|
DAILY BREAD SUNDAY EDITION
Stephen "Breadman" Edwards
Breadman,
First and foremost, keep up the great work! The Breadman video was a great move. You should tape it in a room with a projector so that you can breakdown fights with references to previous fights in the background. It would solidify your great analysis for people who may be more visual. At any rate, you're doing a great job.
How do you think Floyd and Manny's fight plays out now that they both have lost a step?
Forget the failed negotiations for a second and let's talk about the fight dynamics.
1.) Manny's work rate is down. Besides his vaulted power, this was his biggest advantage over FMJ
2.) Floyd's legs are going...I don't care what he says, he doesn't have the stamina to throw 700 punches and box on his toes all 12 rounds. He's 35, and starting to look like it.
3.) Manny is back to being a basic fighter. Double jab, straight left or Right, Left, Right combo. Simple blueprint. Thanks, Brother Nazeem.
4.) Floyd's defense is no longer impenetrable. Cotto outjabbing Floyd did not shock me. But even Ortiz started to have success before he lost his mind. Bad, bad sign.
5.) Manny doesn't seek and destroy anymore. Something happen after the Margarito fight. Since dishing out that savage beating, Manny is constantly looking for a reason to let his prey live instead of annihilating them in the way he handled Barrera 1, Morales, and Hatton.
6.) Floyd is punching harder. Forget the uppercut in the 12 round of the Cotto fight, watch the Ortiz fight again and check out Victor's face after he eats a few straight right hands. That dude was seriously afraid of being stopped, which is why he took the easy way out. It wasn't frustration, it was survival.
7.) The Bradley Debacle. Manny could revert back to the psycho killer that we know and love as a result of being mistreated by the sport's establishment. If this becomes the case, then Floyd could get seriously hurt in a post Bradley matchup.
Given these factors, how do you see the fight playing out if it happened in December?
Bernel, NYC
Bread’s Response: You are dead on with everything you said. I do want you to factor in one more thing about their styles. A slick , relaxed boxer puncher usually can give more prime performances AFTER his prime. Guys like Bernard Hopkins, Arcie Moore, Ray Robinson they can give great performances in their late 30’s and early 40’s. Pressure , high energy guys usually can’t. Henry Armstrong, Tony Canozoneri, Julio Cesar Chavez usually fall off and stay off. I expect Floyd to be greater later than Manny.
All that being said I think it would be a great fight, but I don’t think it will ever happen. I also want to point out something that I said earlier that has come to fruition. For all of the people who said the fight was being built up that’s why it was being put off, they were wrong. The fight was just being put off. I hate the fact we could’ve had this fight while they were in their primes…….
Hey Bread, No that the hoopla has died down a bit, I want to comment
on Bradley. Bradley power (or lack thereof) is confusing. He had hit
Pac with some good shots and from what I saw, he was not bothered at
all which probably discouraged Bradley more than he wanted to let on.
Like you said when he throws his power punches, he doesnt turn them
over and seems to be hitting his opponent with his palm. He doesn't
seem to have as strong a lower body either. Next, he is usually on a
strict vegan diet during training which may contribute to his lack of
power. My friend Hakeem and I were talking about how consuming meat
substitutes, fruits and vegetables may have an adverse effect on his
strength and power in the ring. I do not eat vegan and I can't stand
anything soy, not to mention that I've read that soy products do
really have a great affect on the system of a males, especially
athletes. What do you think? I'm not a nutritionist but tend to at
least know how my own body works.
Bread’s Response: I don’t agree with fighters being vegans but it has worked for Tim Bradley. There are times you restrict your meat consumption because it is harder to burn off. But to totally cut it out is something I wouldn’t suggest. Most diets have their benefits, so I know a vegan diet has it good points. But that juice from the red meat and that pure protein from good lean meats are something I love for a fighter. That’s just me, it doesn’t have to be right.
As for Bradley’s punching power, it has nothing to do with his diet. His diet would affect his stamina not his punching power. Bradley is just not a puncher. He flails, he pulls his head off the target, he doesn’t punch through the target, and he doesn’t punch with his knuckles… The guy can fight, he just can’t punch. Those flaws were never corrected early so…..
