Daily Bread Mailbag: Shakur Stevenson-Floyd Schofield, Boots Ennis-Vergil Ortiz negotiations, and what happened in the corner between Galal Yafai and Sunny Edwards

In this week’s mailbag, coach Stephen “Breadman” Edwards talks about big-time women’s boxing, the Shakur Stevenson-Floyd Schofield fight on February 22, the breakdown in talks between Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Vergil Ortiz and what it means for Ennis and what would “Bread’ have done if he was in the corner when Sunny Edwards said he did not want to be in the ring after two rounds.

Claressa Shields and Amanda Serrano seem to be at odds over whose fight is the largest viewed fight in women’s boxing history. In your opinion can Serrano make that claim although her fight was not the main event? Also do you think there is some jealously from Shields because Serrano got a reported $8m?

Bread’s Response: Um…..This is a good question but I don’t know if I’m qualified to answer all of it.. Reported purses and actual purses are not always the same. So I would have to see an actual check deposit slip from Serrano to believe she made 8 million. That’s a very large sum of money for any fighter, especially a fighter who was not the main event. I’m not saying it’s not true, but before I repeat that I would have to see proof.

 

As for Shields and Serrano being at odds, I think it’s unfortunate. If the goal is to elevate women’s boxing, the two biggest American stars should not be at odds, especially when they are so far apart in weight. 

 

Now here is the interesting part. Can Serrano make the claim she was in the most viewed women’s boxing of all time? Sure she can, she can do anything she wants. I think what you want to ask me is, is the claim legitimate because Serrano wasn’t part of the main event. I really don’t know. 

 

Usually co-main event fighters can’t make that claim because although they’re part of the card, the main event carries the show. But an event that huge on Netflix for the first time is special circumstances. And because Paul vs Tyson was sort of an odd attraction, Taylor vs Serrano legitimized the card and show. So personally I don’t want to take anything away from Taylor and Serrano. I don’t want to dim their light and micro-criticize their success. This was special circumstances and they fought their butts off. So if they want to make that claim, let them have it. 

 

I can’t say if Shields is jealous of Serrano. I don’t follow these things. I don’t know who makes the most money etc etc. I think they’re both great fighters and that’s all I can really say. I don’t watch women’s boxing. But I watch Claressa Shields, Amanda Serrano, Katie Taylor, Mikaela Mayer and Alcycia Baumgardner fight. There is a difference. So it’s hard for me to give an accurate comment on certain things because I honestly don’t know. What I do know is those specific ladies stand out to me as the best.

 

Elijah Garcia vs Terrell Gausha was just announced for January. I feel this is a slap in your face as a top trainer and most of all a slap in Kyrone Davis’s face. Not only did he dominate Garcia, but they tried to cheat him with a ridiculous scorecard. Garcia came in five pounds overweight. Garcia pulled out of their first fight. And he’s being rewarded for this by getting a fight date before Davis, who soundly defeated him. I need your thoughts on this Bread.

Bread’s Response: Kyrone called me yesterday and asked me did I know that Garcia and Gausha were fighting. I told him I didn’t know anything about it. Kyrone wasn’t upset, he understands the politics of boxing. He has the strongest character I have ever seen in a fighter in his position. He just has very resilient energy. Other than that I don’t want to say too much right now. But I will admit, I do feel slighted for myself and for Kyrone. I don’t care about coming in on the B side. But when things are lined up like this, it’s tough. Kyrone 100% has earned the right to fight before the fighter who came in overweight that he just dominated. 

 

Do you believe Shakur Stevenson will fight Floyd Schofield? It seems that Golden Boy does not think Schofield is ready. But the father and son team are pushing for the fight. Will this be a repeat of Jared Anderson’s mishap a few months ago? Or can Schofield pull off a huge upset and become a star?

Bread’s Response: I watched boxing in an era where 22 yr old fighters were already great. There was a time when 22 yr old fighters were reigning world champions. Ali, Mayweather, Benitez, Taylor, Sanchez, Tyson, Oscar, Hearns and Duran all won titles by the time they were 22 yrs old. But in this era for some reason, fighters don’t step up until they are closer to 30 and oftentimes they start their reigns when they are no longer in their physical primes. So I have no issue with the Schofields pushing for the fight. Apparently they sparred Shakur. And according to them they had some success. 

