I am now of the opinion that Manny Pacquiao is the best of the era. He has beaten all that would fighting him. I believe Floyd Mayweather is the only challenge but he appears to be reluctant to fight Pac under any circumstances. I say this as a Floyd fan but his fear of Pac is growing obvious or at least to me. I am betting on Sergio Martinez next week over P Williams in a thriller that will go back in forth with Sergio banking the middle rounds to squeak it out, as he seems to fade late. -- Steele

Bread’s Response: Pac Man, may be the best of this era. Especially if you do last 10 years. Floyd and Bernard Hopkins are his closest competitors but I have no problem with Pac getting the honors. I am picking Martinez also but I want to point something out to you. Martinez has a fading period every fight around the fifth round and then he regains his second wind the last quarter of the fight. Lots of fighters have this problem but Martinez shows it. Be on the lookout for it this fight. Martinez has had these down spots in many of his fights. Most notably in the Kelly Pavlik fight , Martinez lost rounds five through eight. Every athlete has a point where they become fatigued under strenuous activity. Paul Williams just has the ability to fight completely through to his 2nd wind without decelerating. Oscar De La Hoya had that problem throughout his career. I think Martinez will start fast, slow down in the middle rounds and be forced to steal some of the late rounds to win the fight.
 

Breadman, you are not right about every fight, but your assessment of fights are usually dead on. I am going to quote you, you said that Pacquiao would win but he would really have to earn it. You also said that you had a dream that Pac would get stopped in the sixth round. It almost happened. I will admit I am a Pac hater but I have to give him his props. That was a tremendous performance and you were dead on. I actually thought you were saying it was going to be a tough fight, so you can build up Manny’s accomplishments. But you were right. Margarito really brought it. Maybe this is the hater in me, but this seems impossible without steroids.

Bread’s Response: Until we get proof, let’s stop talking about steroids. The kid is special. Thanks for the props. But you have to understand something, I would not make Margarito out to be a tough opponent unless I believed it. Boxing matches are won in the mind and in the gym. Margarito was really inspired mentally and he trained like an animal, literally. I knew he would fight until his last breathe.  Fans sent me comments suggesting this fight was a set up. Some even suggested a conspiracy theory that promoter Bob Arum wanted Pac to lose. I hope everyone of them is humble when they write in. Arum does not want Manny to lose and this was real fight. Manny was just better plain and simple. Sometimes we out think ourselves and we want the truth to be something other than what it is.

You guys may not realize just how close Manny was to getting stopped. He was severely hurt in the 6th round. He was also hurt in I believe the 9th. Manny was also not in dog [top] shape. He was in good shape but not dog shape. If he was he would have stopped Margarito in the 10th or 11th. All in all, the kid is so special. I can’t stop praising Manny after that performance.

Margarito was actually fighting a good fight. He was throwing a hard jab to keep Manny in his line of fire. He also went to Manny’s body and he landed his Sunday punch, the left uppercut. Manny still prevailed! The thing that I love the most about Manny is his fighting spirit. The guy is always crossing his heart and looking to god for strength. I am not going to get religious but that inspires Manny. He has that inner strength that he calls on when things get tough. Just look at his fights and you see him constantly doing that. We are witnessing a really special fighter and we should appreciate him instead of discrediting him. When a man gives us so much of himself, we should embrace him.
 
 
 
Manny Pacquiao is the truth but he gets hit way more than Floyd Mayweather does. That counts for something. I know you will try to put your spin on it, but Manny takes way more punishment than Floyd does.

Bread’s Response: I don’t have to put a spin on anything. Manny does get hit more than Floyd and I have never said otherwise. Floyd is better defensively. Period. But you have to realize something. Aggressive, offensive smaller fighters get hit. You have to bring ass to whoop ass. There has never been an aggressive smaller fighter that does not get hit.

Listen and listen closely. The average welterweight throws 58 punches/round. Floyd throws less than 40. There is a reason for that. When a fighter punches he becomes vulnerable. Floyd knows this. The fights in my opinion that Floyd has been hit the most were his fights against Zab Judah, Demarcus Corley and Emanuel Augustus. In all of those fights he was aggressive offensively. Now ask yourself am I spinning things or am I spitting the truth. If Floyd fought every fight like he did the Augustus fight, he would get hit too. He chooses not to and more power to him. That’s smart. But you have to evaluate everything, not just the points that make your statement somewhat true.
 
 

Where do you rank Manny now on your all time p4p list? Who do you think he should fight next? I keep hearing Shane Mosley. I think that fight sucks.