Breadman
I clearly remember you saying that you were picking OKC to make it to the finals, big props! Do you think they'll (OKC) win it all or will LBJ finally achieve what he's been clamoring for?. There's nothing more to talk about that hasn't already been discussed about Pacquiao/Bradley but did you notice how Max Kellerman were somewhat reserved on the Bradley interview? Maybe it's just me, I can't even point a finger to it. You boxing IQ is very complex and that's why I keep reading your mailbag. I may not write much but your breakdown of the game is appreciated.
E.C.
Bread’s Response: Good memory. Yes I picked OKC and the Heat to be in the Finals. To be honest I am pulling for LBJ to get a ring. I didn’t like his showcase free agent signing with Miami, and I don’t like some of the Hollywood stuff he does. But man what a player. I tend to root for a guy that everybody wrongfully hates on.
I’ve played basketball my whole life and I will tell you first hand LBJ may not be the greatest player ever but he has the most RESPONSIBILITY ever. I used to play the two guard, just so I didn’t get worn out handling the ball and worrying about everybody else. At the top level, Lebron has to be the best facilitator (passer), best scorer, best defender, best rebounder and leader of his team. Nobody has had to do so much in the history of basketball. Michael Jordan is the greatest thing I have ever seen with my own eyes, but he didn’t have to handle the ball like Lebron does and he didn’t have to facilitate like Lebron does.
People call Lebron a choke artist but dude is averaging almost 40 points a game in game 7’s. He also has like 48 career 30 point games in the playoffs. Nobody delivers in the clutch everytime. Kobe is 2 for 18 over the last few years in game winning or game tying shots in the last 24 seconds. He’s still clutch. Lebron gets 30 whenever he wants to. He took the worst team in the history of the Finals in Cleveland and no one gave him credit for getting them that far.
I hope he gets a ring but it won’t be easy. OKC turns into killers in the 4th quarter and Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are unstoppable one on one. Miami has to take 2 out of 3 at home or they are done. For the record the 2-3-2 NBA final’s format really sucks.
Hows it going Bread? I am really glad a guy like Randall Bailey did the most with his fight. I feel he's a guy that is willing to take challenges and make good fights. Its also a little dissapointing that a fellow Philadelphian, Jones got a bit exposed. Without a doubt Bailey was the most experienced and hard hitting fighter Jones was going against, but I don't think Jones corner did him any favors. I was surprised after having it rough for a few rounds that Jones would go at him and expose himself to the big shot that Bailey was capable of landing. I beleive his corner should of reeled him in and told him to box and stay clear of danger. I know the fight was on the boring side throughout, but Jones risked winning for a bit more enaging fight and now has nothing to show for it. I think certain guys that have a history of blood and guts kind of fight can risk winning for entertainment, but not a guy like Jones trying to come up against a heavy puncher like Bailey. Bailey also recently called out D. Alexander for his open August Shotime date. I think thats a solid fight, thoughts?
Toddyrock
Bread’s Response: I don’t want to second guess Jones’s corner. If Mike would have won a decision then there strategy would have been good. I just think Mike showed Bailey too much respect. He treated him literally like he had a gun. Bailey has a reputation of a fighter who is a little bit of a front runner. He can be taken into deep waters and drowned when he can’t hurt his opponent. Mike looked at Bailey in awe of instead of in FLAW of. Had Mike been more confident in anything he did whether it is boxing or punching he would have looked better and done better.
Devon would have to be careful messing with Bailey because he fights squared up and Bailey shoots that straight right hand. Devon is a dog though and I would expect him to be confident in his attack.