 

Here is how I view it in its entirety. Oscar De La Hoya has openly said that they work for the fighters. And that if he wanted to fight an opponent when he was an active fighter, and his team wanted him to fight someone else then he would fight the fighter he wanted to fight. So when you say that as a promoter, your fighters will hear it and remind you of what you said. 

 

However, I also believe that the team who has invested in a fighter has some say in who they fight. Because not only have they invested, they have to reinvest if the fighter loses. They have to build the fighter back up with comeback fights and opportunities after losses. So fighters have to take that into consideration. Just like they can remind the promoters that the promoters work for them. The promoters, managers and investors can remind them if they lose, they have to reinvest. Boxing is an individual sport but make no mistake, fighters are supported by teams. I don’t have a horse in this race. I just believe in being honorable. And both parties have to stand on business and be accountable no matter what the outcome is. 

 

Now here is the part I like to talk about. The actual fight. I thought Schofield struggled in his last fight. He was hurt and he seemed in distress with turning his back and grabbing his head. But he’s a fighter. He didn’t bail when things got tough. He showed determination and that was a good learning experience. I respect the fact that he’s going after Shakur although I think he may be one or two fights away from giving himself his best chance to win. But not too many fighters call Shakur out. And just because Schofield would be the underdog, it doesn’t mean he can’t win.

 

Historically speaking, athletic, hard-nosed, fighters give superior boxers trouble. I think the reason is because of optics. Marvin Hagler is the king of these type of fighters. But I won’t mention him because he’s one of one. But Shawn Porter gave everyone hell. I can remember his fight with Adrien Broner. Broner got the fight at a catchweight. Broner was viewed as a more hip athlete. His style was considered smoother and neater. I hate this term but Broner was considered more skilled. But Porter dominated the fight. 

 

Tim Bradley beat Devon Alexander, Kendall Holt, Lamont Peterson and Juan Manuel Marquez. All of those fighters were considered better boxers than Bradley. Better punchers than Bradley. Equally or more skilled. But yet none of them could beat him in a fight.

 

I am not picking Schofield to win. But I have seen this movie before. And it’s not out of the question for him to at least cause Shakur problems. There have been too many cases throughout history where a swarming fighter, who was athletic within his style, who also had physical strength, troubled or beat a more polished, skilled fighter who had better boxing skills. 

 

Marvin Hagler beat Tommy Hearns. Tim Bradley beat Juan Manuel Marquez. Ricardo Mayorga beat Vernon Forrest. Shawn Porter beat Adrien Broner. Orlando Salido beat Vasiliy Lomachenko.

 

There are too many cases to name where one of these athletic swarming fighters, troubled the neater boxer but didn’t beat them. We just saw a few years ago Shawn Porter give Terence Crawford a very tough night. I thought they were about even in terms of rounds won before Crawford stopped him. The main reason I feel this fight can be at least competitive is neat boxers like predictable attacks. When a fighter attacks them in an unpredictable manner, sometimes it may take them a few rounds to adjust and their game is based on adjustments. So when those adjustments take a few rounds longer…the struggle occurs. 

 

In the Crawford vs Porter case, Crawford can not only adjust but he’s a knockout artist. Stevenson can box on the same terms as Crawford but he doesn’t punch as well as Crawford and he’s not the killer Crawford is. Power can bail you out in these match ups. And when the neater boxer can’t hurt the athletic swarmer, that’s when the bigger problems occur. If Shakur can’t hurt Schofield, I expect a competitive scrap.

 

One more thing as I type. Look for Shakur to go to Scholfield’s body. I feel like Shakur punches better to the body than he does the head and I expect him to try to hurt the energetic Schofield early with body shots. Interesting fight in my opinion.

