Saddler comes to mind.

Cheers,

Ace

Bread’s Response: It has happened in the past where a fighter defeats another fighter but the losing fighter has a greater legacy. Hearns and Duran. Wright and Trinidad. Taylor and Hopkins. I have dozens of examples. Unfortunately for Manny I don’t think it will be the case in this scenario. He had to win that fight in order to be considered greater than Floyd. I could be wrong but….

I think Manny still likes to fight but I don’t think he likes to train anymore. The Mayweather fight was his last hurrah and he looked overtrained to me. I think he should retire. I would be shocked if he was able to put it all together and beat an under 30 yr old top fighter. Fighters don’t improve in their mid 30’s and Manny Pacquiao will be 37 the next time he steps in a ring.

What's good my dude? What do you think of Berto vs Floyd, being his last fight n supposedly being a ppv? Doesn't seem like there has been any promoting thus far n will his opponent have a full training camp or do u think they (Berto's camp) knew before hand n just was making Floyd announce it? What's next for Broner? What do to think of Anthony Joshua n is he ready for Fighters of fury n wilder caliber?  Now to basketball I know your a fan of LeBron but what do you think of Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook? They both had amazing seasons n are just going to 2 get better.

Bread’s Response: I’m not as offended by the fight as some and I’m also not overly excited. It’s a good showcase fight for Floyd. Mayweather has a history of taking a tough fight then a showcase fight. This is no different.

I really think you guy underestimate how stressful the Pacquiao fight was on Floyd. Mayweather HAD to win that fight for his legacy. He had to win that fight for his dad. Although he won clean he couldn’t just do whatever he wanted to with Manny. He was hurt visibly at least twice. I didn’t expect him to go right back and fight the best perceived threat. In my opinion that threat is Kell Brook or Keith Thurman. I’m a boxing guy I watch all the big fights because you can always learn something. I’m not saying I will rent it in HD lol, but I will watch it.

I think Berto had an inclination he would get the fight and he’s been training. I wish the fight was on PBC but oh well. The bizarre thing is people always complain about Floyd’s choice of opponents but yet 1 million people buy his fights on the average. We shall see..

Not sure what’s next for Broner. But I do know he needs to win the next one….

Anthony Joshua should take on a top 15 type of opponent. By the end of the year if he steps up correctly not only would he be ready for Wilder and Fury I would pick him to beat them. Joshua is serious bro, I just want to see if he can take a punch. That’s always a question with young up and comers but right now I think his skill level and physicality is higher than both Wilder and Fury’s.

Davis and Westbrook are both top 10 in the NBA. Westbrook is the closest thing I have seen to my favorite player Allen Iverson. And Davis reminds me of a mix of Danny Manning and a young Ralph Sampson. Those guys will carry the league once Lebron leaves.

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