DAILY BREAD THURSDAY EDITION
By Stephen "Breadman" Edwards

I want to touch on the Timothy Bradley-Manny Pacquiao fight. Bradley has now said he thinks he desreved to win and that his corner also thinks he won. My question is, if his corner was so confident he won, why during the fight when Tim was taking lead left and lead left and body shots and couldn't do nothing but run his cornerman asked Tim straight up if he wanted to continue. Now if i think my fighter is winning i would never ask him if he wanted to quit right then and there. Tim as well as his corner knew he was losing almost every round and didn't want to see his fighter take any more punishment. Pac should of got him out of there but obviously pac man was a little gassed from chasing this man around the ring all night who didn't want to no parts of fighting him. In my opinion Tim began survival mode and he did just that survive . I think Tim should be man enough to say yes i thought i lost a close decision but i want the rematch cause i can do better. Then i will have more respect for him . I don't like the pretend i cleary one in my mind statements .But anyway keep up the good work bread man i love reading your post. -- Tkid from Syracuse,NY

Bread’s Response: T, I don’t know what to say about this. With respect to Bradley, I will be as respectful but honest as I can. I will try to touch all points of this situation so no one will have to ask me again.

From his body language and look of disgust on his face going back to his corner each round, it looked to me that Bradley knew he lost this fight. You’re right, a corner does not ask a fighter if he wants to continue if they think he’s winning or has a chance to win. Not only did Tim Bradley APPEAR to think he was losing, his wife appeared to have the same look on her face….

I give Bradley props for continuing to try but….. I don’t know if Arum is lying or telling the truth about the comments Bradley and his manager Cameron Dunkin made after the fight. I would love for someone to ask ALL parties that while they are ALL in front of each other.

For the record, NO I will not re-score or re-watch the fight with the sound off. No, I won’t watch the first 2 minutes of the rounds then go to the next round. All of those things are ridiculous and let me tell you why. When you do that, you can always come up with some justification why a fighter won a round or not, especially with top notch fighters. They will almost always do something within a round that displays the four points of scoring. The fighter that COMMANDED the MOMENT as it happened should be the winner of each round.

I also don’t want to hear that Manny only fought the last part of the rounds. If Manny was more effective in his 30 seconds of assertion than Bradley was in his 2:30, then Manny is the winner of that round. If you have a salary job and you can get your work done in 4 hours and it takes your counterparts a whole 8 hour day to do it, then you are the better more efficient worker. Period.

I also don’t want to hear that Marquez got robbed so that justifies the Pacquiao/Bradley decision. The Pacquiao/Marquez fights were all super close. There was back and forth momentum changes constantly. When you watch those two guys in the ring, you get the impression there are pretty much equals, with Manny being the harder puncher. When you see Manny and Bradley in the ring, no disrespect to Bradley but you don’t get that impression. Pacquiao appears to be the superior fighter.

I’m not saying that Bradley shouldn’t think he won, he’s entitled to that. But I am saying his actions didn’t show that while the fight was going on….. I do look forward to the day that a fighter while in the ring, says to the fans and judges I didn’t deserve this win and gives the belts back. If the beneficiaries of these bad decisions stop being so receptive, then maybe they will stop happening.

Thanks for the comment bro..


I understand that promoter Bob Arum is calling for some type of an investigation into the Bradley-Pacquiao fight.  I think the commission should call for an investigation against Arum. Arum's last three major cards included Rios v Abril; Marquez v. Pac and Bradley v Pac.  All three of these fights ended with a question of the judging. My question is , how much control does the promoter have on the selection of the judges?
 
Saul Alvarez vs. Victor Ortiz- I like the fight. Who do you like? I want to see more of Kell Brook. I hear that he is the next big thing. How soon will he fight Amir Khan?--Charles Steele

Bread’s Response: Promoters do not select the judges but they do actually pay them. So yes, they pay judges. That’s another part of the screwed up system we have. I think judges should be state employees. Alvarez vs Ortiz should be a tough fight. I slightly favor Alvarez because I don’t know how effective Ortiz will be at 154, but Victor has fought the better competition. However, it’s always hard for me to pick Ortiz against a top level opponent because of his shaky mental makeup.

