In this week’s Mailbag, Stephen “Breadman” Edwards answers questions about possible future fights for Terence Crawford, the middleweight clash between Erislandy Lara and Danny Garcia and reflects on the Fight of the Year contender between Vergil Ortiz and Serhii Bohachuk.
Hello Breadman, With four sanctioning bodies there is ample opportunity for a boxer to become champion. My question is should fighters just be given titles without fighting for them in the ring? I am not singling anyone out but it has happened twice recently. Why not match the two top contenders for the title. It may be because fighters don’t want the fights . I think we are seeing an era where business decisions outweigh titles. Boots was handed his title now Brian Norman Jr has been handed his title. Both fight at welterweight, so this would be a good matchup. For the real titles. Should a fighter get credit for a title he did not win in the ring. When they announce a three-division Champion, should it count if the fighter didn’t throw a punch to win the title.
Thank You, J.B.
Bread’s Response: You know I never call a fighter an EMAIL champion or any of the monikers that come with getting a belt without fighting the champion. Here is why: Ennis and Norman were the mandatories. All they did was enforce the rule. The law!! It’s not their fault that the champion chose not to fight them. They didn’t want to WAIT around for a shot, that can take YEARS in this era. So their teams put pressure on the sanctioning bodies. If Ennis and Norman would have taken step aside money or turned down their title shots, the critics would say they didn’t really want the smoke. So instead they enforce the rules, and they still get criticized.
I would have loved to see them fight the champion. But the champion chose another route so they fought for interim titles and then were subsequently elevated. I have no issue with that. In a perfect world the champion gets stripped and then the TOP TWO available contenders fight for the title. But in these cases the champion was not stripped before Ennis and Norman won the interim titles. The criticism shouldn’t be in the direction of the fighter who enforced the rules and was awarded his belt. The criticism should be on the sanctioning bodies for NOT stripping or forcing the champion to fight the mandatories. I have ZERO issues with Jaron Ennis or Brian Norman. They wanted to fight the champion but never got the opportunity. So they did the next best thing. NOT THEIR FAULT.
Could you give me your take on Erislandy Lara against Danny Garcia? I’m really excited for this one. I’m hoping the winner gets a big fight. Thank you!
Bread’s Response: Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that if Danny Garcia wins, he’s in the Hall of Fame. I really believe that. After thinking about the historical significance, I feel like Lara is a tough style for Danny because Danny will have to expend a lot of energy with his feet to either get to Lara or make Lara come to him and run him into something.
In terms of energy efficiency, the fight favors Lara. But something tells me, Danny can fight a smoke and mirror type of fight and we may see some scoring controversy. I’m not saying he will win, but this is a fight that Danny CAN win. I need more time to assess the fight but I don’t feel Danny is over his head.
This fight depends on how bad Danny wants it, and what type of game plan he can come up with. Lara is going to be Lara. Loose, smooth, confident and game. He’s not going to move too much. But he’s going to shoot that straight left hand and try to knock Danny’s head off. Danny will have to adjust to Lara’s length and sharp shooting. Lara makes everyone adjust to him.
Hello Breadman, The fight I always wanted to see was Bud Crawford vs Jermell Charlo. If they had fought, who would you favor in that fight? Something I don’t understand is how a truly great fighter like Crawford isn’t popular with the fans. It seems the Madrimov fight was not a huge success in financial terms , low crowd and low ppv numbers. How can this be? If Bud fought Boots, would this be a super fight, not only in boxing terms but also at the box office. If so, these guys should fight? This is the greatest fight that can be made. I also want to get your thoughts on Charles Conwell. He seems to be very good. I think he beats Virgil Ortiz right now. Maybe Boots vs Conwell down the line. Thank You, J.B.
Bread’s Response: I think Bud is a superstar. He’s very popular. But he’s not the type of fighter that can sell BIG without the proper dance partner. Madrimov is a very good fighter but he’s not the dance partner I’m talking about. Boots would be that dance partner. Casuals and hardcore fans would all tune in and it would be a huge fight regardless of what people may say. Boots is a bigger draw than Madrimov. Boots just sold 14k tickets in his hometown in a professional basketball arena…..
Bud Crawford and Jermell Charlo would also be a huge fight and they have bad blood. If the fight was at 154lb which I’m assuming it would be, I would make Bud the favorite. Not a huge favorite because Jermell is a clutch puncher and he has been known to land that money shot. But Jermell hasn’t fought in over a year and his last fight was at 168 where he lost convincingly to Canelo. So Jermell hasn’t made 154lb in several years. He’s been inactive. He may or may not have confidence issues after the Canelo loss but that’s something to consider. And Bud is simply Bud the world’s #1 fighter. So I’m factoring the size and the possibility of Jermell clipping him. Which are real things. But right at this moment, I would make Bud a favorite. Somewhere around -220.