Hey Bread, hope I didn’t write in too late, but I just saw your Twitter post with Loma vs Nicholas Walters and how he is a top 5 guy at 130, no argument there. But watching this and through my own experience, this made me think of something. Those high volume, frenetic fighters struggle with that pointed bladed shoulder stance where the body is at an angle and it ain’t as available to hit and guys work them behind the jab. Teo vs Loma, Floyd vs Manny. Masterclasses on fighting guys with those crazy angles. I wish Fulton fought Inoue like this. He gave up so much of his body and that was a recipe for disaster for him. Can you think of any other fights similar to this where high energy guys got neutralized with this style? I love watching Floyd because I always learn something. I think he is the highest IQ fighter in history. He always had an answer for something in a fight via changing his stances, levels, defense etc. He really had a great understanding of range/distance and being in the proper stance. If Fury fought Usyk like this consistently (similar to how he did in rds 3-6 I believe ) the whole fight, he could win. But easier said than done. I wish more fighters knew how to exit out of danger. Andre Ward was great at using the jab/arm/range finder to circle out of harm’s way. Jab lost vs Tyszu because he kept informed-exiting out improperly. Floyd did this cool stuff vs Maidana where, like a matador to a bull, he would use his arms to sweep out and pivot. Only other person I saw do this was Crawford. Crawford and Keyshawn do this really cool framing defense where they bend at an angle with the arms tucked in to the body and hands under the chin to take steam off a punch and can counter. Bud used this masterfully vs Spence. I wish more fighters used that George Foreman cross-guard style for defense. It’s so effective if deployed right at protecting your face and body. Lastly in sparring as a southpaw I’ve tried this technique where I place the right arm across the body shoulder to hip and bring my left glove to my face while dipping my head behind the glove and slightly turning it. Behind this stance I can do like a shovel up-jab (ala Andre Ward) or a quick strike left hand off the pivot foot/uppercut. Is this sensible or am I doing too much. I’m just doing it in spots, not the whole fight. I use sparring to play around with this technique. Anyways your feedback is greatly appreciated. 

Bread’s Response: If your technique in sparring is working, then it’s sensible. The cross arm defense has worked but you have to be brute strong, with big arms and I personally think it exposes the body too much. Ken Norton used the cross arm defense. Ali didn’t body punch often. Neither did Holmes. So Norton gave them both hell. But George Foreman ironically pulverized him to the body. Watch Foreman vs Norton. In the 1st round Foreman paralyzed him with a series of body shots that the announcers missed. 

 

I have seen the bladed stance cause frenetic fighters trouble. Then I have seen the frenetic fighter get behind that lead shoulder and dominate the fighter using the bladed stance. Teofimo is the only fighter that has given Loma trouble from that stance. I think it was more Teofimo than it was the stance. Loma likes to get off to the side of his opponents and the bladed stance sometimes allows that. I’m not saying you’re wrong. But I think it’s a fight by fight basis. I don’t really view the bladed stance as kryptonite to the frenetic fighter. 

 

I can think of too many cases and it’s really 50/50. For example Roger Mayweather favors the bladed stance. And Julio Cesar Chavez stopped him twice in their primes. So for as many cases where the bladed stance troubled the frenetic fighter, I can think of just as many cases where the frenetic fighter troubled the bladed stance.

Your boy Boots Ennis is looking bad in these streets. You talk about how special he is but how do you justify blowing negotiations like he just did? Vergil Ortiz is making him look like a coward. You have Dan Rafael, Tim Bradley, Rick Mirigian and Golden Boy all clowning him. I was trying to do research and I’m trying to figure out who exactly is managing Boots? In all seriousness, Ennis has had the most mishandled career since Demetrius Andrade. Do they have the same people around them? You keep it real about everyone else Bread, but you never call it how it is with Boots. Ortiz moved up from 147 because he couldn’t make the weight, he’s the interim champion at 154, Boots’s team knows he can’t make 147. How do they insert that in the negotiations if they really want to fight? Now no one will take them serious about the Bud Crawford or Brian Norman negotiations. On a serious note, you did very good with Jrock Williams making good money and sound investments and Ennis is a more talented fighter. Have they ever reached out to you for help? Or did you tell them not to fight Ortiz. I’m not letting you off the hook on this one. Your boy was about to get cooked by Vergil Ortiz and someone pulled the plug on the fight. You can’t make the excuse that 147 is too hard to make, then get a big fight at 154 and ask Ortiz to come down to 147. What gives in Philly right now?

Bread’s Response: You guys get so excited when a fighter I like loses, has a bad night or something like this happens. All I have ever said about Boots was he’s a super talent and he has the potential to win titles from 147 to 160. But I won’t shy away from your comment. So let’s go.