 
Well I got the Bradley call right even though the fight did not play out like I thought. But money is money so I am not complaining. But damn Pacquiao is a beast. It really has been a pleasure watching his career. I do think Bradley could have used his movement better if his foot was not injured, but that is irrelevant now. No need to go straight to the rematch, I would like to see Bradley vs Berto. Then let the winner get Pac. I am so sick of reading/hearing all the whining about never watching boxing again. It was a bad decision get over it. We watch boxing for the excitement in the ring.
Too bad for Mike Jones but I am glad Bailey will get another nice payday. His name is going to be hot now that he has the IBF belt.
Keep up the hard work!
Roy
Bread’s Response: You feel like a feel Roy. Watching Manny Pacquiao since 2001, truly impresses me. This guy is such a special fighter. He has raised the bar so high, that the comparative impression he gives on fans and judges is almost beyond reproach. Think about this for a second. Pacquiao is the first and only person to beat Joshua Clottey convincingly , and he got criticized. He pitched a complete shutout. Margarito struggled with that same Joshua Clottey and they called him the most feared man in boxing. See the comparative. He beat Antonio Margarito half to death and put his eye out. I forgot to mention he gave up 17lbs and 6 inches. People said it was lackluster. Miguel Cotto beat Margarito afterwards no where nearly as violent and they said he was back to his old form. He knocked Shane Mosley down and concussed him and forced him to literally try to quit and it was considered a poor performance. Saul Alvarez just beat a shot Shane Mosley and they label him the next superstar. Then he went tooth and nail with a top 5 p4p fighter in Juan Manuel Marquez. Some considered that another poor performance. Now in my opinion he beats another top 10 p4p fighter 117-111 and people are so used to seeing him unchallenged that he got jobbed by poor judging in my eyes. This same fighter Tim Bradley had his way with two undefeated guys in Devon Alexander and Lamont Peterson…. Think about the degree of separation there for a second.


Pacquiao’s career is truly amazing. I’m not saying that all of those performances were virtuoso but they weren’t trash either. The other thing that amazes me is Pacquioa’s  imposing ways in a ring. He is always the harder puncher in a boxing ring. He always takes the best punch in a boxing a ring. And he is always the stronger fighter. I don’t know if he can do more push ups or lift more weights than say Clottey or Bradley. But in a ring, everybody retreats from him on a constant basis. All time career and classy fighter. Most guys would’ve bitched and complained about that decision, Manny handled it like a man’s man.


Crazy weekend uh? Ok enough of the small talk. I wanted to know what do you think of this decision as far as if it was Pacquiao that got the gift decision? Do you think Arum would be trying his hardest to have it investigated or just try and push for a bigger,more lucrative rematch.Besides that it doesn't look like it will get overturned and Duane Ford said Bradley gave Pacman a "boxing lesson". Last question I got a bad memory but I don't know if you have ever spoken on Winky Wright and what is your position on him as opposed going to the hall of fame and how good is he? He has some pretty notable wins and I think was undisputed junior middleweight champ also. I'm guessing you will say borderline HOF. See if I know you.
J. Best Chucktown, SC
Bread’s Response: You’re right, I’m not sure if Winky is a first ballot guy, but he probably gets in. Of the guys in this era who are on that cusp like Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver, I think Winky is better than both. Some say his style is better than his talent but whatever the case he was an excellent fighter. I never viewed him as an all time great type, but his longevity, consistency and highest peak performance against Trinidad probably get him in.

 

 

Breadman,

What's good my brotha?

I'm not going to go into horrible Pacman vs Bradley out come, My questions are do you think open scoring would benefit high profile or championship matches to prevent or reduce future similar out comes. maybe even have the judges sitting seperatley on each side off the ring ( maybe even have them change seats after every 4 rounds) maybe I'm reaching ... Also How would you see Bradley fairing out against top or Elite 147 pounders, maybe all these guys aren't elite but currently the most common.
Bradley vs Pac II, Bradley vs Andre Berto, Bradley vs Money Mayweather, Bradley vs Amir Kahn and Bradley vs Victor Ortiz. Keep doing ya thing my brotha!

Chill Will
Bread’s Response: I don’t like open scoring. That would cause guys to sit on leads and we would have terrible last rounds of fights, when mathematically a guy couldn’t lose. The judges just need to get trained better. Every year they should be forced to qualify and unofficially and correctly judge a top level fight. If they can’t ,then they shouldn’t be allowed to judge officially.