What’s up Breadman!I saw the Crawford fight last week, and I thought like you that he had a solid performance against a real dangerous and poised adversary. What I found amazing is the extra focus that he can have every single second of the fight and thanks to that he controlled the pace there were no debates about who won that one. This weekend we saw another good scrap at 154, Ortiz vs Bohachuk, and man we have to give big credit to the Ukrainian! For me he won the fight with his composure and discipline. Kudos to Manny Robles who told him the perfect words to motivate him during the early storm: “this is a marathon”, he was totally right and we saw the effect on his guy. Ortiz is extremely good, but I think what we saw here is how much the EQ can sometimes hurt the IQ. Let me explain, I think Ortiz has a real good boxing IQ, but he also has big ego in my opinion (even though I like him a lot), and he can’t stand being hurt or overworked, he turns into an animal but not in a good way for me. I think if there is a rematch he will win that one with his boxing skills and this time showing his real IQ. But if Crawford comes next maybe his EQ will get hurt again but I’m not sure about that. If he can work on that point, maybe he can edge a potential fight of the year! With Robert Garcia he’s in the perfect hands for that, but I feel like his dad might have not the best influence on him, but that’s his dad. Have you encountered a case with one of your fighters in which you had to warn him about the influence of his close entourage and even ask him to do something about that? Thanks a lot for your time! Max from France
Bread’s Response: I thought Crawford won pretty clean too. He just didn’t beat up Madrimov too bad, and people are used to seeing that from him. But I always make reference to his fight vs Victor Postol, where he boxed a very efficient fight. Bud’s ability to concentrate for 12 rounds is Mayweather-esque.
Ortiz vs Bohachuk was a tremendous fight. I came away impressed with Bohachuk’s ability to fight on even terms with a fighter in Ortiz who had every advantage over him in terms of talent. I also came away impressed with Ortiz’s heart and determination. But I also came away CONCERNED about Ortiz. I feel like Ortiz is a clear level above Bohachuk in terms of talent. And although he showed great heart and determination, it is concerning that he was pushed to the LIMIT. I feel like a special elite 154lber would handle a fighter of Bohachuk’s level a little easier. Maybe it was just that particular style match up… We shall see. But if it wasn’t Ortiz will be more of a great action fighter, than a great fighter.
Ortiz in my opinion looked mentally and physically spent by the conclusion of the fight. Vergil does everything hard and fast. He tries so hard to punch fast and hard, that I think the EXTRA effort fatigues. He’s almost doing too much. You may be right about his EQ, which is different from IQ. It will be up to him and his team to fix it. But I will say that, he may not have the time because they said after the fight they were trying to match him with Crawford next. If that happens, I favor Crawford.
It simply comes down to composure to me. Crawford is the generation’s best finisher. The reason why he finishes so well is because the fight has slowed down for him. He sees everything. Where as Vergil does not. Vergil had Bohachuk hurt several times and missed opportunities. He also was hurt himself several times and didn’t defend the right hand very well.
High strung fighters make those mistakes because they are always rushing. And we all know, when you rush you miss stuff. If Vergil doesn’t settle down mentally, he’s going to have a Meldrick Taylor or Fernando Vargas type of career. Where they reached high peaks and made good money but their styles were too violent and high strung and because of that neither had longevity.
I would be concerned about Vergil going down the stretch vs Crawford. I CAN NOT speak of Vergil’s dad because I’ve never met him or Vergil. And I have not seen how they interact. But to answer you, I have seen family members and friends who are distractions. Most times I will say something. But it’s up to the fighters to absorb the message. Most times they will choose their friends and family over their trainer. So that’s slippery slope. But I don’t mind saying anything, because when they lose, the family and friends don’t get blamed for poor performances. The trainer does….