 

I don’t know who represents Boots. It’s not really my business. I have never had a business conversation with Boots. We just talk boxing when I see him and I wish him well. Nothing more or less. You guys make too much of me thinking highly of him as a fighter that I have known since he was 16 years old. 

 

Why are you bringing up who’s clowning Boots, as if I should too, or if it somehow makes their opinion valid? If Tim Bradley, Dan Rafael, Rick Mirigian and Golden Boy are clowning Boots, so what. That’s their choice. But no one is boxing is untouchable as far as criticism. 

 

Now you’re being a real smart ass. In one statement you try to give me a compliment, then you in the next you try to insult me. Why would I tell Boots not to fight Vergil Ortiz? First off, I don’t have the power to tell Boots who to fight and who not to fight. I don’t work with him. But I think Boots stops Ortiz, so I definitely wouldn’t tell him to not fight a guy I think he stops. 

 

No he has NEVER asked me to work with him.

 

So now I will answer you directly about the negotiations. I don’t know what happened. I don’t have privy to any inside information whatsoever. I also won’t run and form an opinion on this because I love the sport of boxing. But the business of boxing is treacherous and I know that firsthand. I have seen people lie on me and my fighters, without cause or justification. 

 

And I’m not saying Boots Ennis is being lied on, but I am saying I don’t know what happened. And just because Ortiz and his side claim Boots ducked, it doesn’t mean it’s true. For crying out loud, Xander Zayas is saying Vergil Ortiz ducked him. Are we going to go crazy and call Ortiz a ducker just because Zayas says it?

 

I think it’s fair to let Boots Ennis, Bozy Ennis or Eddie Hearn give their side of the story before we go off on the narrative that Boots is scared to fight Vergil Ortiz. I can’t help it, if I know the kid. I can’t help it if I think highly of him as a fighter. He’s a kid who just wants to fight but the business of boxing is giving him a tough time right now. But again, I don’t know what happened. Let’s let them give an explanation first before we judge. 

 

I also want to say something else. Boots just fought on November 9th. The proposed date is February 22nd. That means he would have to start camp around Christmas. For all we know he may not have been planning to fight again that early. Vergil Ortiz fought in August. So the February date works better for Ortiz than it does a fighter who just fought in November. Vergil Ortiz’s original proposed date was December 21st. He needed more time which is understandable, Bohachuk was a hard fight in August. But if Ortiz needed more time, then why can’t Boots need more time if that’s the case. 

 

I’m not saying Boots doesn’t have time to get ready because eight weeks is all you need. But I am saying we don’t know what he had planned or what he was healing from. Most fighters at his level don’t turn around in three and a half months. Especially after 12 hard rounds. I also know the game of boxing. So I’m never fast to indict a fighter for public consumption. Sometimes people in boxing do things because responses will be predictable. 

 

I read somewhere that Turki wanted Terence Crawford vs Vergil Ortiz. I’m not sure what happened with that fight but I know what I read. Then I heard that Ortiz vs Boots was being considered and talked about. Well just because someone wants something to happen, it doesn’t mean it has to happen. Boots is not managed or promoted by Turki Alalshikh. I say that because Boots and Turki Alalshikh may not be on the same page with his schedule and private plans. We need more details. 

 

Also you can’t be gullible to the surface level fluff. Now watch this prediction. Other fighters including Vergil Ortiz will say they won’t ever consider fighting Boots again. It’s not like Boots pulled out a week before the fight. It’s not like Boots came in overweight. It’s not like he pulled out a few times and wasted Ortiz’s time like Ortiz did Stanionis. But watch and see most of the teams that have fighters who are potential opponents of Boots will now act like he’s not worth going into negotiations with. 

 

They will try to turn him into Demetrius Andrade who was pretty much blackballed because he pulled out of the Jermell Charlo fight in 2014. But the circumstances are totally different because the network had started spending money on the promotion and Charlo was already in camp getting ready when Andrade pulled out. Ennis vs Ortiz was rejected on Nov 30th for a fight on February 22nd,. So Team Ortiz didn’t lose money on camp. They didn’t hire sparring partners. No damage was done to them. But this whole mess will get overplayed as a chess move to not fight him later. 

 

If they can, they will devalue Boots in terms of public appeal, so they don’t have to fight him in the ring. Being offered a fight on a date. Is not the same as signing the contract to accept the fight. There are always small details that turn into big stumbling blocks. And until I get full disclosure, if we ever get full disclosure, I will reserve my opinion because I know how dirty this game can be. 