Bread’s Response: He has to be top 25 and rising fast. Really fast. Top 25 for this time period is really high. I have a lot of respect for Shane Mosley but I don’t like that fight. I talked to a prominent member of the boxing community yesterday and he told me that a Mosley/Pacquiao fight would be a travesty. Those were his exact words. I love Manny but I don’t like this fight. Mosley has just came off of two horrible performances. His performance was so bad against Mora, most agree that he really won the fight [officially, it was scored a draw], but nobody made a big deal about it, because of how bad Shane looked. That performance on top of his dismal performance against Mayweather, makes the Pacquiao/Mosley fight a must NOT see in my opinion. There is no real suspense in that fight. I feel Mosley’s only real chance is to catch Manny with a big shot. Other than that I see, Shane’s corner stopping the fight around the 10th round.

Manny should fight the winner of Timothy Bradley vs. Devon Alexander or Andre Berto. [Editor's note: Manny vs. the Sergio Martinez-Paul Williams II would be a dream match-up]. Plain and simple. Boxing needs to let some of these young fighters get some of the limelight and stop letting the same names monopolize the huge fights. I hope Manny gives one of these young, prime, in-their-20’s fighters a chance. I say this with no disrespect to Shane but I just feel people will only buy the fight, because of names. Not because of intrigue as to who will win.
 
 
Manny is the all that Bread. I know you have been high on him for the longest but man he is a bad mother you know what. Do you think Floyd will ever fight him?

Bread’s Response: Yes he is. Little things that Manny does impress me so much. First off Margarito was attempting to take SOMETHING in his dressing room. The HBO cameras did a good job. A member of Manny’s team put it out there. I feel as though the Texas Commission blew it. They wanted to test after the fight but that’s too late. They should have taken urine from Margarito before the fight, just in case. If he was on a stimulant, testing him after the fight would have been counterproductive. The damage would have already been done. Manny said the heck with it and still wanted to fight.

Manny also agreed to Reyes 8 oz gloves against a guy who had 15 to 20 pounds of natural weight on him. You have to be impressed with that. He has a real fighters mindset.

Manny also does not get credit for his boxing IQ. He makes some serious adjustments in the ring. His body punching and check right hook are off the charts. He has brought those weapons up to speed with straight left hand. What a fighter! I am not sure if Floyd will ever fight Manny. If I had to bet I would say no to the immediate future. Manny was operating at around 85% against Margarito and he still almost killed the guy. Manny is going to have to look a lot more vulnerable in order for Floyd to make that fight.

I want to you guys to look at a few fights for me. I think I made note of these fights before but I will do it again. Reggie Johnson vs. James Toney. Michael Nunn vs. Sambu Kalambay. Floyd Mayweather vs. Chop Chop Corley and Zab Judah. Each of those fights involved slick counterpunchers who rolled their shoulders and were caught, knocked down or knocked out with left hands. If you don’t think Mayweather and Company know this, you are sadly mistaken. Just look at the fights and tell me what you think.
 
 
Do you think Manny has slipped somewhat? He did get hit more than usual.


Bread’s Response:  High energy smaller fighters like Manny, Roberto Duran, Henry Armstrong, Jeff Fenech and Aaron Pryor fall off their perch fast. Each guy did and there is a reason for that. They can’t muster up the energy output anymore in order for them to be maximally effective. I am not sure if Manny has slipped but I do feel he didn’t train 100%. He had a subpar performance for his standards against Oscar Larios a few years back because of not training to the max. Manny has 57 pro fights and we should be on the lookout for slippage in future fights.
 
 
Pac is a beast. Period. The guy is also a class act. He could have
burned Margo to the ground but let him finish. Even though Margo was handpicked, that weight issue was not. 148 to 165 is a welter vs. super middle. He would have put a real jr. Middle six feet deep but Margo has a chin. Being a Shane fan it will be nice to see him get paid but he needs to train against tough cats trying to take him out. The 2006 Mosley that went toe to toe with Vargas could beat Pac but this is a pay day only-- Sour Shane cannot win. I am a die hard fan too. But Shane is a grown ass man
with child support. If he wants legacy he will fight K-9 for the IBF
strap and try to unify against either Pac or Cotto. I want to see
either Martinez, Williams, or Berto get a chance to fight Pac, Cotto, Shane, or Mayweather. Keep it real these cats are hungry and deserve a shot. Shane only has one more shot at redemption. I hope he works hard to please die hard fans like me. PAC did the damn thing though. He is a tough humble guy. Gotta love it... Aaron (precise) Blount #1 Mosley Fan


Bread’s Response: Shane is likely to get the shot, but he is 39 years old and getting older. His last two fights were really unimpressive.  Watching how Manny reaches taller fighters, I would pick him to beat Williams and Martinez. But he can’t keep going up so high in weight. Everybody maxes out.I want to see Berto or the winner Bradley/Alexander get the shot. That would shut up a lot of the critics.