By Bradley’s last performance he would probably be the underdog in all of those fights except against Ortiz. He’s the kind of guy that won’t blow anybody out, but it will be hard to blow him out if you are not offensively dynamic. Remember you heard it here first just like I told you guys about the Pacquiao/Marquez get back. Bradley will be on the short end of a close fight soon ,because of the Pacquaio debacle…..


 

 

What’s up Breadman! Previously, I wrote in to the bag asking your opinion on the Dawson/Ward fight, the concessions Dawson was making and your thoughts. You said to wait until the fight was official before we speculate on the alleged Dawson concessions. Well, the fight is now official so again I say what say you? To recap, they’re fighting in Oakland, for Ward’s title (challenger money for Chad) and at 168. Why do you believe Dawson agreed to give Ward all of these perceived advantages? Plus, why do you feel Ward will fight the LHW champ in his first fight after the Super Six but decided not fight the easier (in my opinion) fighter in Bute? Curious to know your thoughts. Take care.
Micah
Bread’s Response: How do you know Dawson is getting challenger money? Just because he is fighting for Ward’s title doesn’t mean he is taking less money. Dawson has been on HBO more times and he has been a champion longer. I don’t know what either fighter is getting. I’m assuming around 1 million apiece , plus some of the gate money because of that huge expected crowd out there in Oakland. That place can hold around 19k. They could do a 4 million dollar gate easy.


I assume Dawson conceded the location of the fight, because of the crowd Ward draws at home. I don’t know for sure but I assume if he did that, his management would ask for back end money on the gate or front end money on his guarantee.
As for the weight, I assume that was a mistake but again if Dawson’s wins no one would say it was a mistake. But looking from the outside in, I think it was a mistake because if Dawson could make 168 all these years I assume he would have. There are some big fights at 168....


As for the fight itself, I think it’s a great match up that boxing needs. I don’t want to hear about how boring this fight is going to be. These guys don’t have to be rock em sock em robots. The name of the game is to hit and not be hit. When this much is on the line, it’s always a good look for boxing.


If you want to know who I favor. You’re going to have to wait for that. I do have this fight broken down already in my data bank(mind) and I’m reasonably sure about the outcome. But I have tremendous respect for both trainers and both fighters, so I will wait a little bit to put my assessment out there.


 

 

Bread,
I watched this fight, as usual paid $60 PPV fees, and I clearly saw Pacquaio winning the fight vs Bradley. However, out of ten people who watched this fight in my house, 8 felt Pacquaio won, while 2 said that Bradley won. However, all 10 people (100%) AGREED, that Bradley DID NOT DOMINATE Pacquaio at all, if a case was made somehow and someway that Bradley deservedly won this fight.
Anyway, I watched the fight a second time, in bits and pieces on youtube, and guess what? Watching the fight the second time, I was focusing on Bradley making any punch contact with Pacquaio, in order to give a justifiable reason to give Bradley the round, and maybe, change my opinion, and consider giving Bradley the win. When I watched the first few rounds the second time, it appeared that Bradley was doing much BETTER!
Then I STOPPED watching the fight, I realized this is TAINTED. Why should I watch the fight the SECOND Time. If you watch a fight the first time LIVE, which is the reason you are paying $60 in PPV fees, to see it live, you know what your eyes saw the first time. I saw Pacquaio beating Bradley 8 rounds to 4 at best the first time. If you watch the fight a second time, your opinion is TAINTED.
Why don’t they get 3 younger guys from the local boxing gym, coaches, other boxers, to judge these fights. This is crazy.
Anyway, your prediction was good, you said that Bradley won the fight on video. However, Bradley didn’t dominate, and his time at the top is short. Anybody with a punch beats him. That’s the BEST you get from Bradley. You are right though, Pacquaio is not on his jumping feet anymore, he is aggressive but tries to windmill his way inside, and Bradley was ducking a lot of bombs. Ducking doesn’t win a fight though! Ducking just makes you LAST 12 rounds.
What’s the correction for Freddie Roach, who now I realize he’s so arrogant. I love when Roach said that De La Hoya couldn’t pull the trigger anymore, which insulted my favorite boxer Oscar De La Hoya. NOW, Pacquaio appears to be shooting blanks, he swings and MISSES all day. He couldn’t get inside Marquez and now Bradley. It’s like Pacquaio is telegraphing his left hand, everybody ducks and ducks and ducks, and Pacman misses by a mile. Watch Roach bail out and trash PACMAN, like he did to De la hoya. Roach is a Dope, like Mayweather Sr says.
Pete, Queens.
Bread’s Response: I agree watching the fight again and re scoring it only taints your view.