 

I also know that things can be presented in a certain way and in boxing no one cares about the truth or who is right or wrong. They care about what serves their agenda the best. It’s sort of like the court of law. The most prolific outcome term is not “innocent”. It’s “not guilty”. That term is used for a reason. You can be found not guilty because of a good presentation in court but not be innocent. That will go over many heads but those in the know, will know.

 

I will also admit on the surface it doesn’t look good. In the court of public opinion it looks like Boots turned down an opportunity of a lifetime. But that doesn’t mean the opinion on the surface is the truth. Let’s see….

It was recently reported that Wladimir Klitschko entered negotiations to fight Daniel Dubois in February. As we know now, those negotiations didn’t go anywhere. Dubois will defend his title against Joseph Parker instead. I have to ask, do you think Klitschko can be competitive at this time? I actually think Dubois-Klitschko would be a close fight. I wanted your take since it was almost a real thing. Thank you!

Bread’s Response: I didn’t hear about Klitshcko vs Dubois. I can’t really say if Klitschko could be competitive. He’s about 48 right now and Dubois is on his best career run. I would have to see how Wlad is training and how his sparring is going to assess his chances. On a blind guess, I would suggest he stay retired.

What’s up Bread, My name is Uriel. First time writing to you. Been reading your mailbags for a number of years now and while I feel that for the most part you stay neutral and unbiased in the topic of boxing every so often you go out of your way to show preference to certain fighters, particular black fighters. And that’s okay. You’re also black so of course you wanna see black fighters succeed. Nothing wrong with that. A couple of weeks ago you predicted that Boots Ennis would stop Vergil Ortiz if they ever fought. I laughed at that cause nothing I’ve ever seen from Boots  has shown me that he has the ability to stop Vergil. Granted Vergil was dropped twice In his last fight but if we’re being honest he wasn’t hurt by either of the knockdowns and I actually thought he came back and won the round when he first got dropped. But my question is how you gonna spin Boots ducking Vergil? And it’s a duck man, no other way about it. He was offered the Vergil fight, he came up with a BS excuse about not wanting to lose his title at welterweight and refused the fight. I smell pussy coming from him and if you’re being honest with yourself then you smell it too! You said Boots would stop Vergil and he had an opportunity to prove it but it’s obvious Boots doesn’t have as much confidence in himself the way you do in him. So can we admit Boots is ducking Vergil? Certain fighters want all the smoke and have the balls to attempt to be great like Vergil and Floyd Schofield who at 22 yrs of age is going up against Shakur. That’s what you call true warriors. Then you have weak minded fighters like Boots, Tank and Canelo who refuse to take fights in which they aren’t favored. And I’m a Canelo fan but I’m keeping it real here. I smell pussy coming from Canelo by him not fighting Benavidez. And I don’t agree with your theory that he’s earned the right to fight whoever he wants. He needs to fight the best or give up the titles. But I blame the fans who still support and pay to watch his fights. They are the reason why fighters like Canelo and Tank can fight who they want and still make alot of money. Cause some people are just too stupid and they’ll pay to see their favorite fighter fight whoever they want. I’m not one of them though! Respectfully, Uriel

Bread’s Response: It’s funny how you guys bring up race when I think highly of a black fighter. But I said last week that if Zurdo Ramirez gets a few more quality wins at cruiserweight he could be in HOF consideration and I got hate mail for it that I had to erase. It’s funny when I say that Loma is a division ATG at 130, I get hate mail. It’s funny when I say that if Monster Inoue was 147lbs then the history of boxing would look different, I get criticized. But because I say Boots Ennis is a special talent, you bring up race because we are black. Well ok let’s talk about race, I will play your game. 

 

Black fighters historically have been the best fighters in boxing and at the same time, the most discriminated against. Let’s start with Joe Gans, Sam Langford and Jack Johnson as the best fighters in the world around the turn of the century. Then let’s move on to the best of the best. Joe Louis and Henry Armstrong in the 1930s were the best fighters.Then how about Sugar Ray Robinson, Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore in the 1940s and 50s were the best. Next Muhammad Ali in the 60s and 70s was the best. Next Sugar Ray Leonard in the 70s and 80s was the best. The next, Marvin Hagler in the 80s, who had to wait until he had over 50 fights for a title shot and got racially attacked after he won it. Next Pernell Whitaker in the 80s and 90s was the best. Next Roy Jones in the 90s and 2000s was the best. Next was Bernard Hopkins in the 2000s as a #1 P4P fighter. Next Floyd Mayweather in the 2000s as the GUY. Now currently Terence Crawford.

