By Stephen "Breadman" Edwards

The Daily Bread Mailbag returns with Stephen "Breadman" Edwards about Adrien Broner's future and if he needs a new corner, the career of Timothy Bradley, the now infamous sparring sessions between Conor McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi, and more.

Bread,

What's up?

I agree with you regarding Broner needing to change up his corner. He can't be everybody's friend, Mike Stafford might feel Adrien is being disloyal but he's the one taking the punches. John David Jackson would help Broner a lot.

Broner isn't a boxer, he's a fighter. He needs to work on his fundamentals especially defense, because of his offensive mentality Broner neglects defense.

Bread’s Response: No you misunderstood my answer in my last mailbag. I am a Mike Stafford fan. The 2 part Question was in BOLD along with my answer so it was confusing. I think he’s an excellent coach and a good man. In the last 2 years Stafford has helped develop Adrien Broner, Robert Easter and Raushee Warren. Warren was also a 3 time Olympian. Stafford knows what he’s doing.

I don’t think it’s fair that Stafford is becoming the scapegoat. Broner has lots of things going on outside of the ring that has nothing to do with Stafford. The children, partying, drinking, fighting etc etc, how can anyone blame Stafford for that. That’s a choice Broner is making. The same things that make Broner marketable and Must See TV, also hurt him in the ring.

From an in the ring stand point maybe he is stale with Stafford. Maybe not…..Maybe no one gets through to Broner. Stafford is in unique position and I won’t criticize him. It’s a tough place to be let me explain.

Stafford has spent about 2 decades training Broner. Developing him. Spending his own money traveling around the country when Broner was an amateur. Stafford didn’t know Broner was going to make 13 million dollars 20 years later. Lots of kids have potential, it’s an investment. He’s probably came into training contact with over 100 kids in the Cincinatti area. Now that one kid grows up and he’s a good fighter but he’s out of control. Do you throw away all the time and money you invested or do you try to make it work and reap your benefits?

I’m not going to say what I would do, because I’m not Mike Stafford. Stafford knows his worth and he has a right to reap those benefits. Often times a coach has to be a coach, manager, investor, advisor and most of  all PARENT. It’s the most thankless job in all of boxing. I’m a Mike Stafford fan and I wish him the best regardless of what happens.

Here is the problem in my opinion. Broner is an athletic fighter we agree. He’s sort of a hybrid Shane Mosely and Ike Quartey without Ike’s jab and not as good as either. That’s no knock on Broner, Quartey and Mosely are exceptional fighters. The public and media billed Broner as the next Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather is a pure boxer who is as neat as they come. The perception was off.

Broner started out at 130lbs. He’s from the Midwest. Just like who, Floyd Mayweather. Everything about Broner was billed as Floyd Mayweather. But Mayweather had superior matchmaking and focus during those earlier years. Mayweather was fighting the serious fights at 130 and 135. He was building a serious foundation. Broner fought decent scraps at those weight but nothing compared to Genaro Hernandez, Angel Manfredy, Jesus Chavez and Jose Luis Castiilo. When Floyd left lightweight we knew he was one of the 5 or 6 best fighters on the planet…

So Broner jumps to 147 without stopping at 140 and takes on Paulie Malignaggi. Then in his next fight he takes on a red hot Marcos Maidana. The whole projection of his career changes that night. Even Mayweather struggled with Maidana. Broner jumped right in with him without fighting anyone even remotely close to that level.

Only special fighters in history have won titles at 135 and 147. Let’s start naming them. Henry Armstrong, Roberto Duran, Pernell Whitaker, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosely, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Adrien Broner. So we expected him to be special. We put him with the company I named. All 1st ballot HOF fighters. But the performances and the eyeball test weren’t warranting that. 

So now the boxing public is being told Adrien Broner is special without us seeing him do anything special. We just know he’s a talented kid. He doesn’t even have a ring identity yet. We compare him to a pure boxer and he’s not a pure boxer.

And Mike Stafford is the blame for that. I don’t think so. Even if Broner had a no nonsense disciplinarian type of coach like say an Abel Sanchez, we have to realize that it probably won’t work. Here is why. If Sanchez gets him early in his career he most likely walks away from him like he did Kovalev. If he gets him late like say right now after he’s set in his ways he couldn’t deal with the extra stuff that comes along with it. So is it the coach’s fault or is it the fighter. Without an understanding man, who is emotionally attached to him like Stafford, maybe Broner never makes it this far. Sorry for the longwinded response but I felt the need to defend Stafford in this case. I think the guy did the best he could given the extraordinary circumstances.

