The Daily Bread Mailbag returns with Stephen "Breadman" Edwards tackling topics such as the recent performance by Anthony Joshua, David Benavidez vs. Caleb Plant, Vasiliy Lomachenko, the passing of Ken Buchanan, Shakur Stevenson, Beterbiev vs. Callum Smith, Saul ' Canelo' Alvarez, and more.

Hi Breadman,

Greetings from Australia. Long time reader, first time writer. Thanks for your great boxing insights each week. Joshua is getting plenty of heat by disappointed fans and commentators after he failed to knock out Jermaine Franklin. If you saw any of it, what were your thoughts on both fighters performances? I’m wondering if it was the best match up for AJ as first fight to regain confidence. He’s struggled with shorter, fast handed fighters with good chins, so maybe Franklin wasn’t the fight to give Joshua for a “statement” result. Can’t help thinking Wilder had a much easier return with Helenius.

Thanks, Darren.

Bread’s Response: Anthony Joshua is a fighter that for some reason without having a personal relationship with him I have consistently rooted for. I especially rooted for him vs Franklin because I have great admiration for his new coach Derrick James. I don’t think Franklin was a bad pick for Joshua but you may have a point. 

Franklin “looks” like Joshua should dominate him but because of Franklin’s chin, mean attitude and subtle urban skills, it’s hard to dominate him. Especially when you’re Joshua. Joshua is a thinker who looks like a destroyer. But since the Klitschko fight, when he was almost stopped, he’s lost his killer instinct. He doesn’t let punches go with the violence he once did. So when he faces a guy who is about 30lbs less and 6 inches shorter, with less visually pleasing muscles and he goes the distance in a semi competitive fight, then he’s going to get criticism. 

I like the Helenius pick. But the issue is Helenius can punch and I don’t know if a matchmaker can risk Joshua vs a puncher at this moment when the Fury, Joyce, or Wilder which are 50 million dollar fights are still lurking….So if the choice is a less durable big guy with a big punch or a more durable smaller guy with a lesser punch. I think you pick the guy who is AVAILABLE.

What did you think of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese’s John Cena you can’t see me gestures? Justified or classless or all part of the game?

Bread’s Response: Well…..I was watching the game with my kids before I went out to dinner for my birthday. I left at the beginning of the 4th quarter and when I got home my daughter said that Angel waved her hand in Caitlin’s face, just like Caitlin did her face. My daughter got it wrong but she’s a kid and she fell into a narrative.  

I’ve learned over the years that people initially root for who they relate to. The world was looking at this like it was Black vs White. But my kids identified with Caitlin and Angel also. My son who is a point guard liked the way Caitlin plays so he wanted Iowa to win. My daughter who is tall for a girl and plays forward liked the way Angel plays so she wanted LSU to win. So they rooted for who they identified with. I don’t believe they saw color but they definitely picked who they wanted to win based on similar characteristics.

Now on a broader scope I think people with influence and on platforms are pushing a narrative. They’re saying Angel did the same exact thing to Caitlin that Caitlin did. If you think about the statement in itself it doesn’t make any sense. Because I researched. I said to myself, “did to who?” The only way it can be the same EXACT thing is if Caitlin did to Angel and Angel did it back….

Caitlin made the gesture in ANOTHER game, vs a different team and she wasn’t in anyone’s face. She didn’t do the gesture to LSU or Angel Reese from my knowledge. So Angel Reese seeking her out after the game and doing the gesture and showing Caitlin her ring finger, was different from Caitlin doing the gesture to another team during another game and not seeking anyone out after the game. Details and context matter.

But and this is a big but. So what! Caitlin FLAGGED a player, as if to say you can’t shoot which is mocking. And she plays with a chip. As she can. She’s the best player in the country. So when you have that type of EDGE and you lose a big game, you open the door for someone to MOCK you with similar things you used to MOCK someone else. 

So Angel Reese found her moment and she mocked Caitlin. I’m not offended by what either young lady did. It’s sports. It’s emotional. I don’t think it’s CLASSY or CLASSLESS. I don’t think it was some kind of big racial stand by Reese to get Caitlin back. I think it was just a thing. Just a moment in time where competitive athletes did their thing. Nothing more. Nothing less. 

It’s being made out to be big because it’s a great story line. Reese is a taller, East coast black girl with swag. Clark is a Midwest white girl, with a serious edge and serious game. One team is made up of mostly black girls. The other is made up of mostly white girls. Reese wears lashes. Clark wears a ponytail. So the media ate it up and poured gasoline on it. 

