No fight tonight but we have a mailbag!!

Manny Pacquiao has had about five fights since Floyd Mayweather and his team accused him of using Performance Enhnacing Drugs. Pacquiao doesn't need Floyd or anybody else to prove he's not. If I was handling Pacquiao I would just have USADA do the testing for one or maybe two of my fights and show the fans that Mayweather is running scared. It would be so easy to do.

If I went and got a job making 10M a year and some big boss comes along and changes the policy and the new drug tests are blood tests, how many people would quit the job cause they feel offended? You have to take a drug test to work @ WalMart in this country. Every fighter in boxing will take the drug test to get a chance to knock that kid's head off except Manny... weird [Editor's note: Pacquiao did take the required drug test and passed them all. To follow your example, Floyd Mayweather is not his boss. Manny took the boss' test, meaning thoise required by the Athletic Commissions].  You are being stubborn on this matter. How would Floyd know asking for a drug test would stop the fight? Like I said Manny doesn't have to give in to Floyd's demand, he could prove he's clean with another fighter. Rules change when big fights happen all the time. Take the test Manny! I just think you go real soft on Pacquiao with this. If I own a company and ask someone to take a blood test and he freaks out he won't get the job and yes I would believe he's on drugs so, I understand why Floyd won't move off this demand. It seems like Manny or Manny's people are avoiding Floyd, and not Floyd avoiding him.  It's nothing to take the test. Mayweather will take the take the test too, how is Floyd in any form wrong? If you always hiding from the police it's obvious you are a crook Right?--H from the CHI
Bread’s Response: Ok H, you asked for this bro. My record as far as defending the “TRUTH” is like 65-0 with 58 kos. I wasn’t going to post your comment because frankly I’m tired of the Manny/Floyd bs. But I feel challenged on this fine Saturday. so you are going to get what you asked for.

First off your analogy is flawed. I’m in agreement that I wouldn’t quit my job making 10 mill a year, if the new boss implemented blood test instead of urine test. But if the new boss went around telling people I’m on drugs because I perform my work better and faster than everybody else, therefore I’m a cheat. And if I had other job options to make 10 mill, I would tell him to go screw himself.

You see I am going to break every comment you made down to the tee. Next you claim every fighter in the world would take the test to knock this kid’s head off. Manny is the only active fighter that can generate the money Floyd can. He is the only other PPV star that is guaranteed to do over 1 million PPV buys everytime he fights. He is the only other fighter that is considered a worldwide icon. He is the only one that is equal to Floyd in star power. Do you notice that Floyd takes about 80% of the guaranteed pot, against his opponents? Against Manny, he would pretty much split everything. I won’t argue over a % point here or there. Do you really think Oscar De La Hoya would submit to these tests [which are above what is required by law]? Manny has leverage that no one else currently has. What other fighter can make $25M not fighting Floyd? So that kills that statement. Manny is not everybody else.

Here is where I’m going to shake you up. I was a Mayweather fan before I knew who Manny PAcquiao was. I wish Floyd was more in the right, but he’s not. When you ask how would Floyd know Manny would refuse his blood test? You are ignorant to the all of the details. I don’t mean that as an insult, but you clearly don’t know or failed to mention pertinent events that occurred.
First off about 7 years ago Shelly Finkel went to the NSAC and tried to get an eye exam waived when he was managing Manny. Manny found the exam too intrusive, allegedly they really wanted to go into his eye and he didn’t feel comfortable getting it done. This happened way before anybody accused him of being a drug user. Floyd Mayweather also bet BIG money on Manny Pacquiao to beat Erik Morales in their second fight, which Pacquiao won. Now we can both agree Floyd is a student of the game. Why would Floyd bet on a guy who just lost to the fighter he was rematching? Well Manny had 2 excuses. One was he wore WINNING brand gloves and they felt like pillows. Look at the first fight and you will see this. Two, he had to give blood before the fight and it weakened him. He didn’t fail anything and it was a test he didn’t know was coming, it just weakened him. So he goes out the next fight and destroys Morales and Floyd is seen in the audience jumping up and down. Fact. So just maybe he knew. Food for thought or am I still being stubborn?