I don’t think Roach is a dope. I think Manny has slipped but he’s not shot. He can still pull the trigger. However I do think Freddie Roach has to make some adjustments with Pacquiao. Everyone is following Naazim Richardson’s blueprint of moving away to their left and turning that hard corner. Manny is still hard to beat but his fights are more difficult. Manny walks guys down most of the time and he doesn’t cut off the ring. Walking guys down is not the worst thing in the world if you have the energy to keep it up. Manny doesn’t have the same energy anymore. Manny is also depending on the threat of his left hand instead of landing it. Roach has to really concentrate on Manny closing the distance and placing that shot better. Manny does not throw it to the chest or stomach enough. He also does not jab enough to get close. He’s a tremendous outside fighter for his height, but he has to add a new wrinkle to become more efficient in this last part of his career.

 

 

 

What up Breadman,
Long time no talk too. I have a simple solution to fixing bad decisions in the sport which we both love. That is to simply replace these judges(who have never put on a pair of gloves) and put in retired fighters. You can have boxers that had various types of fighting styles. A fight which we just witnessed where a decision seemed unjust could have used such judges. Here's an example: Judge#1 Marvin Hagler, Judge #2 Daniel Zaragoza, Judge# Pernell Whitaker. Do you see where I'm going with this? All of these great fighters fought with different styles and everyone of them KNOWS boxing better than anyone who has ever judged a fight. By having a brawler,boxer,and some herky jerky type of boxer at ring side, we could start seeing better decisions.What do you think?

Rahmon from L.A.
Bread’s Response: I’m not opposed to ex fighters being judges but I don’t think judges should exclusively be ex fighters. You may not believe this but not all fighters know about boxing. They just know how to fight. I have heard professional fighters say some of the dumbest things when it comes to scoring fights. They speak of the taking the fight to the champion rule, that does not exist. Look at this case for example. If that stupid rule existed, how could anybody give Bradley the fight…

I personally think we need better judges and better training. Judges should be made to score fights unofficially for long periods to sharpen up. Their scorecard should be public knowledge, so therefore when they get the call for big fights, we know what we will be getting. We just need competent people, who have integrity.

 