Breadman! Thank you for recognizing the greats of the past and sharing your extensive knowledge with us concerning the boxing landscape! I appreciate your honesty and description of the sweet science of prize fighting! My question is this: Do you think people are sleeping on Shakur? From a technical aspect, he looks like someone who could give anyone problems in his weight class. I don’t buy into the running narrative or lack of punching power. What I see is a masterful technician in pure boxing. I know that bloodlust fans want knockouts and brutal exchanges, but I am one who appreciates the “hit and not get hit” style. What is your view on him? Also, what advice would you give him to market himself better? Finally, how do you see him matching up with some of the greats like Floyd Mayweather and Pernell Whitaker? I’ll even throw in a Macho Camacho in the mix. Thank you for your answer and good luck with your daughter and her career. I am a single father of four girls and I know the challenges! Thanks again for your insight! #ALoyalFollower!
Bread’s Response: Thank you. I appreciate that. I don’t think people are sleeping on Shakur. They know he’s very difficult to beat. What I think is happening is there are people that don’t like Shakur. So it’s easier for “them” to criticize him because they don’t like him. Shakur has a similar ko% to Dmitry Bivol. But Bivol doesn’t get the criticism that Shakur gets, because he is not as disliked.
People as a whole co-mingle their objectivity with who they like and dislike, which hurts their ability to be objective. I personally never get into that. If a fighter can fight, he can fight. It doesn’t matter to me who likes him or not. Shakur Stevenson CAN fight.
I don’t like giving anyone advice that I don’t know personally. One is because it’s not my business and two is because they may take it the wrong way. But you asked me a question……I would tell him to not be so combative on social media. It doesn’t help anything. I would also tell him to not talk about destroying or stopping his opponents. Because no one can throw it up in his face, when he gets a decision, if he doesn’t talk about destroying an opponent. Last but not least I would tell him to not talk in the corner when his grand pop is talking. That’s not a good look.
But we have to remember that Shakur is growing up in front of our eyes. And everyone has growing pains. He’s going to mature at his own pace and while he’s maturing we have to give him a certain level of GRACE because everyone deserves grace when it comes to maturing.
Shakur is a super talented kid. But he’s not where Mayweather and Whitaker were at 27. Both were already Fighter of the Year by the time they were that age and higher on the P4P list. by the time Whitaker was 27 he was a top lightweight ever. By the time Mayweather was 27 he was a top junior lightweight ever. So I would take them both over him. I think Shakur vs Camacho is a pick ‘em fight.
Greetings Breadman, As always, I hope you and your family are doing well. I went to the fight in Los Angeles this past weekend and it was a great atmosphere. Personally, I believe the fight with Crawford vs Madrimov was a draw, very close fight. Certain fans believed Crawford pulled it out the last 2 rounds, while others thought he might have lost by a point. Many rounds were close and hard to score, similar to the Haney vs Loma fight. Even though Madrimov was the champion, he needed to be more aggressive to win those rounds in that type of fighter and against Crawford. Facing a fighter with over 300 amateur bouts is never easy, but Crawford being inactive for 2 years played a bigger role. It appears the potential fight with Canelo will not happen anymore for various reasons and Crawford not dominating in this fight in a new division changed some people’s opinions in the boxing world. At this point of his career, it’s important for Crawford to choose the best fights as I know he wants to do. Like everyone else, I hope Crawford fights Boots, but Ortiz might be the more realistic fight that happens if he wins this weekend in a tough fight. Personally, I just hope that Crawford doesn’t fight Sebastian Fundora because there are better options for him and Fundora can’t be competitive with him. More importantly, I got 2 questions for you Breadman: 1) What are your thoughts about the Crawford-Madrimov fight? Anything surprised you that we as fans might not have noticed? 2) I will also be in Vegas next month for the Canelo-Berlanga fight and I’m glad to hear that Caleb Plant will now fight on that undercard. Are you excited about Caleb fighting on this card on Mexican Independence Day weekend? What should we expect from Caleb? Thank you for your insight Breadman and I always look forward to the weekly mailbags. Kind regards, Eman from Los Angeles
Bread’s Response: I thought Crawford vs Madrimov was a chess match that Crawford clearly won but didn’t dominate. I have no issue with his performance. All the greats have had them. Madrimov is a very good fighter and he’s bigger than Bud from a natural size stand point.
Expect Caleb to look very good vs Trevor McCumby next month.