Hi Bread, its been a while since I write in, but I felt compelled to do so because it seems that with all of the commotion with the Pacquiao-Bradley robbery ( I had Pacquiao winning 9-3 like you did but thought two of those Bradley rounds could have gone either way) people forgot about Randall Bailey’s achievement that night and Guillermo Rigodeaux brilliance. First I will say that maybe I am wrong in my assessment here, but Bailey has to have the most dangerous right hand I have ever seen, I am 26 and I have been watching boxing since I was 4, Bailey can hit Wlad Klitchsko on the chin with that right and Wlad would fall lol. You are from Philly so I take it you are familiar with Mike Jones so I my assessment on him might be totally off but from what I saw he was very amateurish on his approach to Randall, he would lunge in with an inaccurate flurry and he seemed to be so preoccupied with not getting hit by Bailey that he would stumble across the ring on his way out of the danger zone, he was for the lack of better term fighting in “fright” mode. Of course I was sitting on my couch safely away from Bailey’s right, in the ring I would have been just as frightened as Mike, but then again I am not a much ballyhooed prospect with a 28-0 record and a world title strap around my waist. So yes, I expected much more from Mike Jones, I didn’t expect him to blow Bailey out like Young Miguel Cotto did, Cotto was special guys like him don’t come along too often, but I thought Mike could out point a 37 year old Randall Bailey or even stop him late. He didn’t and instead got Blitzed by Randall’s one and only weapon, but what a weapon bread! With that I am in disagreement with the announcers stating that the IBF title Bailey and Jones were disputing was meaningless, anyone who laces up a pair of gloves dreams with holding one of these titles, and while everybody knows Bailey is not the best welterweight in the world, that title means everything to him, especially at age 37, Bailey just became a major player in the division guaranteeing himself at least one more big pay day, and for a guy who many wrote off a decade ago after his loss to Hurtado it is inspiring to see him here in 2012 as a world titlist my respects and admiration go to Bailey one of the few true pure punchers in the history of the sport.
On to Guillermo, man that guy is scary, I know you are high on Donaire but no way he beats Rigo IMO, I mean he is so calm so relax so polished, it seemed everytime Teon Kennedy made a mistake, Rigondeaux capitalized on it. The scariest thing was that Rigo wasn’t even trying hard he was fighting on first gear. Guillermo is top ten PFP in my book no question I hope Arum is kind to him and gets him a big name opponent soon, that guy is a true talent.
Finally whats your take on these mythical match ups:
Prime Trinidad vs the Pacquiao that trashed Oscar at 147
Sergio Martinez (the one who outclassed Dzinziruk) vs Winky Wright (the one who beat Trinidad)- 160
Pernell Whitaker- Shane Mosley 135 (both in prime form)
-Samuel
Bread’s Response: Bailey’s right hand is legendary, but because he is not a great fighter it gets underrated. It’s not the best I have ever seen but it is amongst them. Bailey will give over time if he is not successful and that’s why his right hand is not better than some guys that I know that have more dog in them. His right hand reminds me of Julian Jackson’s. They have similar builds and body posture and they throw their right hands from a similar angle. The difference is Jackson is a dog and he never stops until you stop him.
Rigondeaux is SERIOUS. I will concede he and Nonito is a 50/50 fight. Nonito is my man, but Rigondeaux and that kid Anselmo Moreno are right there with Nonito. He has to fight those guys in order to claim supremacy. Rigondeaux looks like a complete monster but he does have a flaw. He doesn’t like to lead against good fighters and he can be outworked on the inside if you stay there. I have seen this with my own eyes in the gym. All in all, it will take a special fighter to beat him and Nonito seems to lack patience so this could be a rough fight for him.
I was thinking if there were any other fighters besides Rigondeaux that were this good with this many fights. I couldn’t think of anybody except Evander Holyfield. Crazy right.
Holyfield fought a freaking 15 rounder against an all time great, in his 12th fight. That is hard to fathom these days. Rigondeaux does have an advantage because he is over 30, but he is still very advanced for a 10 fight fighter. Rigondeaux won’t have over 25 fights when his career is done and he could be a HOF if things keep going the way they are.
