By Stephen 'Breadman' Edwards
The Daily Bread Mailbag returns with Stephen 'Breadman' Edwards, who answers questions on Premier Boxing Champions, Al Haymon critics, Floyd Mayweather Jr. possibly facing Andre Berto, Carl Frampton, Vitali Klitschko vs. Deontay Wilder, and more.
I got a dollar that says people don't like Al Haymon because he's the most powerful figure in boxing and he's black. If he were Jewish or white he would be beloved by most. Personally I'm not big on Al Haymon due to my wallet being lighter with PPV prices tripling since 2000. However, I do like what he is doing. The man has enormous balls and is losing a butt load of money right now, HOPING to see a return on his/others investment in 5-10 years. People are losing their shirt right now. Lol. Black president and now the most influential person in boxing is black. I'm guessing this is why Al doesn't like to be photographed. I've seen a lot of PBC bashing lately and it's silly
Bread’s Response: I’m interested to know and I will post your reply what race you are….. I think it’s a multitude of things on the dislike for Haymon … I’m not saying it’s not racial but I don’t believe ALL of the media are racist. What I do believe is they don’t know him and haven’t had a chance to interact with him so they may judge from a slanted view. But the media has a right to respectfully not embrace everyone. It’s nothing wrong with that. As long as they can be objective…Objectivity is important. Now when your dislike gets to a point where your criticisms become unwarranted and predictable then that’s a problem. If they can crap on fights like Garcia vs Salka then they should applaud Degale vs Dirrell. You have to be able to call a ball a ball and a strike a strike.
The people in boxing (promoters and managers) who don’t like Haymon and that are bashing the PBC are on the outside looking in. Most are his direct competitors. So again it may not be all racism. But I think it’s definitely professional envy in those cases.
Where I think the biggest hint of racism comes from are the fans. Some of the comments below the articles and on social media are outright disgusting. Sometimes I can’t believe that we are in 2015. Some of the words used to describe Haymon and his affiliates are so insulting if said in person and not behind keyboards they would cause instant physical confrontations…..
Bread,
What's going on what do you think the chances of Wilder vs. Vitali. Remember vitali is champion emeritus. Vitali's better than wlad but Vitali is better for Wilder. He is older and can't move as well. It's perfect for Mississippi. Wlad lives in Tennessee.
Bread’s Response: Anything can happen in boxing but I say don’t hold your breath. Vitali doesn’t seem to like boxing as much as Wlad. I think he’s retired for good.
Sup Bread, Longtime fan of your mailbags man..great work as always. You’re not biased in your responses and that’s a rarity in this age of supposedly “experts”. I was talking about boxing with a good friend of mine regarding how belts and being undisputed isn’t that big of a deal in boxing as it used to be and I was thinking about something that you said in a mailbag a while back (during your boxingtalk.com days) . You said that the current generation of fighters always seem to try to “mimic” what they have seen from the previous top generation of fighters (Adrien Broner’s terrible heel impersonation, Amir Khan waiting on the Kell Brook fight, Adonis Stevenson/ Sergey Kovalev situation, etc). Nowadays it’s rare to hear any of the top fighters talk about unifying anymore. It’s all about the “business” of boxing and I think that’s one of the reasons why boxing isn’t as compelling as it SHOULD be. The best should want to fight the best regardless of the “business” aspect of it. I understand that it is the “hurt” business and you want to try to get as much money as you can but if it’s not about the belts then what is boxing really about? Do you think that we will ever get back to a point in boxing that unifying will be a big deal again? Mike B Jacksonville Fl
Bread’s Response: I think young people in general are misled in this day and time. And in boxing it’s apparent. Anybody that is good enough to hold all of the major belts in a given division will propel himself differently in this era. If you look close Floyd and Manny just fought in a unification match. Kovalev is a multiple belt holder. So is GGG and Juan Estrada. It gives you a badass stamp.
Most times these new kids don’t want to unify because the “other” champion has a good chance of beating him. Since the other champion is not a mandatory they simply can avoid them. We are in a historically weak era all the way around in my opinion. From the eye ball test, to watered down accomplishments, to guys who become champion in this era who would be top 20 contenders just 15 years ago, and most of all the mentality.
This era’s mentality is so soft. These kids go out of their way to be best friends with guys in their weight class just so they can call themselves “bro” and not fight. I understand if a natural friendship occurs or if you are trained by the same trainer…But every dam body wants to be best buddies. You can’t have 5 best friends who all fight at your weight! You have kids who are mandatories and they duck mandatory title shots. I can go on and on. I have seen managers steer fighters away from certain threats, but in this era the fighters act like managers and they will tell the managers to protect them. Literally!
Where is James Toney? The dude went to Iowa and fought a 6’1 undefeated southpaw in Michael Nunn. Iowa is Nunn’s hometown. Six weeks later he fights another tricky southpaw in Reggie Johnson. Then 5 months after that he fights a legitimate all time great in Mike McCallum. Toney was only 23 years old.