What’s good, Bread? Your rock/paper/scissors theory of boxing styles played out again this past Saturday. With the Eastern European style giving a lot of difficulty to the urban/African American style as Crawford just barely edged past Madrimov. After seeing that I don’t like Bud’s chances against the even bigger and more iron chinned Canelo. David Morrell didn’t look like his usual impressive self in his first fight at 175lbs, much like David Benavidez didn’t. The jump to light heavyweight is not that easy to make it would seem. What were your thoughts on Martin Bakole? Very impressive showing in my opinion. Jared Anderson didn’t fight poorly at all and showed heart, but he just happened to run into a freaking freight train. The commentator comparing Bakole to George Foreman was spot on, he is a massive man with bludgeoning power. Dare I say a heavy handed debilitator? The performance of the night I thought…well, it was between him and Rayo Valenzuela but I have a preference for knockouts. Take care, -ShoulderRoll from the BoxingScene forums
Bread’s Response: Hey how are you ShoulderRoll? We agree on the stylistic difficulties that certain races/regions/nationalities present. But Canelo isn’t Eastern European. So while the Eastern Europeans have given Black American fighters difficulty, I don’t need to name the match ups. There have been plenty. The Black American style gives Mexican fighters difficulty. So if we apply the Rock, Paper, Scissors of boxing to the Eastern Europeans and Blacks, we have to also apply it to the Blacks vs Mexicans.
I don’t know what happened with Morrell. That was a weird fight to get a take on. But I think we will see Benavidez vs Morrell now…
Bakole looked like a wrecking machine. I am not sure how he got past me. But he did. That was very impressive. All I knew about him was that he was stopped by Michael Hunter and he had beat Tony Yoka. But I wasn’t expecting to see what I saw. I don’t want to go too crazy with praise on one great night, but that was something. I’m looking forward to seeing Bakole and Anderson again so I can get a proper take on what happened.
Hi Bread, Hope you and yours are doing well Sir. Came across an interesting passage in my daily reading that talked about simplicity and how “Simplicity is the best limitation of the non-essentials in all things.” The chapter went on to talk about how Simplicity can lead to better decision making and overall better quality outcomes. You see fighters in the ring that appear to be very complex, flashy in the way their offensive and/or defensive attacks (for e.g., SRL, SRR, Floyd Mayweather, Canelo, J.M. Marquez to name a few). Then you have those that “to the eye” appear to keep things very simple but were very successful in their approach (e.g., Tim Bradley, Kovalev, Pavlik, Jermain Taylor). Note: my examples aforementioned from each category could be totally off base in comparison to your trained eye.
From your experience, who are some of the more renowned fighters (let’s say at their APEX… 3 examples from pre-2000; 3 examples from post-2000 fighters) who leveraged a simple/basic approach to boxing but MAXIMIZED their status (i.e., world titles, acclaim, or even hall of fame)?
Bread’s Response: Great Question. Pre 2000 is easy for me. Joe Louis, Carlos Monzon and Alexis Arguello are all ATG greats. All top 5 ever in their respective weight divisions. And ALL kept it as simple as possible. Louis literally never came out of his boxing stance. He never seemed to be in a hurry but always seemed to catch up with his opponents. He threw every punch in the book, in proper context.
Monzon was basically a 1-2 fighter. He leaned away from punches or extended his arms. He never threw fancy combinations. He rarely did a lot to avoid punches. Nothing he did WOWED you. But when you look at his results and effectiveness you were wowed.
Arguello is very similar to Louis. Stayed in punching position. Kept his feet under him. Delivered every punch in the book in proper context. Great, great fighter.
All of these fighters were GREAT LATE in fights because of their simplicity.
Post 2000 this is a harder question because simplicity is not encouraged in this era. But I will say Lennox Lewis, GGG and Winky Wright.
Lewis extended his arms for defense. He threw a powerful but educated jab. Dropped quick right hands. And every once in a while he mixed in a hook or uppercut. He rinsed and repeated this into the HOF and is a top 10 heavyweight ever.
GGG walked behind a ram rod jab. Dropped power shots and body shots and never came out of sorts. He’s going in the HOF as soon as he’s eligible.
Winky Wright held his hands up high. Threw a hard jab. And walked guys down, not to knock them out but to confuse them and out point them. It was simple but very effective. He’s also a HOF.
Hey Bread, Who are your ultimate problem solvers in boxing right now/all-time? I mean guys who just find a way to get it done (get a win)? Is a finisher the same thing as a problem solver? For me it’s Uysk, Crawford, Tank and then Floyd. You pointed out something about Crawford, that was astute. His body work is ATG, he does some sneaky stuff that the untrained eye doesn’t catch, he digs those body shots in. I’m going back to his fights and it’s crazy the angles he’s able to squeeze those shots in. Speaking of Crawford, does last week’s fight change your mind on how Ortiz matches up with him. The vibe I get is that most 154 guys aren’t in a rush to fight him. The Ortiz and Crawford fights have shown me that the average fan doesn’t know how to score and just goes off emotion. Just because both guys were troubled doesn’t mean they lost, they did the cleaner work and won by effective boxing. Shon Green
Bread’s Response: Crawford is one of the best body punchers I have ever seen. It’s SUBTLE so it gets overlooked. But his opponent’s organs aren’t overlooking those shots. They know what they’re being hit with.