Next you bring up all of these things Floyd agreed to. Let’s break that down. Floyd reportedly agreed to 10million dollar per pound penalty for coming in above weight. That’s true, but you guys fail to bring up two major things that brought that on. First off Floyd had just duped Juan Manuel Marquez. That gets so overlooked by all of these ass kissing writers and blindly loyal fans. He signed a contract to come in at 144lbs. He came in at 146. Guys like Jose Luis Castillo and Joan Guzman get called unprofessional for that. Two pounds is way too much to come over for a fight. I was at this weigh-in. Floyd didn’t even attempt to sweat the pounds off and he owns a gym right there in Vegas for goodness sake. He just laughed it off and paid Marquez 300k per pound.

What was Marquez to do, not fight? I don’t think so. Floyd knew that and that’s why he did what he did. This just gets dismissed as Floyd would have beaten Marquez anyway. So what! That’s not the point. Contracts are contracts. Also you failed to mention that Floyd wanted his fight against Pacquiao to be at 154, junior middleweight. Team Mayweather outsmarted Team Pacquiao. They gave the impression they were struggling to make 147 which was not true. So therefore Team Pacquiao did not want to risk Floyd coming into the fight “heavy”. They had good cause to believe that considering what he did to Marquez and what the negotiations were. So they asked for 10 mill/Lb penalty. Let me ask you considering Floyd paid Marquez 300k/lb what amount is reasonable? In my opinion it has to be something that Floyd won’t laugh at and just pay.

And for the record, Manny agreed to the drug testing. Just not up until the day of the fight. Funny thing is USADA stopped taking blood over two weeks out before the Mayweather-Mosley fight and we don’t have any details of the Mayweather-Ortiz testing. My fighter gave blood for commission testing then he sparred and looked like complete sh*t. Maybe it was a coincidence but I won’t let him do it again. A week cut off and a test right after the fight to insure no one was on anything in the ring is a fair compromise. By the way Floyd was flipping out at the negotiations over a 14 day cut off. Manny ups it 7 days in later negotiations and that’s still not good enough.

Two unbiased, independent parties have taken Manny’s side in this situation. Keith Kizer the head of the NSAC and Ross Greenburg the ex-president of HBO Sports. Greenburg was quoted saying, he doesn’t understand why Mayweather didn’t make the fight. This is coming from a man who headed HBO, and let’s remember Arum took some big fights to Showtime. Keith Kizer has been quoted saying he is not going to change the rules to single out and target ONE fighter. He also said that Mayweather has not petitioned the commission for blood testing.

Now Arum has said openly that if the commission implements blood testing then they will abide. Floyd could conceivably box Manny in with that statement. He would have a great case. Mayweather has privy to the most powerful lawyers in sports. Why wouldn’t he petition the commission? I say because he was not ready to fight that little animal from the Phillipines.

Floyd was very kind to Oscar De La Hoya before their fight was signed. He said all of the right things because he really wanted the fight. So we know, he knows how to act to get a fight. Now with Manny he makes Asian jokes, he pretty much tells everybody that Manny is a cheater, he goes on internet rants, he takes off for years at a time and he denies negotiations. This to me tells me that this man does not want to fight.

Here is an analogy. Boxing is in large part mental. If Floyd is not comfortable fighting a PED freak why should Manny help him relieve his trepidations? It would be smart to let Floyd keep believing that. Maybe Floyd will start slower because he’s afraid of this so called incredible stamina. Maybe he won’t engage because of this so called incredible power. Whatever the case maybe if I were Manny I wouldn’t help him be more comfortable fighting me. Only an idiot or fighter with no leverage would do that.

Andre Ward and Carl Froch both want blood testing. That doesn’t seem to be something that will happen for their fight. But the fight is still getting made. I think Manny agreeing to a 7 day cut off and blood testing immediately after the fight is more than enough. I hope you let all of your friends read my response. Don’t twist my words, just research everything I said and come to a fair conclusion. My conclusion is Floyd Mayweather is not comfortable fighting Manny Pacquiao and this blood testing is just an excuse to buy time and that’s exactly what he did. So fae, he has bought three years. 

 

 Greetings Bread, to you and Fam, Darren, London, England. I just read in an article on another site that Humberto Soto is possibly the most avoided fighter at present in boxing. I just wanted to know, although I think you may have said it before who you think the most avoided fighters in the sport are at the moment and who you think also were the top 10 avoided fighters of all time. Also Iran Barkley had Thomas Hearns number twice in their fights, how comes Duran was able to beat him when they fought considering how Hearns mowed down Roberto Duran? Also who do you like in James Toney v Bernard Hopkins at say Suppermiddle or middle, Calzaghe v Toney at middleweight, Rigondeaux v R Marquez, Marciano v Frazier, and lastly although I know it is a big ask which 5-10 boxers do you consider to have had the best footwork of all-time and how important is excellent footwork to achieve all time greatness.From The Land Of Tea and Big Ben, Darren.
Bread’s Response: I can’t say who the top 10 most avoided guys ever were. I truly believe you have to live in the times to judge that. It’s not as simple as looking at WHEN somebody fought and then assume it was feasible for them to fight a more well known fighter. That’s how false myths get started.