Question Bread...do YOU believe there is something sneaky going on in the background with the Bradley/Pac decision? I think recent events have actually provided me peace of mind (at least in the last year with all this drama going on with PED's and bad Judge Scoring for key fights) that maybe all of these conspiracy theories going on in the boxing world are just that, THEORIES. What brings me to this conclusion are two recent events...the drama going on with Alex Ariza and Team Pacman, and Bob Arum calling for an investigation on the results of last weekends fight. If Pac was really under the influence of PED's at any point of his career when he came up in weight and started laying all these big dudes down, I would think it would be bad business for Freddy Roach or ANYBODY in Pac's corner to be bothering Alex Ariza where if I was Alex and Freddy had been f*cking with me and made Pac actually fire me...I'd be the first one to start throwing EVERYBODY under the bus at any point of time I had any knowledge of Pac taking PED's. Same thing goes for Bob Arum and last weeks mishap...if I was Bob Arum and I was paying judges to rig fights for me, WHY THE **** would I throw them under the bus, call bullsh*t, demand an investigation, etc, etc, etc??? If I was Duane Ford or any one of those guys, as old as I am and past my retirement where I have nothing to lose, you threaten me with your bullsh*t as a Promoter, I'll bring the whole boxing world down on its heels and every corrupt person I ever dealt with. I'm not saying that any of these guys are innocent, I mean, there have always been shady characters and shady deals in the sport of boxing, but in light of these two recent incidents, I don't think corruption played a role. If there is anything I can say, it is that boxing has come a long way from how things were back in the Don King days. One more question, what do you think of Thomas Dulorme...Miguel Cotto's replacement in the making for us Puerto Ricans or still too green to tell???...homeboy is a BEAST! In closing, I want to give a shout out to Floyd Mayweather...although he's acting like a b**** while locked up, I thank him for being the pioneer on PED awareness in Boxing. Even though he did it in a negative (accusing Pacman) manner, the train has left the station in keeping our modern day Gladiators in check and honest – NewYoRican
Bread’s Response: You know I swear I thought and said the same thing. I was very interested to see how the Roach/Ariza feud would play out. Usually when crooked empires break up, dirty secrets come out. Now let’s not jump ahead of ourselves. It’s still early and anything can still happen, but Roach and Arum’s action do show a sign of fortitude IF they are genuine. If you notice I try not to give anybody in any of these situations too much credit because I don’t know any of them personally and it’s just too hard to tell. But it is a good point you make.
Thomas Dulorme is a beast and he looks like a future world champion. He’s strong, fast, and violent and he has good stamina. He is one of the top 3 or 4 prospects in boxing,
What up Breadman?? I wrote once before but did not get a response thought I'd try again and see what happen's. I understand that boxing is a business and fighters, promoters etc are in it to make as much money as possible because any fight can end your career. So there has to be an art to taking the right fight at the right time. In light of James Kirkland turning down a career high payday to fight Canelo Alverez which I think is a huge mistakes I want you to help me take a look at some of the the more questionable...some would say stupid decisions to reject big money fights. To make it easier and relevant we'll limit it to the last last 20. If you would give me the fighter the career high payday amount and tell me if he ever got the opportunity to make that type of money in his career again. My #1 would be Winky Wright vs Jermaine Taylor the rematch. Winky spent most of his careet fighting over seas for peanuts yet he inexplicably turned down 9 millions dollars and fought Ike Quartey, Benard Hopkins, Paul Williams and Peter Quillin going 1 - 3 and not making 9 million dollars combined when he could have fought Jermaine beat him and had a trilogy like Gatti-Ward and made 9 million or more per fight and took a lot less punishment. #2 Mike Tyson my idol turned down 32 million for the Lennox Lewis rematch instead fought Clifford Etienne, Danny Williams, and Kevin McBride going 1 - 2 making around 10 million each and never coming close to making 32 million and getting KO by 2 average fighterss at best and now he's doing Vegas shows for money....Say it aint so SMH..... #3 Shane Mosley turned down a 10 million payday to fight Vernon Forest for around 4 million, lost the fight and had to fight the rematch for around the same money. He could have re matched with Oscar twice and got two more 10 million dollar pay days. In Shane's defense he had several other big paydays but non as lucrative as the one he passed up. #4 Alfredo Angulo turns down a career payday to fight Sergio Martinez and is garunteed a return fight on HBO he instead chooses to fight a beast in James Kirkland and get's knocked out and hasn't fought since and when he does come back chances are it won't be on HBO. #5 Floyd Mayweather offered Manny Pacquio 40 million to fight him Manny turns it down and fight's Timothy Bradley for less than half of that, wins the fight but looses the decision and if he rematches he won't make anything close to 40 mill and if he fights Floyd now he'll be luck to make 30 million while Floyd makes 60 plus million. Honorable mention Louis Collazo turning down big money for the Berto rematch, Kirland turning down 1 mill for the Alvarez fight, Benard Hopkins turning down a career high payday to fight Roy Jones Jr and later fighting him for barely 4 million dollars. What's your top five worst case of blowing paydays?? Thanks
Tstew
htown....