Where is Manny Pacquiao? Pacquiao is the only fighter in boxing history to be the underdog in his first 3 title tries and to win each fight. In today’s era most known fighters won’t even take 1 fight where they would be the underdogs let alone 3. He was 19 years old when he fought 33-1 Chatchai Sasukal. He was 22 when he fought Lehlo Ledwaba 33-1 and he was 24 when he fought the great Marco Antonio Barerra who was 57-3. Did I mention he fought another all time great in Juan Manuel Marquez in his very next fight?
Where is Oscar De La Hoya? Oscar is the only fighter in history to fight the #1 p4p fighter 5 times. He may have loss most of the fights but he jumped up to challenge the top dog. In 1997 he fought the great Pernell Whitaker. In 2000 he fought the great Shane Mosley. Mosley was briefly regarded as the top guy around that time. In 2004 he fought the great Bernard Hopkins the window in which Hopkins was considered the best. In 2007 he fought Floyd Mayweather and 2008 he fought Manny Pacquiao at both of their peaks. Did I mention he attempted to unify vs the undefeated Ike Quartey and undefeated Felix Trinidad. And if that’s not good enough he unified at 135 vs Rafal Ruelas.
There are still some guys who will fight just about anybody. But overall the mentality of this era is lackluster. What’s really bizarre is the younger guys will get offended if you compare them to fighters of the early 2000s and back. But they don’t look at the resumes of those killers because if they did they would be embarrassed.
Does Andre Berto have a chances Floyd Mayweather? Berto has to be the luckiest guy in the world. He’s not close to being a great fighter. But I would bet his career earnings are higher than guys like Steve Cunningham and Glenn Johnson. Berto is a bum Bread. No way he should fight Mayweather. What has he done to deserve this fight? They will sell this as Berto has all of this speed and power but I’m not buying it.
Bread’s Response: Here is the thing I’m about to go deep with objectivity.
Berto is not a bum. He’s just not a great fighter. Yes Berto has been privileged, especially for his ability level but he always makes for exciting fights. Guys like Brandon Rios, Mike Alvarado, Ruslan Provodnikov, Marcos Maidana and Alfredo Angulo all get applauded for being exciting although they lose often in bigger fights. But you are calling Berto a bum.
I don’t get it because if he fought more cerebral like Andre Ward or Guillermo Rigondeaux he would be called boring. Come on my man…
Sure he has a chance. But it’s very slim. Floyd is better than Berto in every category including speed, which is Berto’s best asset. While they are in the ring Floyd will look like he’s faster because his reaction time is quicker. He’s going to process the opportunities faster than Berto. Berto may be able to run a 50 meter sprint faster than Floyd but in a boxing ring Floyd is much quicker, because of his mind. Berto also does not have high punch resistance. He’s only been stopped once but he gets visibly hurt very often and Floyd is an extremely accurate puncher.
I don’t know if the fight will be competitive but I do think it will be entertaining, because we will finally have the drama of a Mayweather knockout. I would be surprised if Floyd can’t stop Berto. Berto’s best chance is to jump on Floyd like Aaron Pryor used to do his opponents. Force Floyd into vicious exchanges and hope to clip him. We shall see….
I understand you don’t want to buy the fight. It would be a tough sell on PPV especially after most were not pleased with the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight. But I think this fight will be on PBC on free tv. If that is the case then you can keep your money in your pocket and watch and enjoy. It’s not a bad fight for PBC and on top of that I think it will be exciting. We shall see….
BRUVA IT HAS BEEN A LONNGGGGGGGGG TIME SINCE YOU ANSWERED ANY OF MY QUESTIONS, HIT ME BACK!!!
Jazz from London here Bread, hope this finds you good.
So I am sure you saw the Frampton fight, considering he is now kind of your stable mate right? How'd you think he did? His division is tough enough but now the guy is talking about moving up to featherweight!? The money may be there but I don't think career longevity is, not against Walters, Lomachenko, Selby etc.
Do you think these other bantamweight champions will just try to wait out Rigo so that they don't need to face him? It would be sad if he doesn't get to show us his prime years. Do you think it is fair to say fighters such as him that rely on speed and reactions don't usually go well into their late 30s (Mayweather aside)?
Finally, you seem big on Anthony Joshua. The boy is a star. But are you just high on him in comparison to this era or do you think he looks like the real deal, someone that can create a real legacy? Give us a breakdown, what does "the eyeball test" tell you about him?
PS - I just don't get the Haymon hate! OK he seems like mysterious boxing tycoon but the guy has helped make dozens of quality fights, what else do boxing fans want? He isn't Don Kinging anyone is he?
Bread’s Response: What up Jazz? Frampton did ok. I’ve been watching boxing long enough to know that anybody can have an off night, especially against a deceptive opponent like Gonzales. Frampton does seem kind of short for 126 but so is Abner Mares and Gary Russell. Let’s see how it plays out.
They are already waiting Rigondeaux out and he may be already past his prime. Lots of times the Cuban fighters are older than their displayed age. It’s a travesty that Rigondeaux did not have the same platform that Ricardo Lopez had to show his talents. He could be the most talented fighter I have ever seen.
The eyeball test tells me that Joshua is the 2nd best heavyweight in the world right now. He has HOF type of ability. Yes this is a weak era but he’s still the goods. I look for him to be the heavyweight champion of the world next year. He and Joseph Parker have a chance to create a great rivalry.