Right now I think Erislandy Lara, Alfredo Angulo, Kell Brook, Steve Cunningham and Lucas Mattysse are avoided.

Duran was able to beat Barkley because he can fight in the pocket better than Hearns. Barkley’s wild looping shots are shots Duran could see coming. Hearns was on the end of them a lot of times. Where as Duran could get inside of them.  Styles just makes fights. Duran was also able to go 15 rounds with Hagler and Hearns was stopped in 3. Duran can’t beat Hearns head to head, but overall he is a little bit better and more importantly he can fight a relaxed fight, where Tommy fights a tight frenetic fight.
Footwork is the cornerstone to being a great boxer. Willie Pep, Gene Tunney, Floyd Mayweather, Ricardo Lopez, Muhammad Ali, Ray Leoanrd, Pernell Whitaker, Benny Leonard and Tommy Loughran all had remarkable footwork. I know I forgot a few but those guys stand out.

 

We need to get you plugged into the mainstream as an analyst on Friday Night Fights or BAD. To help build up your resume, have you ever considered doing video responses to your mailbag questions? Maybe get yourself some regular appearances on a call-in show?

Anyway enough of that, here's a question I've always wondered about. In March of 2003, a 193lb Roy Jones beat John Ruiz for the WBA heavy weight title, and a month later a 190lb James Toney beat Vassily Jirov for the IBF cruiser weight title. If that fight had been made in the winter, how do you think it would've went down? That was a totally different version of James Toney than the one Roy toyed with.
Thanks,

Patrick
Bread’s Response: I have been on a few radio shows. www.theboxingtruth.com, www.guardyourgrill.com and Rob Murray’s show www.900amwurd.com. Thanks for the kind words. But I know it takes time. I have only been in the media business for two years. With the help of you guys and the man upstairs I think I will get the “gig” you guys think I deserve.

I think Jones can always beat Toney if he’s close to top form. Jones’s feet are just too good. Toney has one major flaw. He is much better from the waist up then he is from the waist down.  Jones just moves too much for Toney. I love Toney and I think he’s an all time great but he was too lazy to correct this flaw. That’s why he flourished against pressure fighters and struggled against movers.

 


I am a big Miguel Cotto fan just wanted ur take on his career and possibility either his last big fight or next to last big fight….And also What could have been? Would people in the boxing industry or the writers would have said cotto is ducking margarito if he would have rejected fighting him in the first fight and waited on possible mayweather or DLH bouts? What do u think the outcomes of the those bouts could have been pre-margarito…Does cotto have to win his rematch against margarito to be in possible Hall of Fame? Or does he need to win 1 more big fight to get in I don’t think he has 1 more big fight depends on the outcome of the rematch.. Danny, Perth Amboy,NJ


Bread’s Response: Cotto is a Hall of Famer if he never fights again. He would NOT have been ducking Margarito if he didn’t fight him again. Everybody is on Miguel’s side in the Margarito situation. Cotto is just not that type of guy to NOT fight somebody he truly does not care who he fights. The Cotto of 2007 would give both Oscar and Floyd very tough fights. I would favor them both over Cotto but very slightly.

A good friend and I are currently having a debate about Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson as whether he is HOF worthy. Although during his prime he never got that signature fight against Johnny Tapia, Danny Romero, Jorge Julio, Michael Carbajal etc., in my opinion he was a dominant fighter from 1993-98 especially out West. I respect your knowledge of the sport and would like your opinion.-- Russ

Bread’s Response: Mark Johnson is a great fighter and he should go into the Hall of Fame. He was one of the most avoided fighters I have seen in my lifetime. I judge fighters on accomplishments, how they responded to adversity, competition faced and missed.  Johnson missed a lot of people but I don’t believe it was his fault. He may not be a 1st ballot guy but he goes in. Great , great fighter. I actually saw him in his prime.  He’s as good as Nonito Donaire is right now.

G

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