What up Bread,
Peace to you bro, mail baggin clearly ain't easy. Your mailbags are always a must read and as some one posted you are one of the most informative sports mailbags on the web. Your videos are great also and I like the angle of having them specifically for the Bread out information. Just think that it is better to use our imagination for the readers voice. However I have some harsh feedback to pass on. Boxingtalk and other media outlets have really let me down when it comes to managing the truth. I am reaching out to you out of respect.
Heres my question. How does anyone justify having interviews where you pose the tough questions, if you can't answer them when they are posed to you? Bread you used to be really outspoken, what happened bro. The tap dance I just read around all questions related to corruption and Bob Arum are not what we know of you. It is great you posted them but damn bro you pull back everytime on the Bobfather. Let me clear up something PAC's contract ends in 2012. In 2013 PAC is a free man. Here is a link. http://www.sbnation.com/2012/6/10/3076231/pacquiao-vs-bradley-results-conspiracy-theory-robbery-contract with Teddy Atlas's reactions on a possible fix.
How Linder can go on record saying this was clearly not a fix and you can skirt the questions on Arum completely vowing just to research it is beyond me. It's clear you guys are willing to make many assumptions about a boxer's motives and intentions but when it comes to speaking against the judges, the promoters and the establishment your team finds disciplined religion. What are we not seeing? Here is the evidence I do see...
- Manny is struggling financially
- Brings in VisionQuest to investigate his accounting
- Vision quest is called off by Manny as VisionQuest requests Top Rank records and suggest potential corruption
- Manny's contract is ending in 2013 (Under the circumstances and history of his fighters leaving does Bob really think he will re sign with him?)
- Bob Arum foreshadows Mannys heart might not be in the game any more due to new found religion
- This time around extra public emphasis is put on the rematch clause
- To promote the fight Bradley holds up a poster sized ticket replica promoting the rematch (Not evidence Bradley was aware of a fix, just evidence that Top Rank Marketing helped him promote the fight in this way).
- The fight happens and we get the most ridiculous split decision we have scene in years ( bless him for his heart and a great effort but I gave Bradley 4 rounds, based on punch volume and ignoring the clear punching power dispariage).
Coincidentally this all creates the perfect scenario for Top Rank. They transfer the mistique of the pound for pound champ to a new young champion. A champion who doesn't ask alot of questions and hasn't made as much money. They get one more high grossing fight for Pacquiao (that I dare say he can't win unless by KO and create a new series of high grossing in house fights for Bradley making him the heel that cheated Pac (Bradley/Marquez anyone?). He also takes the mistique of Pac Man and sends him into retirement so the fight that Bob supposedly has been dying to make... Pac/Mayweather doesn't happen. A fight that he would have made money on but much less then arch rival GBP and Floyd Mayweather Jr. GBP has a stake in both fighters PAC and Floyd. It is also a fight that would require him to pay Pacquiao fairly due to the fair payment schedule Floyd's buisiness people have shrewdly negotiated.
I have no problem with you guys pretending to be nieve but feeding into other possibilities for this perfect storm of coincidence is unacceptable. I love your site but you go so hard and wreckless on the boxers but become church mice specifically with Arum. I know you all are fearful of the man's power (and lawsuits) but damn bro he is taking food off the table of boxers and writers around the world. And what about the impact on the Philipines? He is destroying Manny an icon, inspiration and source of revenue for so many. In addition I sat in a venue of people newly excited about the sport. When they left they had proof Boxing is nothing but pro-wrestling with even less truth. At least in pro-wrestling they admit its fake! This is a travesty. How could anyone continue to say Bob ever seriously entertained having Mayweather/Pacquiao fight? I suspect the incentive is the check they receive from the Bobfather. But pretending to be a PAC support while this great fighter is robbed and torn down before our eyes and then watch the boxing establishment go silent is disheartening. Is it coincidence, Mayweather has not worked with Top Rank since he left Top Rank? Is it coincidence he has shown grudges against De La Hoya, Gamboa, Ariza, Donaire also? Pac is still one of the best fighters we all agree he beat Bradley. There is no need for a rematch and sites should put pressure on Arum for the fight we want to see. I like Bradley but will not be watching the rematch, I promise. Neither will the room of 500 casual fans turned off by the robbery. You don't have to print this, after all its personal. We believe in your integrity as a writer. However to see Boxingtalk go along with the plot and silently say nothing speaks volumes. Especially considering you went all in to expose Mayweathers financial crisis and potential PEDs? But to now let what is happening to Manny happen is also too much. I thought that was your boy? I often wondered how people could let what happened to Ali happen but I now get it. Boxing loves to see suffering and that is why fighters like Manny Pacquiao, Mohammad Ali, Mike Tyson and now Paul Williams are so embraced. It is also why fighters like Oscar Delahoya Floyd Mayweather Jr and Roy Jones are so despised because they rise to control the promotion. God bless you man, but please stop asking others to do the right thing if you guys aren't willing to do the same thing. It just doesn't read well. Btw- If Manny lost a step so has Floyd. Please stop taking the allure off the Pacquiao and Mayweather superfight. It will finally happen in 2013 and Manny will clearly need the cash.
Kelvin (in the Chi)
Bread’s Response: Kelvin you are full of it bro. Let me put this all the way out here. Bob Arum has no bearing on boxingtalk. I know that you are suggesting that he may sponsor us so in turn we shut up, but Arum hasn’t cut us a check in a minute. Keep that for your records. Better yet email Top Rank and they will verify it.

I am not dismissing that something fishy happened in the fight. But I am not going to say for a fact that Arum fixed the dam fight! When you rush to a public decision sometimes it can come back and bite you in the ass. For all of the people saying Arum fixed the fight, I got emails from those same people saying he fixed the fight against Marquez. I’m not saying he didn’t fix either of them but I don’t want to engage in a double sided conspiracy. If he didn’t want Manny to lose because he’s his cash cow, why does he want him to lose to a fighter that has no real fan base, a non pleasing style, a light slapping puncher, and who has won a title that 90% of the people don’t think he deserves. If Tim Bradley beats Manny in a rematch Arum loses millions my man. Bradley could never carry a PPV and do over a million buys.