 

That’s over 100 years of boxing. And for the most part, for maybe the exception of a down time between the Jack Johnson era and the Louis/Armstrong era a black fighter has been either the consensus best or had a strong argument for being the world’s best fighter. So it’s not about me “wanting” to see the black fighter succeed. They have been the most successful overall for the exception of the 20+ years in which they were blackballed from fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world between 1915 and 1937.

 

Yes I take exception to your comment. Because I was a person who called Chocolatito P4P#1. I am a person who says GGG is a great fighter despite those Canelo decisions. I am a person who says Usyk could compete in any era vs anybody. Now all of sudden I’m trying to spin something for Boots. Was I spinning for Usyk?

 

Just because he was offered a fight scheduled for 3 months after his last fight. And he’s choosing not to take it. And Team Ortiz calls him a duck doesn’t mean he’s a duck. Were they ducks when they said Vergil wasn’t ready for Crawford? Were they unprofessional when they pulled out on Stanionis not once but twice because of weight issues at 147 when Ortiz started out at 140 and actually signed to fight Stanionis. Who did they duck in December when Ortiz allegedly needed more time to get ready?

 

From my knowledge all that happened was Ennis vs Ortiz was proposed. And there was a verbal agreement from the promoters. That happens all the time without fights actually taking place. Just because a team “likes” the fight. Doesn’t mean they like the money, timing, weight etc. Terms have to be agreed to after the verbal agreement. People are rushing to judgment and that’s because they don’t want Boots to be everything he’s said to be. Because fights get talked about all the time and they never happen. Every single fight I have ever signed off on, I verbally agreed to before I signed. And I have verbally agreed to fights that didn’t happen because of specific terms. I feel like this may be being made a bigger deal than it has to be.  

 

If Boots signed a contract and agreed to ALL of the terms, then tried to change the terms a month before the fight. I wouldn’t say one word to defend him. Because there is NO defense for that. But all that was reported was that the fight was verbally agreed to. There are always sticking points that have to be agreed to and signed off on. 

 

Boots is also a champion at 147lbs. He has expressed a desire to unify. Whether you call it foolish or not, that’s the desire he has expressed. Since when is not moving up to face an interim champion a duck? The timing of this fight favors Ortiz. Ortiz last fought in August. Boots fought in November. In order for Boots to fight February 22nd, he would have to start camp around the week of Christmas. That card was set to go whether he was fighting on it or not. So he has NO say in when they can fight for this specific fight. So maybe the timing wasn’t good for him coming off of a tough camp. Maybe he still has a desire to unify at 147. I have no idea what happened. What I do know is that no one from his direct team has spoken out with an explanation. And until someone does and I get to research and assess the facts, I’m not rushing to judgment. 

 

I can remember HBO allegedly forcing Andre Ward to fight Sergey Kovalev. People claimed Ward was scared because he wanted a couple of fights to get his feet wet at 175. Regardless of what you think of the fights. One thing we know is that Ward wasn’t afraid of the Krusher but he fought him when he was ready to fight him. 

 

The boxing world used to blame Roy Jones for NOT wanting to go to Germany to fight Dariusz Michalczewski. Despite Jones being the more decorated fighter, unifying the WBC, WBA and IBF and Michalczewski just having the WBO. Go figure.

 

I can remember Pernell Whitaker being robbed out of the most significant win of the 90s against Julio Cesar Chavez. Then right after the Whitaker fight I can remember Frankie Randall beating Chavez, then in turn getting screwed in a rematch over a cut rule. Randall only won a split decision in the 1st fight yet he scored a knockdown and Chavez had 2 points taken away from him. Funny how they didn’t do an immediate rubber match despite the controversy in the rematch that was inconclusive. When Chavez lost, an immediate rematch was ordered. But when Randall lost on a controversial rule…..You know what happened without me saying it.