Best current and past problem solvers. Let’s see…Currently I like Bud, Usyk, Inoue and Canelo.
All-time I like Leonard, Ali, Mayweather, Hopkins and Whitaker.
You missed the point I was making two weeks ago. To answer your question about the scenario involving a woman I was interested in… If I expressed interest in a woman and she expected me to jump through hoops to further demonstrate my interest, I would have to pull the plug and cut my losses at some point. At least I made an attempt and can’t kick myself for not even trying. Boots scored an impressive win over Roiman Villa a year ago, then he sat on his behind for twelve months. The Villa fight wasn’t particularly taxing, so what’s the reason for a dynamic young fighter in his prime sitting down for a year? Ennis just stopped Avanesyan. Again, not a particularly strenuous fight. Eddie should have another fight lined up for the young man before the holiday season. If Boots’ next fight is in July 2025, the blame can no longer be placed on PBC, Showtime or the man on the moon. I’m making two points: (1) A closed mouth is presumed to not be hungry and doesn’t get fed, and (2) At some point, you have to go where the work is. The work is no longer at 147. Even if Ennis becomes undisputed at 147 by beating Barrios, Norman Jr. and Stanionis, what does that really do for his legacy? The work is at 154, not 147. Crawford, Tszyu, Conwell, Ortiz Jr., Madrimov, Murtazaliev and Fundora are at 154. That’s where Boots should be if he’s really looking for smoke. Again, sitting in an empty welterweight division does what for his career? Instead of sitting around whining about not having any dance partners, why not go where the jukebox is playing and bust a few new moves? If things are stagnant, go where the action is, and right now, that’s the jr. middleweight division.
I have a bone or two to pick with the International Boxing Hall of Fame. As I scan the Modern inductees, certain names are missing. Well, putting it another way, I see fighters in the IBHOF who did not have better careers than Stevie Collins or José Luis Ramirez. If guys like Carlos Palomino, Lupe Pintor, Winky Wright, Ken Norton, Ray Mancini and Buddy McGirt are in the IBHOF, Stevie Collins and José Luis Ramirez should most definitely be in also. Collins retired 36-3 and twice defeated a prime Nigel Benn and prime Chris Eubank Sr. Of his three losses, two were extremely close on the road. His loss to McCallum occurred fairly early in his career. As far as Ramirez, his resume speaks for itself in terms of wins/losses, quality of opposition, longevity and the fact that in over ninety pro fights, he was never stopped. Marlon Starling is another fighter who comes to mind that should definitely be in the IBHOF. No disrespect to Diego Corrales (R.I.P.) or Arturo Gatti, but it’s patently disgraceful that Gatti and Corrales are in the IBHOF, but Stevie Collins, Marlon Starling and José Ramirez are not. Induction should be based on quality of career and not on the ability to provide blood and guts roster fights for uneducated fans who don’t like fights unless they involve eyeballs and teeth on the canvas. Carl Hewitt Queens, NY
Bread’s Response: I didn’t miss the point. You didn’t answer my question. Did Terence Crawford, who was in a similar situation that Boots Ennis was in years ago, get in the ring and call out Manny Pacquiao, Errol Spence or Keith Thurman?
Of course Crawford wanted those fights and opportunities. Of course people knew he was a worthy challenge. But he didn’t do what you want Boots to do, in order to get a fight with HIM. So why are you asking Boots to do something that Crawford didn’t have to do to get a BIG fight? Did Madrimov have to CALL Crawford out and jump in the ring to fight him? Did Shawn Porter have to?
Just say you like criticizing Boots because I like him and you get off on trolling. It makes for good back and forth on this platform, but you’re trolling for sure.
So you think Boots SAT down for a year voluntarily. You sound CRAZY. So he broke off his affiliation with PBC, right when his bout fell out in the spring, by coincidence. Is that what you’re telling me? Again you sound foolish. It’s common knowledge he left PBC because he wasn’t active and he became frustrated. Not blaming PBC because you can’t MAKE an opponent fight. But that’s why he left.