Who would you say are best technical fighters of each decade? What I mean by technical is the fighter that does everything correct. He may not be the best p4p but he’s the guy who a young developing fighter learns from the most.

Bread’s Response: In this decade I say Vasyl Lomachenko but Mikey Garcia deserves a mention.

2000s I say Juan Manuel Marquez.

1990’s I say Ricardo Lopez

1980s I say Donald Curry or Salvador Sanchez

1970s Jose Napoles

1960s Eder Jofre

1950s Ezzard Charles

1940s Sugar Ray Robinson

1930s Joe Louis

1920’s Benny Leonard.

I won’t go any further than that because boxing evolved from the 20’s on.

What do you think of Conor McGregor knocking Paulie Malignaggi down? If McGregor is dominating Paulie are the oddsmakers correct in giving him a shot.

Bread’s Response: I don’t know if he knocked Paulie down. You can’t go by a picture. I would have to see a real video. Nevertheless Paulie is a lot smaller and he’s a retired fighter. McGregor is a big strong guy who is in his prime. So if he’s getting out on Paulie a little bit then so be it. I’m not going to get into all of that. It’s called promotion. If he beats Floyd I will live with my pick but I just can’t see it.

One thing I will say is  this era of boxing has no respect for the game. Every time I turn around someone is holding up their phone in the gym trying to video sparring. Sparring should only be taped for the benefit of reviewing it. It should never be put out to embarrass sparring partners. It’s ridiculous but it’s a trend. There is too much to consider.

Some fighters spar to work and not spar to win. Fighters like GGG and Ali are just working. A fighter like Mike Tyson is kicking your ass. I would have to know the fighter’s mindsets, what part of camp they were in etc etc. If you want to know how sharp McGregor is let him spar the best 152Lb and 165Lb amateurs at the Olympic training center. Young up and coming kids are sparring to win and earn a reputation. It’s a different mood.

Is Tim Bradley a Hof fighter now that he’s retired? I see the debate on Boxing Twitter. His biggest win was a clear gift. He got another one vs Ruslan Provodnikov. He was smart in making Marquez take VADA but Marquez had Pacquiao’s number. He wasn’t a killer at 147. I’m just keeping it real I’m not sure if Bradley is a HOF. What’s his real best win an overrated Devon Alexander?

Bread’s Response: Any fighter’s legacy can be micromanaged. I’ve heard people say Pacman is not a HOF yet he beat Braldey 3 times in 99% of the boxing public’s eyes.

I’m not sure if Bradley is a 1st ballot guy but I do think he could sneak in depending on the year. I wish Bradley would have got a chance to fight just one more big name from this era. We know he wasn’t as good as Manny. The Marquez fight was a solid victory but Marquez was up there in age. Amir Khan, Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman, Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto. Just one more big name so we can gauge him correctly.

The problem I see Bradley having is Donald Curry, Ike Quartey and Marlon Starling would have all probably beaten him. And none are in. That’s a big problem for Bradley.  I personally love Bradley and I hope he gets in. But it really depends on the year. Who’s going in that particular year of induction…

Breadman,

I have been reading your mailbag for sometime now and I definitely respect your boxing acumen. However, I am surprised I have not read anything about the new killer lurking in the 140lb weight division. Regis "Rougarou" Prograis. He is a slick, crafty southpaw that is super quick and possesses one of the best jabs (even though his arms are not particularly long) that I have ever seen.  He is super strong, plus he has that dog in him. He wants to tear guys heads off. Little over a month ago he destroyed another prospect Joel Diaz Jr who had a record of 23-0 with 19 KOs. The speed and skill displayed plus strength was mind boggling. This guy is for real. Im not getting ahead of myself. I havent been this excited about a prospect since Mayweather. After his destruction of Diaz, he immediately called out Crawford and Broner (this was prior to Broner losing to Garcia). At the post conference of the Broner fight, a reporter asked Garcia and his team would they be willing to fight Prograis. Garcia got this frightened look on his face and his team was stumbling over words. They clearly want no part of this kid. I feel like NO ONE at 140 wants any part of this kid. That includes Crawford, Garcia, Broner, Viktor Postol, or any of the other top fighters in the division. They wont be able to avoid him much longer. A new champion at 140 is coming and his name is Regis "Rougarou" Prograis.

Keep up the good work my man and good luck with your current fighter and any other fighters under your tutelage.

Bread’s Response: I haven’t talked about Progrias because no one ever asked me about him. I’m glad you brought him up. I’ve seen him. He looks like a destroyer. He looks to be the goods. He’s incredibly strong. He seems to eat right through the incoming punches. He’s huge for 140. He throws short compact brutal punches. I like him. He’s been tearing up the Sho Box level opponents. He’s real title threat and contender. Any champion that gives him a shot will enhance his legacy by taking on such a serious threat.