Arum is brilliant, his after fight statements could all be a publicity stunt, I don’t know. The judges could be incompetent. The bettors could have made a move. Who knows? There are many variables in this thing. I just can’t call it, but I don’t appreciate your implications. It’s easy for you to make that claim sitting behind an email. But if we make a false claim that can’t be proven, I would be interested in seeing if you would help pick up the legal fees if someone decided to sue.

There are things that are obvious to me as far as wrong doings. Jack Woodburn the Canadian judge that gave Jean Pascal the last round against Chad Dawson where he was nearly decapitated. Marlon Wright the referee who gave Lucian Bute the longest count I have ever seen against Librado Andrade in their first fight. Jerry Roth the judge who gave Oscar De La Hoya the last round of the Felix Trinidad fight, a round in which Oscar admittedly took off and did nothing, but Trinidad was up by so much on Roth’s cards that some suggest that Roth gave Trinidad the round to make things closer. Those to me are terrible cases of officiating but it doesn’t always mean corruption, it could mean incompetence. I bring up Roth specifically because he was the only one who in my opinion got it right in Pacquiao/Bradley. I really don’t know what the hell is going on. Incompetence or corruption is intolerable. But don’t tell me I take a blind eye to anything, I put my heart and ass on the line so fighters can be treated fairly.

For the record, I do believe that somebody whispered in Manny’s ear to call off his financial inquiry. The reason you do a financial inquiry is because the finances aren’t right. To abruptly shut the inquiry down, implies to me that Manny was compensated some how to satisfy what he thought he was being cheated or shortchanged out of. See I can assume something like that, that is clear cut in my opinion. I use my head in everything I write. But Arum fixing this fight, and allowing Tim Bradley to be the face of his stable perplexes me. I’m not dismissing it, but I’m just not ready to assume it…..


 

 

Whats good Bread? This is your mailbag partna from San Diego, Franklin Taylor. I took a different approach to the Manny P vs Tim B decision. I checked different top athletes twitter accounts and wanted to see what they posted. I checked Andre Ward and he flat out stated Bradley lost ( and they are friends people), Dana White, Oscar Dela Hoya, Aaron Rogers , Anthony Dirrell ( who knows Tim personally), they all stated it was a very bad decision. Now think about this, and I am leaving out about ten more names, when everyone says the same thing then its very true. Bradley seems to take this as a victory and will talk like he took the title but it would be very refreshing to just be honest and say, " I may have lost this, but lets do it again", be real we all had street fights, i knew when i lost and i knew when i won, I didnt have to go check tape or ask my friends. Read his body language, it was the same with Sugar Shane vs De La Hoya II. I felt like a relative died when they announced that decision. Dont feel bad for Manny Pacquoia though, this controversy but him on the Muhammad Ali level. This dude gained so many more fans because of this injustice, I even seen Money May fans coming to his defence. We as humans rally to the unjust same as we tear down our heroes after we get tired of them. The way he handled it was very classy and damn it makes MONEY MAY look like a prophet about Bob Arum and Top Rank. ( deep down i think Mayweather likes Manny), in a way I hope Manny rides off into the sunset like Marvin Hagler and one last note if the Arce fight didnt end after two rounds manny would have had time to stretch and finish the game ( thats why they scheduled Arce and the Puertorican because they thought it would go twelve)
Bread’s Response: I swear I thought about De La Hoya/Mosley 2 when they announced the decision. Shane was shocked and so was Tim Bradley. Good analogy. I also want to go on record about something. This rematch talk. People keep saying Manny will win a rematch. Personally I won’t pick against Manny again no matter who is fighting, but I think a rematch should happen for three reasons. One is a huge favorite gets legitimately beat. Like Holyfield did Tyson in their 1st match. Sometimes people need to see that again. Two if you have a great competitive fight. Like say Corrales/Castillo. And three when you have a razor thin decision. Like say Barerra/Morales. To me Pacquioa/Bradley was a bad decision not a close one and  a rematch is not necessary.