Caitlin didn’t complain because she knew she opened the door for the mocking. Some days you’re the Hammer. Some days you’re the NAIL. Caitlin has been hammering players and teams all year. On Sunday she was finally the nail. Angel and LSU were the hammers and they hammered home the win and Angel let Caitlin know. Caitlin took it on the chin. She took the shot and without knowing her, she wants to get it back. That’s what special players do. They use that type of stuff as fuel to go put in work while everyone else is sleeping. I think we should all move on. Congrats to LSU for the national championship. 

Hello Breadman,

I pray you and your family are being blessed and doing well.  I left my casual status for one weekend and watched a fight I wouldn’t have normally watched. I wanted to see AJ because I use to be a huge fan of his and was curious. After watching him against Franklin I feel he is done. He reminds me of Ben Simmons. I think that mentally the Ruiz fight has destroyed his confidence and he will never recover just like Simmons who lost his confidence after his playoff meltdown against Atlanta.  It is so obvious that he is scared of being knocked out and is trying to be a pure boxer which doesn’t suit him. He is fighting scared and is so tentative now. I haven’t seen a fighter lose confidence like this since Jeff Lacey after Calzaghe. The difference is that Joshua can still beat some fighters but not the best where as Lacey turned into a scrub who couldn’t be anyone who put on the gloves. It is sad to see. What would you do if you were training him? Would you advise him to retire? What would you do to help him try to build back his confidence. I also feel that because he and Simmons have both made so much money that some complacency has taken place in both of them. That hunger just isn’t there. They both look the part but can’t play the part. There more Clark Kent than Superman. Who do you think is the most dangerous opponent for Canelo? Benavidez or Bivol.... If you were Canelo’s advisor which fight would you have him take?

Bread’s Response: I am well versed on bringing fighters back after losses. You can’t just train the body, you have to train the mind. Talk to them. Make them reveal themselves. Encourage and massage the ego. It takes times. But the best way to build confidence is with success. You have to put them in advantageous situations in the gym to build them up. But not FAKE situations. Real situations where they prosper. 

When Julian Williams got clipped by Charlo, I sent him away to camp with GGG a few months later. He did great and it built him back up. It wasn’t a fake situation but it was advantageous. Julian is skilled and quick enough to hold his own with the HOF in the gym, probably a fight too but the gym is where it was and we needed it. 

I agree Joshua’s confidence in peril. He seems to also OVERTHINK and talk a lot. I don’t know him so it’s hard for me to say how I would bring him back. But he needs success. He needs to knock someone out COLD. He also needs to understand that getting knocked out is not the end of the world. He’s already been knocked out. So what if it happens again. This is one of the reasons why Emanuel Steward is the GOAT. His 3 best and most accomplished fighters are Tommy Hearns, Wladimir Klitshcko and Lennox Lewis. Each of them was kod and Steward brought them back to career defining victories after the ko. It’s hard work!!

I’m sure Derrick James will do his best to tap into Joshua’s psych. I hope Joshua doesn’t change trainers again. He needs to stick with Derrick and they figure it out together. 

Breadman, following the weekends fight, I wanted to touch on weight classes. Watching it to me, Plant and Benavidez simply shouldn't be in the same ring together due to size difference. Is it just me or is someone's ability to drain down to a specific weight at a moment in time well before a fight starts irrelevant, surely what weight they get into the ring at should be the important factor. I touched on this when Loma lost to Teo, why Teo was all of a sudden considered a better p4p fighter than Loma, when naturally he's several weight divisions higher than him, and it was still a close fight!

Bread’s Response: You know what. David made the weight so I can’t complain or make excuses because it’s harder for him to make the weight. So while he may have an advantage after he rehydrates, we have the advantage in camp because it’s easier for us to make weight. All is fair in love and war. 

Loma is small for 135lbs. But he chose to move up, so he has to deal with men who walk around at 165-170lbs and who are 5’8. No one made him move up, Loma wanted to be a 3 division champion so this is what comes with it. Pernell Whitaker dealt with the same thing when he moved from 135 to 140 then to 147. Whitaker was smaller than most of his welterweight opponents for the exception of Buddy McGirt. It’s all part of the game.

Hey Bread, Can you think of a fighter that might have massively helped his career by NOT moving up in weight (to a weight class they didn't really belong in) or conversely someone who may have greatly benefited by moving up earlier? Suppose this is a conundrum that teams really agonize over? Seeing Lomachenko next to Haney at the press conference was jarring and borderline absurd in the physical differences. It was compounded in my mind when Loma also gave an interview last week where he didn't dismiss being able to make 126lbs again to face Inoue. It got me thinking what if Loma had never moved up to 135lbs? It's not like Mikey Garcia was willing to make the one fight that counted anyways. Could Loma's career and legacy have been better served at 130lbs facing Berchelt, Valdez, Herring, Shakur Stevenson and Emmanuel Navarette? Hell, even Inoue and Robeisy!