Hi Bread,

I'm a big fan of your mailbag. In your last one, you mentioned that only 6 men have won 4 rounds against Mayweather (Castillo, Maidana, Pacquiao, De La Hoya, Judah & Cotto).

Regarding Mayweather-Cotto, I thought, in spots, Cotto gave him all he could handle but was soundly beaten in the end. 8-4 is probably a fair score. But one judge gave it 10-2 to Floyd (and the other two 9-3). Then Canelo fights him, gets even more soundly beaten (in my opinion) than Cotto had, and gets 6-6, 8-4 and 9-3.

This obviously isn't the first time Canelo has received an undeserved edge in scoring (118-109 vs Trout, 117-11 vs Lara & 119-109 vs Cotto, etc.). Obviously Canelo is a marketable, aggressive Mexican fighter and it is in many people's interest for him to do well, but one thing I could never get my head around is that his work rate is quite often inferior to his opponents. You can often make an argument for the quality of his work being superior, but something doesn't add up.

My question is about Canelo-GGG scorecards. I'm of the opinion that GGG needs to win at least 8 clear rounds or KO Canelo to get the W, which is easier said than done against a top tier opponent who's only been seriously hurt once in his career (and he's improved exponentially since then).

Do you think this score card bias will be at play in a fight of this magnitude? Or do you think GGG could conceivably get the nod in a close, 7-5 type fight?

Thanks,

Frank.

Bread’s Response: Good question. I think GGG can win a close fight with Canelo but I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t. Canelo usually gets the benefit of doubt.

In the Mayweather fight which I have watched several times to study the technique, I think Canelo was holding his own early before he got frustrated. During those early rounds if you wanted to make a case for him winning a few you could. He didn’t get shut out like the myth says. The problem is he got the benefit of the doubt in the 2nd half of the fight also in which he did get dominated.

GGG has a big machine behind him also. He just won a razor close decision vs Danny Jacobs. Let’s just hope all if fair in Love & War.

With Tim Bradley, Wlad Klitschko and Juan M Marquez retiring who goes into the HOF? Was Wlad better than Vitali? Where do you rank Wlad all time? Is Marquez’s career tarnished by the PED rumors?

Bread’s Response: I already answered Tim Bradley. I think he gets in but not 1st ballot.

I really respect Wlad Klitschko. He was a guy who didn’t have the most doggish personality but he overcame obstacle after obstacle. He was knocked out bad 3 times in his twenties. He regroups and goes on to have one of the more consistent runs ever. He didn’t let the microwave mentality affect his dedication, desire and achievements.  He proved a bad loss is just a tough learning experience. Stand up Wlad.

I think Wlad is greater than Vitali. He had a greater career and he accomplished more. He’s not better than Vitali. I don’t think he could beat him head to head and I have more confidence in Vitali if matched vs tough hypothetical fights.

Wlad is hard to rank. He had a long accomplished run but there are no great fighters on the ledger. Head to head you can always see him getting out toughed. The eye ball test shows he’s talented offensively yet quite tepid at times. He did fight the best available guy for a decade. That says something. He missed a few guys early. That says something too. If you take into consideration the era I think Wlad is top 10-15. His accomplishments put him above the Tim Witherspoon, Ken Norton types but he’s actually among them as far as ability. I don't put him with Ali, Louis, Johnson, Foreman, Marciano, Holmes, Tyson, Holyfield, Frazier, Charles, Dempsey and Lewis. I put him on the next level where the Tunney's and Walcott's lie.

Marquez’s career is not tarnished by PED accusations. Although many pundits will say things off the record, that’s where they stay, off the record. No one really cares about PEDs in boxing. I keep telling you guys that. The war against PEDs is a farce. It only applies if the A side fighter suspects his threatening opponent of PED use and the system is not ready for the A side fighter to lose yet. Marquez’s ko over Pacquiao is the most celebrated ko of the last decade….

In Aaron Pryor’s most celebrated victory you can hear his cornerman saying give me the bottle I mixed. Using the quote from the Inspector of that fight. You don’t mix water with water. Pryor is still regarded as the best junior welterweight ever and largely because of that victory.

I think Marquez is a 1st ballot HOF and all time great. He will go down as one of the top 100 fighters ever. It’s just the way things are in boxing. Until a star gets caught cheating on the night they performed great the suspicion won’t stop the accolades. For the record I’m not calling Marquez a cheater. I won’t speculate and try to tarnish his career with personal thoughts.  I’m just answering your question in proper context.

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