If Ennis wins all 4 belts at 147, it would be just as significant as Crawford winning all 4 belts at 140. Stanionis and Norman are undefeated strong fighters and they would be real wins for Ennis if they fought him. More importantly, Boots was just the mandatory to a belt that Crawford won in his best career performance. They could’ve fought at welterweight!!! How did you conveniently forget that?
You act like Crawford has been at 154 for years and Boots claimed he wanted the fight but never moved up to get the fight. That’s not what happened. Both guys were at 147 at the same time for 6 years! So stop moving the goal posts and rewriting history to adhere to your subjective preference.
I personally don’t believe a fighter has to jump weight divisions to be great. It’s a great accomplishment to jump divisions but I find it equally as impressive if you clean out your ERA in your dominant division and you take on the FIELD. Bud cleaned out 140 and 147 before he moved up. So why are you rushing Boots to move up before he unifies? Again you’re trolling because you can’t be consistent with your takes. But don’t worry Ennis is a big welterweight. He will move up soon enough. But he doesn’t have to chase a fight that probably won’t happen anyway.
Crawford has clearly expressed he’s looking towards Canelo and bigger fights than Ennis. So Ennis moves up to chase Crawford to get what exactly…. Crawford is the A side, he dictates the terms NOT Boots. Stop acting like Boots doesn’t want the fight bad enough. Because he’s not begging, crying and kicking on the floor to get a fight that Crawford has said he’s not looking to do. I’ve come to accept that they probably will NOT fight. And it has nothing to do with Boots not wanting it bad enough. Or Crawford being scared. They are a decade apart in age and Crawford is looking in another direction.
You claimed Boots wouldn’t go to Riyadh Season. He showed up…..But let me tell you something, it won’t get him a fight. His Excellency named Crawford an Ambassador. He offered Tim Tszyu and Canelo Alvarez fights for Crawford. He didn’t offer Boots Ennis one…. So again stop acting like this is on Boots. Boots and Bud are going in different directions, let’s celebrate them both and stop with the Mayweather/Pacquiao nonsense that caused a Civil War in boxing.
I respect your comment about the HOF. You have some valid points. I thought Jose Luis Ramirez was an excellent hard nosed fighter. But I never got the impression I was watching a HOF. His best win was a ko of Edwin Rosario which is significant but I just don’t know if that puts him in the HOF. I do think he deserves to be on the ballot but I’m not sure he’s a HOF.
I personally don’t have an issue with Gatti or Corrales getting in the HOF. Both won titles in multiple divisions. Both won multiple GREAT fights. Both hit the P4P list during their peaks. And both had good longevity for action fighters. There are other fighters who don’t deserve to be in. But I have ZERO issue with Gatti or Corrales getting in. I don’t like to pick out fighters and say they should NOT be in. But I don’t have an issue with saying who should be in. Gatti and Corrales deserve to be in, in my opinion.
Steve Collins deserves strong consideration. I think you’re correct about him. He’s a top 10 super middleweight ever. He never lost at the weight. And he went on a great run to end his career. He took Eubank’s 0. Which was a big deal in the 90s. Eubank was 41-0. Benn was slightly past his best but it still counts as a major win. I think Collins’s run gets devalued because Benn and Eubank aren’t in the HOF either and they are considered superior fighters. But Collins was a rough out and he was begging for a showdown with the great Roy Jones that he didn’t get. I have no issue with Benn, Eubank or Collins being in. All are worthy.
I also agree about Marlon Starling. He deserves to be at least on the ballot. Starling was very close to being a great fighter and his performances vs Curry, Brown, Honeyghan and Breland warrant strong HOF consideration.
Meldrick Taylor is also a fighter that needs stronger consideration. He won titles at 140 and 147. He stopped Buddy McGirt in his prime as an underdog. He gave a prime Chavez all he could handle in their 1st fight. And even if you think Richard Steele made the right call on the stoppage, which I don’t by the way. You have to acknowledge that Taylor dominated the fight and won at least 9 rounds vs an ATG fighter. On top of that Taylor won a title at 147 and beat some very good fighters in that division including an undefeated Aaron Davis.
Buddy McGirt whom I love as a fighter is in the HOF. I don’t have an issue with Buddy being in. But Meldrick was at least equal to him as a fighter. And he beat him head to head by stoppage when both were in their primes. So Meldrick should be ALONGSIDE Buddy in the HOF. There is a legit case to be made that Meldrick was more dominant as far as winning rounds than Pernell Whitaker was vs Buddy McGirt and Julio Cesar Chavez. He was at least equal to Pernell in terms of performance value vs their common opponents. Meldrick Taylor was a great fighter.
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