Thomas Stewart
Bread’s Response: Good comment Thomas but it’s not as clear cut as you make it seem. Sometimes these fighters get offered career high paydays but they are still getting underpaid. It’s a delicate spot. Promoters do that often. Would you take a 100k/yr job, for 80k just because it was the most money you ever made? I’m not saying every fighter was correct, but I am saying depending on their financial status, principals and self belief some fighters didn’t make as bad a decision as it looks from the outside. Sometimes the fighter saying no made a good move, sometimes not so much. Lamont Peterson made a great move turning down the initial Khan offer and if he didn’t test positive for PEDS, then he would really be in the money.
Let me touch on a few of your examples. James Kirkland in my opinion was being rushed back a little bit. James wants TO WIN, not just fight. All of a sudden a shoulder that wouldn’t be ready until October was now ready for September because Alvarez needed a dance partner. I can assume Kirkland felt that they weren’t in such a rush to fight him when he beat Alfredo Angulo into a stupor. You also have to realize that Paul Williams was being offered pretty much double to what Kirkland was offered. I’m not saying Kirkland was right, but neither he nor Williams was a PPV star. Williams is slightly more accomplished but Kirkland probably felt like he was a bigger threat. So…….
I think Winky Wright was offered 5 mill not 9 mill for the Taylor rematch. Nevertheless I think it was a mistake to turn the fight down. But here is the kicker that nobody ever talks about. I think Jermaine Taylor really hurt Winky Wright in that fight. He just didn’t do it noticeably. Wright never really looked the same to me after that fight. Think about it. That was one tough, underrated great fight. Taylor really unloaded on Wright with all of his might and Wright didn’t block all of those shots. So we on the outside can say Winky was stupid for not taking the rematch, but fighters know what they know. That’s the part some of you guys miss out on.
I don’t want it to seem like I’m nitpicking your examples but I just don’t agree with all of them. Mike Tyson made the kind of money that a normal human being shouldn’t be able to spend. He got beat to a pulp by Lennox Lewis. His fighting spirit was taken out of him. He knew Lewis would beat him even worse in the rematch. Tyson didn’t want to be killed in a boxing ring that’s why he didn’t take the pointless rematch. Why risk your life when you can make 8 figures elsewhere? I assume that was Tyson’s thinking.
Shane Mosley made a mistake. I agree with you totally. And so did Luis Collazo.
Alfredo Angulo made a mistake also, but hindsight is always 20/20. Who knew he would have so many problems out of the ring.
Pacquiao didn’t make a mistake by turning down 40 million. That offer was never meant for him to accept. I personally think Floyd made a mistake for not taking 50/50 on the biggest fight in the history of boxing. Bernard Hopkins didn’t make a mistake either. He couldn’t beat Roy Jones and he knew it. After their first fight, Roy took off in another atmosphere. Pre Tarver, Hopkins just wouldn’t have been able to beat Jones. Hopkins loves to win. And a man beating him twice with no controversy is something he couldn’t stomach. So he went in another direction to go after the same goal. Think about this. For the last 8 years Hopkins will be considered a superior fighter to Roy Jones who was considered better there first 15 years as pros. He did better against head to head competition and he has never been stopped or beat up. Jones can’t say the same.
