By Stephen 'Breadman' Edwards

The Daily Bread Mailbag is back with Stephen 'Breadman' Edwards answering questions on Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto, Leo Santa Cruz vs. Abner Mares, the future of Santa Cruz, Gennady Golovkin vs. Andre Ward, Peter Quillin vs. Danny Jacobs, Mikey Garcia and more.

How do you have Floyd beating Berto? What do you think is Floyd’s most impressive performance was? And what is Berto’s best shot at victory?

Bread’s Response: I suspect Floyd wants to really KO Berto… If my suspicion is true I think we could have an exciting fight. Let’s see how it plays out.

I think Floyd’s best night was his fight vs Diego Corrales. But his most impressive nights were against Zab Judah and Shane Mosley. In both of those fights Judah and Mosley got off to good starts and buzzed Floyd. Floyd buckled down, stayed calm and took both of their hearts. He made Mosley continuously try to tap gloves and make silent peace treaties. He made Zab try to get out of the fight and attempt to get himself disqualified. That’s not easy to do considering the good starts that both fighters had against him. Floyd showed something extra on those nights. I was extremely impressed.

The two greatest big fight gameplans in the history of boxing in my opinion were when Muhammad Ali used the rope a dope vs George Foreman. And when Marvin Hagler blitzed Tommy Hearns. Berto doing the rope dope would be a lost cause. Floyd is not overly aggressive like Foreman and it simply won’t work.

But Hagler blitzing Hearns can. Hagler was a killer but he was methodical. Against Hearns he became frenetic. Hearns had never been outboxed before or after that fight and Hagler knew it. He gave himself his best chance to win and that was literally turn the fight into a war. It was the biggest gamble in the history of the sport. Not even Hagler could have kept that pace up but it didn’t matter because he knew he was going to get his man.

Berto has nothing to lose. Everyone is counting him out anyway. Everyone is saying he doesn’t deserve this fight anyway. So what if he runs out of gas. Go balls to the wall. Turn into a savage killer in 8oz gloves. Put your whole being on the line and attack Floyd with ruthless intentions. Force Floyd into violent health threatening exchanges. Floyd often talks about leaving the game in good health. And why he fights the way he does to preserve that health. So challenge his subconscious. Take him to a dark place and find out if he can find the light. That’s Berto’s best chance in my opinion. Turn into Marvin Hagler vs Tommy Hearns.

What did you think of Santa Cruz vs Mares? What’s next for Santa Cruz?

Bread’s Response: I didn’t think it was a historically great fight on the level of Barerra vs Morales or Chacon vs Limon 4 but it was an excellent fight, great crowd and good match up. On the level of Matthysse vs Provodnikov.

I think Santa Cruz proved he’s on the level. I think he will be 10% better after raising his game up. He fought a really good fight. Knowing styles of matchmaking like I do I would say Santa Cruz will fight an Alejandro Gonzales type. The kid who gave Frampton a good scrap. Then he will do a rematch with Mares or challenge Jesus Cuellar. I don’t think he will fool around with Gary Russell. We shall see…

It seems like Danny Jacobs and Peter Quillin are on a collision course. It’s an intriguing fight. Both are a level below GGG and neither seem to want any part of GGG but they are the best B leaguers at 160. Who do you have winning?

Bread’s Response: If this fight were 3 years ago I would have picked Quillin big. Around the time he beat Hassan Ndam and Fernando Guerrero, Quillin was on point. I can’t put my finger on it but something happened to Quillin in the Gabe Rosado fight. He doesn’t seem to be the fire breathing puncher he was once was. I think it’s more mental than physical but nevertheless something is not there. Quillin doesn’t seem as sure of himself as he once was.

I also think Quillin is a super middleweight fighting at middleweight. His upper body is extremely dense and he looks to me to like a NFL free safety in between fights.

For some reason Jacobs is confident he can beat Quillin. He keeps calling him out. I assume they have sparred being that both reside in the NY area. They both seem to be big punchers, who are not hard to hit. Both seem to make the same mistakes and load up looking for big shots. I think Quillin is a little better defensively with Jacobs having the better natural ability. This is a true 50/50 fight, I can’t call it right now.

Hi Breadman.

