Comments Thread For: Daily Bread Mailbag: Ranking the 10 best fighters of the 21st century

[BoxingUpdates]

The one and only Breadman is back with your weekly fix of boxing wisdom and on the menu this week includes: Best fighters of the century so far; Lopez-Stevenson and Murtazaliev-Kelly predictions; fighters with the best footwork; Michael Spinks vs. Bob Foster. Enjoy!
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[Mark Elding]

Josh Kelly’s a talented athlete but a natural poser, prioritising looking good over really developing as a fighter. Look past the flash and there’s very little sophistication at all. A 154lb rival like Ennis has ten more layers to his game. That ‘Pretty Boy’ moniker is very apt and a cheerleading support system doesn’t help. Picking him to win is a brave call by Bread, although I agree that his hypothesis is the only way Kelly is likely to win.

[ShoulderRoll]

I could see Josh Kelly outboxing Murtazaliev on points, that is a possibility. It’s just he has to be durable enough to last the distance which I don’t know if he is.

Bread’s suggestion of Teofimo making Shakur Stevenson come to him is an interesting one. Turn the tables on the boxer, have him be aggressive, then counterpunch him.

[PRvazquez]

Like it or not We gonna see Shakur get punched in the face . An actual test. Its got the area a little hyped around NYC/NJ. The amount of spam ads in this article was torture. Breadman is right make Shakur come to you. And wakatee!

[PeanutRay]

Bob Foster got dropped by, and lost a decision to, Mauro Mina in 1963 in Lima, Peru. They were light-heavyweights.

[harry-greb]

I think Kelly gets out to a good start, but the pressure will tell, and he'll get stopped down the stretch.
I've bet on Teo to beat Shakur. I think he pulls out a Loma type performance

[Rbs3rd]

Breadman your gut was right. Went exactly like he said it would.

[SouthpawRight]

BigBobArum sometimes the next star is the guy no one was expecting to breakout

Perhaps David Benavidez is boxing's best hope for a new superstar if he beats Zurdo and continues his current trajectory. My point is boxing needs a new superstar to stay in the public's consciousness, because with traditional outlets like HBO, Showtime, and ESPN no longer carrying boxing, the sport is becoming more of a niche enjoyment than ever. Thoughts? Doug

Bread’s response: See I see things differently. I think the “next” superstar just earns it. For example, no one anointed Manny Pacquiao. He didn’t have the perfect record. He wasn’t an Olympian. He just got better and better before our eyes and the next thing you know, he was the man who moved the needle. We don’t have to look for the next superstar. He’s going to look us in our eyes when he arrives. It may be someone we know, it may be someone we aren’t familiar with just yet. Let’s let it happen organically instead of looking for him.


BigBobArumSpray_resistant best footwork today are

Hey Bread. A lot of people talk about speed, power, blocking shots, head movement, and punch placement. But what about footwork? I was told there aren’t a lot of guys who coach good footwork. Do you think there’s any truth to that and, if so, why? Is good footwork a lost art? I know that Cuban boxers work a lot on footwork. I would make the argument that solid footwork is one of, if not the, most important aspect of boxing. Everything starts with the feet and a solid foundation. If you don’t have good footwork, you’re going to be slow, punches aren’t going to come off good, your defense will suffer, and you will be off balance and trip over yourself. Other than Lomachenko, what other modern boxers do you see who employ really solid footwork? Thanks.

Bread’s response: Loma has special footwork but there are others in modern boxing who also have excellent feet. If we are talking modern boxing we can go back to the 80s. Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran had tremendous feet. As did Wilfredo Benitez and Salvador Sanchez. Orlando Canizales. Pernell Whitaker. Manny Pacquiao. Roy Jones. Floyd Mayweather. Oleksandr Usyk. Bam Rodriguez. Andre Ward. Sambu Kalambay. All of these fighters have tremendous feet. I’m sure I missed a few, so let me throw in Dmitri Bivol and Shakur Stevenson while I’m thinking.

[brankobugarski]

Breadman your gut was right. Went exactly like he said it would.

I have to give it to Breadman. His picks are pretty good. Quite often I criticize his bias towards Boots, but when it comes to predicting fight outcomes, my hat is off to him. Not only does he predict the outcome but he also predicts about what actually happens in the fight.

[Grandma Lover]

All the blacks on his list have either been caught masking steroids or ducking drug tests

Good Ole bumman