Hopkins is a genius; he knew exactly what he was doing. He took much easier , high profile fights against Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya. Some people will argue Hopkins has the better legacy. It’s a good argument although I think Jones edges him slightly. Nevertheless Hopkins was able to accomplish this without avenging his only clear cut loss, when his rival was in or near his prime. Hopkins asked for a 50/50 split against Jones when they were both in their heyday. Jones beat him clean in the first fight, Jones had the huge deal with HBO, the NIKE endorsements, and he was the bigger star. Hopkins knew Jones would not take 50/50 therefore he knew the fight wouldn’t get made until a more feasible time. Hopkins can out wait anybody because his greatness lies in his obsession to WIN. That was no mistake my friend, it was a calculated MISS.
I don’t have a top 5, but I do have three scenarios that stand out to me. Roy Jones moving back down to lightheavyweight, was the biggest mistake in the history of boxing. He could have made 3x the money to fight Holyfield or Tyson than he did against Tarver. Till this day I can’t understand why he took that big risk, no reward fight.
Oscar De La Hoya is the cash cow of all cash cows. Oscar always had trouble with left handers. He goes on a crusade to align himself up with the Mexican audience and vows to not fight another Mexican. Antonio Margarito was staring in his eyes. Instead he fights what no aging fighter wants to deal with. A speed demon in Manny Pacquiao. A left handed one at that. Oscar would have been paid the same amount to fight Margarito and Pacquiao and he chose Pacquiao who was the better fighter and tougher style. Shane Mosley goes on to beat Margarito and Oscar gets beat into retirement. Huge mistake.
This one may go back too far for you, I know you said 20 years but this is relevant. Contrary to public belief Aaron Pryor was offered a fight against Ray Leonard after Leonard took his title back from Roberto Duran. The fight was offered to Pryor in early 1981. He was offered 500k for the fight. That was a little low even for the time , I’m assuming he could have squeezed 750k out of the deal. But Pryor turned it down and despite being a legend and a historically all time great fighter. He was never a superstar and was severely underpaid for his talents. Pryor never received two million dollars for any of his 10 title defenses. His highest career payday was around 1.5 million a couple years later against Arguello. For as good as Pryor was, and exciting as his style was, think about that for a second.
Pryor should have taken that fight. He was offered the fight when he was a new unestablished champion of only a couple of months. In contrast Roberto Duran took the first Leonard fight for 1 million dollars and he had been considered the greatest lightweight ever, and was champion for 6 years before he fought Leonard. Duran made good and went on to make 10s of millions of dollars. Pryor didn’t take the fight and went on to make a couple of million…….
Fixing the judging issues:
Hi Bread,
I have a suggestion for big money fights and the judging issue.
I would install a 5 judge panel, where all 5 judges score the bout.
After 12 rounds if it goes to a decision, then I would take the 3 majority cards and announce the winner.
Afterwards, I would have a panel review all of the 5 judges’ scorecards, and interrogate the judges who may either always be off, and have them explain why compared to the other judges, they saw a certain round that way.(that’s right, judge the judges and rate them, if it is a continuing trend for a judge, then that judge would be deemed incompetent and fired(or get extra training))
I believe the promoters can afford 2 extra judges, especially when we are speaking of Championship boxing and the integrity of the sport.
Problem is, where do we sit these people?
Anyways, just a thought( after what I witnessed with Pac-Bradley.)
Keep up the great work.
Pascal…Montreal
Bread’s Response: I love your idea Pascal. I get so many ideas to make boxing better that I never post but this one is good. Let me piggy back a little bit. Sit 4 of the judges on each side of the ring. Let the 5th judge watch from a monitor just like the fans who are watching it at home. Therefore every angle is taken care of. As I write this something struck me. I don’t know if you guys would like this but tell me what you think. If I get enough positive emails about this next idea I will forward this to the commissions and see what they think.