Manny will be further from his prime and Bradley will be further IN his. Manny may not be able to get up again. He looked like he didn’t get up all the way this time. Bradley will probably do better because Manny’s biggest gift is you have never seen anything like him before. I remember Sam Peter beat James Toney in a rematch when he really lost the first fight. If the fight would have been judged correctly there would have been no need for that.  It’s important to get these scores right the first time.

 

 


Yo Breadman,
I have always wanted to get your thoughts on something that I have noticed about Manny and his apparent slippage. I will start with a topic that is outside of boxing. There was always a general rule that in a years time of hard core body building, no matter how much weight you gain the body only puts on five pounds of real muscle. A body builder does not sit on his but for months and then start a hard core training session for two months in preparation for the competition. He or she is either doing a maintenance routine or working on areas where they are lacking. If you wonder why I bring this up in regards to Manny or any other fighter here is why. I’ve read and noticed that when Manny goes in to training camp that before that he hadn’t set foot in the gym since his last fight. And when Mayweather came out of his so-called retirement he mentioned after beating Mosley that he was always in the gym training at something like level five. Unlike Manny, when starts training camp his base line (overall conditioning and timing) is already at a higher level. I’ve gotten the impression after listening to a couple of interviews from Freddie Roach that it take Manny almost half of his training camp just to shake the rust. No matter how good Alex Ariza’s training methods are they will have little effect if the person in training isn’t staying consistent with his conditioning. When Manny was younger the distractions were a benefit. Now he is an older fighter and muscle atrophy is at a higher rate he cannot afford burning the candle at both ends. I don’t understand why Freddie hasn’t told Manny to put some gym work in in between fights just to stay sharp. I would hope that his new found religious commitment is only the smart of cleaning up his act in order to have success in the final stages of his career. Even if you do not post this on your mailbag I would like to hear your thoughts on this subject.
Columbus,
Tampa
Bread’s Response: You’re right! A fighter should be in cruise control maintaining his fitness at least three times a week when he is not specifically preparing for a fight. It’s counterproductive to not do anything. Your body takes too long to get back. Fighters don’t know if you keep abusing your rest period one of those training camps you won’t ever back to your highest peak. This very well could have happened to Manny. There are lots of things Manny should and shouldn’t have been doing…….

 


Brotha B,
Ok, the emotions of shock & confusion are over so let's break down what happened in the ring. The first thing that comes to mind is something you've already stated. After 4 rounds, Bradley's legs were SHOT. I can vividly remember telling my son "Bradley is about to go." For whatever reason, Manny let him get away. Bradley doing the "stanky leg" when he twisted his ankle was a result of the electricity Manny laid on him. What happened? I think it's a combination of Bradley's survival skills, Manny getting sloppy, and more importantly, Manny has SLIPPED. Just like in the Mosley fight, there was blood in the water & Manny was either unwilling or unable to go for the kill. Whether it's mental or physical, he doesn't have that true killer instinct right now. Next, Bradley's lack of power was GLARING. That was one of my main keys before the fight & it seemed even worse than I imagined. But you know what's ironic? That may have helped him! Since Manny had ZERO respect for it, he fought rather lackadaisical and wild at times. At times, he almost seemed bored! Nevertheless, I had Manny winning 117-111. I can’t FATHOM how anybody could give Bradley 7 rounds. Anything more than 4 is criminal in my eyes. One point about the judges; how long is Nevada going to let guys like Ford & Roth judge fights? Those cats got to be 75+ years old! As for a rematch? Do we really need to see it? While there were instances late in the fight were Bradley did a pretty decent job of boxing & keeping Manny off-balanced, I see no scenario where he can legitimately beat him. He and his entire entourage know he lost. The body languages after the fight were pretty obvious to that fact. I will lean back on insinuating a “fix” but something just doesn’t feel right. This just seems too “convenient” for Top Rank. Since the only other fight out there (Mayweather) isn’t happening, it almost seems that Top Rank just manufactured an “in house” option!
Bread’s Response: Sarge we see eye to eye again. I had it 9 rounds to 3 which is 117-111. Bradley’s lack of power is alarming. Despite all of his muscles, he really does not deliver a punch well.

Some people I really respect this fight was close or Bradley won. I can’t understand it either but oh well, we all have our opinions. I just believe in my own more than anyone else’s, lol..

Glad to see you have your son watching the fights with you. I educated myself on watching fights with my folks as a kid and best believe I will have my son watching the fights when he's old enough.

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