Don in Houston

Bread’s Response: Great question. I think if Loma would have stayed at 130 he would have had a case for being the greatest 130lber ever. He had 4 straight fights where he made opponents quit. By now he would have about 16-20 title defenses. And his run would have been as more dominant than Floyd Mayweather’s, Alexis Arguello’s and Julio Cesar Chavez’s. I’m not saying it was a mistake to move up because he did win his 3rd division title at 135 but he hasn’t been nearly as dominant.

Bob Foster also should have stayed at 175 his entire career. Everytime he moved up to heavyweight he lost by ko. Foster was a great light heavyweight but his legacy is slightly damaged because other light heavyweights had more success after moving up like Roy Jones, Archie Moore and Michael Spinks.

Marvin Hagler was very smart to not move up. He was perfect for middleweight but he was a little short. Hagler often weighed in at 158lbs. The better light heavyweights of his era were not only great fighters but most of them moved up to Cruiserweight and Heavyweight. There would have been a huge physicality disadvantage if Hagler would have moved up to fight Michael Spinks, Dwight Qawi, Matthew Saad Muhammad or Eddie Mustafa Muhammad.

I think Jose Luis Castillo stayed at 135lbs too long. By the time he moved up to 140lb he was burnt out from making weight all of those years.

You haven’t done a top 10 P4P in a long time. Do you have an updated list?

Bread’s Response: I only do P4P list when I’m asked. But my list is a little bit different from the Ring Magazine’s. I love the RING but I think they hold on too long to established fighters and they don’t give enough credence on who a simple concept. Who would beat who, if everyone were the same weight with relative dimensions considered?
1. Terence Crawford 
2. Monster Inoue 
3. Oleksandr Usyk 
4. Canelo Alvarez 
5. Errol Spence 
6. Dmitiri Bivol 
7.Arthur Beterbiev 
8. Shakur Stevenson 
9. David Benavidez 
10. Tank Davis  
11. Jermell Charlo 
12. Boots Ennis 
13. Devin Haney 
14. Scooter Fulton 
15. Tyson Fury

Sad to see the passing of Scottish legend Ken Buchanan. Do you have any thoughts on his legacy?

Best,

Mark, Glasgow

Bread’s Response: I think Buchanan was a great fighter. Maybe the best Scottish fighter ever. One of the top 3 lightweights of the 70s. He was 43-1 when he fought Roberto Duran. He deserved a rematch. Buchanan stuck around a little too long so he has 8 losses on his record. But at his best he had one of the best records in the game. He was a pure boxer, with plenty of moxy. RIP Champ.

After starting his career with twenty consecutive knockouts, Anthony Joshua has only secured a knockout victory twice in his last eight fights. What is causing this? Joshua was previously hyped as one of the biggest punchers in the history of boxing. Now it feels like he’s just an average heavyweight when it comes to his power. Thank you for your insight!

Bread’s Response: Joshua still can punch. The issue is his opponents don’t view him as a killer anymore so they are willing to take more. They’re willing to attack him more. They fight him differently. So therefore he isn’t scoring the same kos. It’s not lack of power. It’s how he’s viewed. After a fighter gets stopped at the top level. Future opponents view them differently so therefore the fighter who was stopped has to be REAL. He has to be better. Everyone can’t be Tommy Hearns and be a killer amongst killers after being kod. Watch Hearns fight James Shuler in 1986. This is after the Hagler and Leonard ko losses. Hearns had a special mindset that’s rare among fighters. Even great fighters. 

I’ve never hit the pads with Joshua but I would be pretty confident that Joshua can tear the pads up. But hitting another human being is different when that human being does not respect you anymore. They have HOPE now that they can get to Joshua, so now all of his fights are harder. The mind is the most powerful muscle in all of sports.

Hi Breadman, Thanks for your brilliant work, I have a couple of questions for you. 1. When a fighter has a tough fight and takes a lot of heavy unanswered blows – a lot consider this to ‘’mileage on the clock’’ or you quite often hear that they ‘’won’t be the same’’ after this. Why is that the case? Is it psychological or neurological? 2. I was watching a TR promo and they mentioned Shakur has the potential to surpass the likes of Floyd and SRL. Although I see the potential and I see ATG skills already, I suspect he will have the same fate as Crawford, where is he is just too good to land the fights needed to build up a resume that can match the greats. In other words he is likely to be avoided by his peers outside of his promotional network.