 

On a smaller personal scale my fighter Kyrone Davis just beat Elijah Garcia. Garcia pulled out of the first fight on March 30th. We didn’t know until the weigh in. On June 15th for their next scheduled fight Garcia the #1 ranked WBA contender at middleweight came in 5lbs over. After negotiations we accepted him coming in 3lbs over, even though my fighter struggled like hell to make weight and do the right thing. We won the fight by split decision despite winning 8 rounds clean. One judge gave Garcia the fight 98-92. But get this, that’s not even the biggest deal. Garcia has a fight scheduled already and Kyrone is still waiting on a fight date and Kyrone won!

 

I have more but I think you get the point. So you need to pause the next time you start telling me about how I want black fighters to do well. They do well enough and they don’t need me to want anything. But the system of boxing usually makes it a little bit harder for them. Yes, you made me go there.

 

Canelo not wanting to fight Benavidez is not even close to Boots and Ortiz. Benavidez has been clearing out challengers in the same division that Canelo was in for several years. Ortiz moved up to 154 and was never champion. Boots is currently at 147. This is the first time there was a formal offer for them to fight. Benavidez was Canelo’s mandatory for years!!!! This is a complete apples and oranges comparison. There is no way Boots would be allowed to not fight a fighter of Benavidez’s stature who was his mandatory. For crying out loud he was just forced to fight Karen for the second time. Canelo has never been forced to fight anyone. 

 

The only thing I can slightly criticize Ennis about, is he needs more proactive management to handle this type of bad PR. The kid just wants to fight. But he has to realize this game is bigger than just what happens in the ring for 36 minutes. Other than that, I’m waiting to hear his explanation. And yes I still think he knocks Ortiz out. 

 

Hi Bread, as always the weekly mailbags are appreciated. Great performance by Yafai unfortunately it does have to be caveated by Edwards non-performance, as much as people may not want to. What did you make of the fight and both fighters? Not sure if you saw it live, but on the broadcast in round two, Edwards said he didn’t want to be there. As a trainer would you always pull him out in that situation? Does it depend on the fighter? In the context of this fight, he had a new corner, was main event and a former world champ, so I’m not criticising the trainer for letting him continue. Another point, I know you’ve critiqued British trainers and fairly I believe. I think Rob McCracken deserves a lot of respect in the UK and he’s often overlooked in the UK. He took Froch from pro and they became HOF together, he took AJ from amateurs to Olympic gold medalist and two time world champion and now has Galal Yafai from amateurs to a world title shot (I assume). Admittedly he has a strong position in UK boxing amateur scene so gets an early look at fighters, but Froch wasn’t a standout amateur and AJ and Galal both started boxing around 18ish. What do you make of him as a trainer? 

Bread’s Response: Robert McCracken is the truth. Anytime you produce a HOF that does not have overwhelming talent, then you’re the goods a trainer. Carl Froch was the second best super middleweight of his era and he fought Murderer’s Row. I have nothing but respect for McCracken. In all honesty, I didn’t name him because I sort of forgot about him because I haven’t seen him on the scene with a top guy recently. I didn’t even know if he was still training fighters. But he did a great job with Yafai.

 

I thought Yafai did his thing vs Edwards. He didn’t allow Edwards to work his way into the fight. That’s how you fight a fighter who lacks confidence.

 

I am not going to criticize Sunny Edwards or his coach. His coach was in a very tough spot. If you stop a fight after two rounds, it may look like you took a dive and your money may get held up with the commission. The coach also could have thought that Edwards was just having a moment and he would pull through. There are so many layers to this. It’s hard to criticize in real time. 

 

I have no idea what I would have done if a fighter told me they didn’t want to be in the ring after two rounds. It’s a very unique position. 

 

In the past I have observed in Edwards that he carries high anxiety. He talks fast. He’s very hyper. I saw an interview where he said he has a nicotine addiction and he uses medical marijuana. Neither is the worst thing in the world. But everything combined with his anxiety driven personality, I didn’t expect him to have longevity. When you’re as hyper as he is, it’s most likely hard to sleep at night. That affects the brain function. I wish Sunny Edwards the best and I hope he has a happy retirement and he gets the help that he needs. He was a very good fighter and he has nothing to be ashamed of. It’s better to retire a little early, than a little late.

 

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