Mares-Santa Cruz fight

Your prediction and breakdown on Mares-Santa Cruz fight was slightly off. Seemed like an 8-4-ish fight. Santa Cruz rose to the occasion; he adapted, boxed, and it seemed like the key was his reach advantage, which he used very well. Now that he's proven he can hang with a top-level opponent, how do you fancy his chances against Gary Russel Jr. and Rigo (at 122 or 124-126).

Mikey Garcia

Promoter-fighter conflicts are killing some fighters. Ward, Mikey Garcia... Do you have any info on Mikey; I thought he was becoming special. How would you see Mikey-Loma (126-130) and Mikey-Rigo play out (126), provided there's no ring rust.

GGG vs Kovalev marketing

Some (including you) say, the only difference GGG is more popular than Kovalev is due to promotion/marketing. I respectfully disagree on this one... I'm kinda immune to promotions and marketing of fighters, because of where I live (Mongolia). In fact, Kovalev gets more exposure here (our cables broadcast roughly 15 Russian TV channels). Although I agree Kovalev has faced a much tougher competition, and beat them in impressive manner, to me, his style is not as fan-friendly as GGGs. He doesn't like to stay in the pocket, often has to reset, and is more comfortable in a certain distance. I think this is the reason Ward should be favored against Kovalev. Ward will stay close, wrestle, clinch, and smother him on the inside to UD, similar what Hatton did to Kostya, which was a close fight but clear in Hatton's favor until the stoppage. GGG's approach is almost scientifically brutal and appears more fan-friendlier than Kovalev's to both casual and hardcore fans...

speaking of hardcore fans, kind of a joke question: what are the (minimum) criteria you have to pass to be considered a hardcore fan, lol? e.g. do you have to check the boxing news on daily or bi-daily basis, watch every major or non-major fight, know about at least ... number of fighters in different eras....? (half-joke question)

GGG-Ward fight

If GGG's PPV is successfull, I think he will avoid Ward until the MW is dried up. Do you think GGG would have fought Ward 2-3 years ago, 'cause at least to me he looked liked (after Macklin or Proksa fight when he was asked about it) he would have taken the Ward fight in a heartbeat? But back then, he really had a hard time finding mid- or high-profile opponents, and was bluntly avoided by everyone. I think besides being a brutal puncher and being one of the best at cutting the ring off, I think I think he's the best at dissallowing/negating/avoiding clinches, that's why the more I think about it, the more chances I'm starting give GGG, although I will still slightly favor Ward.

Sorry, couldn't keep it short, but would appreciate if you comment on each point.

Amarbayasgalan,

Royal boxing fan (not sure if I'm hardcore, lol) from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Bread’s Response: Mares fought scrappy as I expected. What I didn’t expect was the adjustment Santa Cruz made. Great job and major props to Leo. He graduated with that win.

I still think Gary Russell and Guillermo Rigondeaux would both be a little too much for him

Mikey Garcia was one of my favorite fighters to watch. I have no idea what’s going on with him. I will say, I don’t believe he will ever fight under 135 again.

We will agree to disagree. If Krusher had GGG promotional push he would be as popular as GGG regardless of the style. If GGG had the scalps that Krusher had they would be pushing him in the HOF already and he would be PPV star.

I don’t know if GGG would have fought Ward. What I do believe is that his team and brain trust know it’s a fight that they probably won’t win. I also agree GGG is not only great at cutting the ring off, but he’s also great at not allowing himself to be clinched. In his finishing combination on Willie Monroe, he devastated Monroe with brutal over and under shots while Monroe was trying to hold. This is one of the reasons why I believe you have to fight GGG off of you because moving away and clinching doesn’t work with him.

What's up Bread?

I just wanted to get your thoughts on Santa Cruz-Mares and Mosley-Mayorga 2.  I was impressed with how Santa Cruz actually utilized his reach to control distance.  As for Mosley i think Juan Manuel Marquez is a good matchup.  Kell Brook not so much as beating a washed up out of shape Ricardo Mayorga does not mean Sugar Shane circa 1999-2003 (or even 2008-09) is back

Peace

William in West Palm

Bread’s Response: Santa Cruz proved he was on the level. That victory could be legacy defining.

I didn’t see Mosley vs Mayorga so it’s hard for me to comment. But I do know Mayorga is about 8 years past being relevant. And the last time Shane fought a world class fighter he was stopped in 6 rounds…

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