To take your 5 judge system further. At the end of each round all 5 judges scorecards should be taken. The majority rules. What I mean by that is if 3 or more judges have the round in favor of one of the fighters then that fighter wins that round. We can work out the kinks with even rounds but the system will balance itself out. For example if 2 judge score the round for one fighter, 2 judges score the round for the other fighter and one judge scores it even, then it’s an even round. If you have a round where a knockdown or 10-8 round occurs, the same rule applies. Majority score overrules. At the end of the fight we won’t have unanimous or split decisions. We will just have a score. 116-112 for example and that’s that. No system would be foul proof, but I feel this would work.
whats good wit cha bread been a long time since i wrote in. I dont want to touch on the major subject of the fight last week since you've been getting swamped wit questions about it, so i wanted to ask about some technical aspects of the fight game. First what would be some ways for a southpaw to avoid the left hook of a right handed fighter? I got hit quite a few times with the left hook when i used to fight so how would you advise a lefthander to avoid that punch? Also how can the left hander take away the left jab since the hook can come off the jab, these to me are more important weapons to worry about since that side of the body is closer to the target especially if the right handed fighter really is left handed fighting with his dominate hand in front. Also are there any southpaw fighters who are good at neutralizing this that would be good for me to watch. Lastly were there any southpaw floyd mayweathers ever in the history of the sport? Bless me
with the knowledge bread thanks
Bread’s Response: There is a gym argument that goes on all the time on which punch works best against a southpaw. Some say the left hook, more say the right hand. After sitting back and thinking about it, I say the punch that gets executed the best.
To your question. You can manipulate the lead hand of your opponent. I see you’re a left handed fighter. So you could paw at, punch at and literally play with your opponent’s lead hand. This will give him something to think about. While you are doing this, jab and/or hook with your lead right hand and make your opponent defend himself from that side, using his lead hand.
Last but not least, think about taking away the shot you are getting caught with. When you do that what happens is subconsciously you do little things to take the shot away. Every fighter sets up their shots differently, so if you’re cognizant of the threat you will FEEL the set up and not get hit with it so much. Good luck.
I was watching the Chavez fight and Pacquiao vs Bradley replay. I’m assuming you feel redeemed because 91% of the fans in the poll had Pacquiao winning. I know you received some emails questioning your integrity earlier in the week. Then I heard one of the judges say that the old Pacquiao would have knocked Bradley out after the 4th round. You spoke of the comparative curve that Pacquiao suffers from and now a judge is basically admitting it. By far you are the smartest dude in the media as far as boxing. I wonder what your haters have to say now. Thanks for the insight. One more thing Chavez Jr. looks like a beast. How do you rate his chances against Martinez?
Bread’s Response: You would be surprised if I posted some of the comments I have received about this fight. Ridiculous is all I can say. I stand by what I said from Jump Street, there is NO way Tim Bradley could have won this fight! Max Kellerman who is probably my favorite boxing media figure at this moment also made a great point on Jim Lampley’s show. Kellerman basically said IF you gave ALL of the swing rounds to Bradley then the fight is STILL 7 rounds to 5 rounds for Pacquiao. Now I know some will say that’s one round from a draw, but Pacquiao WON 7 CLEAN rounds so therefore to take one of them away from him is incompetence…….
Yes I was shocked at Duane Ford’s comment. I was actually talking about it with Greg Leon. I’m glad you caught that. The ironic thing is the 5th round was a BIG round for PAcquiao that ALL of the judges should have given him and he didn’t get credit for it. I just don’t know what to say. I actually feel bad for Tim Bradley because he can’t help this and I feel bad for Pacquiao for obvious reasons.
I appreciate the respect but I don’t feel redeemed at all. I love boxing. So therefore I write and act in a certain way because I don’t want to pollute or violate something I love. I don’t let a fan’s negative comment bother me at all, because I believe in myself and what I stand for. I know what I saw last Saturday night.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. can fight folks. I have been saying it for a minute and it’s coming to fruition. He is a privileged kid who has been the beneficiary of lots of favorable actions but that doesn’t mean he can’t fight. He also suffers from a comparative to his pops. No he is NOT as good as Senior. But neither are 99% of the people who have ever put on boxing gloves. I think his chances against Martinez get better each fight. Right now I say 60/40 fight in favor of Martinez but this is not as laughable as it once was. Top Rank pretty much DUCKED Martinez until this kid matured enough to not embarrass himself. It wasn’t right or fair but it sure has worked out for Chavez.
Send questions and comments to: dabreadman25@hotmail.com
|