My question is what can an ambitious fighter like Shakur do to avoid having the same fate as Crawford? Is it viable to fight 6 times per year against weaker opposition if he is avoided? Does he have to make big sacrifices at the negotiation table? I would love to hear your thoughts on this. P.S Shakur is already in my top 5 based on the eye test and a respectable resume already + Crawford would probably be undisputed at 147 and 154 by now if his cards fell right

Thanks, Nial

Bread’s Response: 1. It can be both. But it’s all speculation. From my experience it’s more mental than physical. If a fighter can properly compartmentalize the beating, he can usually be ok.

2. Let’s see what Shakur can do at 135lbs. Every situation is different. Every era is different. Top Rank has more lightweights for Shakur to fight, than they did welterweights that Crawford could fight. So let’s just see how it plays out.

Six fights per year is too much to ask for in this era because Shakur is not a PPV star yet and with the amount of money he makes he would eat up the entire budget. But if he turns into a PPV fighter, then 3 fights per year is reasonable. Again let’s see…

Hey Bread,

Plant Bena & Canelo. Congrats for Plant. Definitely won 5 rounds. 6 debatable. But although we score rounds individually, I could see why a draw or a Plant win would have felt wrong. Perception matters and Benavidez was more dramatic in his rounds won. The blood, fatigue, and momentum of the fight still impact the judges and global perception. The right man won, but what a performance from both a Caleb, and you, especially. How would you now feel about a rematch with Canelo? You in the corner, those two fights together, and potential Canelo slippage, think the odds would be closer than ever?Canelo Smith IICanelo peaked at 168. He had the best run of his life. Also almost had the Tyson effect. Callum Smith had a short notice camp and left 168 right after the lopsided loss to Canelo. He now looks like a monster at 175.Am I way off thinking he could beat Canelo in a rematch at 175?

Beterbiev fan here, but something tells me Smith might pull the upset if they fight. Crazy again? Spence Crawford is the fight. Fascinating and although they're "old", they still had their best performances last year, so it's still peak vs peak. Spence Canelo at 168 : This fight makes little sense but just as a fan, I tried to break it down. Imagine Spence wants the money and fights Canelo at 168. My take is, Spence would be strong and have a great gas tank. With his length, savviness, long educated southpaw jab, experience, fighting a slightly slipping Canelo, could he survive 12 rounds and lose a competitive fight? Style makes fight and Benavidez would probably stop him, too big and physical, and Plant outbox him, too long, mobile and big. But Canelo, with his slow educated pressure, and Spence's solid in-fighting, I don't think Canelo blows him out. Ps: Canelo still ATG, despite my questions!

Cheers, Diego

Bread’s Response: You know what…I said the same exact thing. Caleb won 5 or 6 rounds. But I have no issue with David winning. My only issue is 117-111. I don’t know how that’s possible. I don’t like the feeling of a fight where Benavidez won all of the swing rounds on top of his dominant rounds. I don’t like the feeling that the fight was tied going into the 7th. That tells me Caleb had to be perfect and dominant to win and that’s a high bar in a fight where he was the underdog in the first place. 

The one other thing I would like to say is judges are supposed to hand in their scorecards after each round. So momentum shouldn’t be scored. Just individual rounds. So yes David won his rounds more dramatically. But just because you win the 10th round in a dramatic fashion it shouldn’t effect the 1st round that the other guy won when it was just a feel out round. At the end of the day it’s part of the game. You have to adjust and do better. Both guys put on a show and I hope both get their props and respect for a great fight.

I would love a rematch with Canelo for Caleb but I don’t make that call for him. Like you said I feel like Caleb has improved and Canelo has sort of flat lined or plateaued. Let’s see what happens. David has earned first dibs on Canelo.

I was very shocked that Callum Smith lost every round to Canelo. I was very high on Callum Smith and to lose 12 rounds and be dominated like that in a unification fight just didn’t look good to me. I thought Smith had a real chance to win. I didn’t like the 7 week notice on a fight of such importance because if the fight is announced at the 7 week mark, then Vada has to start after, so that’s an issue for me. 

But no excuses, Smith was dominated. He was too tepid towards Canelo. Maybe Smith does do better at 175lbs. Sometimes the bright lights and the moment can make you freeze up a bit and your nerves don’t allow you to perform. It happens.

If Spence vs Crawford happens that would be cool. But I don’t even want to ponder Spence vs Canelo. Jumping 3 divisions is just not something that’s worth thinking about at this moment. 

Canelo is definitely an ATG fighter. No doubt about it. But the feeling here is the sharks are hovering. With Bivol and Beterbiev at 175. Benavidez, Morrell and Andrade at 168. With Charlo moving up and Plant trying to position himself for a rematch. I can see Canelo losing 2 or 3 more times before he hangs them up.

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