By Stephen Edwards
Jan 15, 2022 Source: Boxing Scene
Photo Source: Boxing Scene
The Daily Bread Mailbag returns with Stephen "Breadman" Edwards tackling topics such as Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermal Charlo, what it takes to make weight, the progression of Conor Benn, Terence Crawford's lawsuit against Top Rank, and more.
You must’ve known something. You said you thought Canelo would be more likely to fight Charlo next than anyone else. Now boom they are fighting! Good call but I still don’t think the fight is competitive as you do. Also what are your thoughts on the reporter saying he didn’t like Aaron Rogers therefore he wouldn’t vote for him to be MVP. Does this happen in boxing also?
Bread’s Response: Humbly speaking the Canelo vs Charlo fight has not been made yet. They are just in talks as far as I have read. So don’t give me too much credit. But I thought the fight would be viable for a few reasons. I understand how big fights are made. I understand how fights are made when an A side fighter can pick who they want. Jermall Charlo is an undefeated popular black fighter from Houston , Texas that has a large population. I believe it’s the 5th largest city in America with a huge Mexican population. He’s undefeated. He’s been a champion since 2015. Mexicans vs Blacks has been a big PPV module for the last 20 years. Charlo has also looked vulnerable in a few fights. This isn’t the 1980s. This isn’t Ray Leonard wanting to fight Tommy Hearns before anyone knew, Hearns had A+ offense but his chin was maybe a B- or C+, not bad but not great. This is the era of wait and see before you take the chance. This is no knock on Canelo. This is way bigger than him. This is the current system of boxing. So Canelo just got to fight an undefeated PBC fighter in Caleb Plant. Do you think he won’t get to fight anymore when they have 2 more viable fights for him? Jermall Charlo and David Benavidez are left.
Charlo is 31. Benavidez is 25. Charlo fights at 160. Benavidez fights at 168. Benavidez still appears to have upside. So in this situation most times the powers that be would pick Charlo. Canelo’s brain trust seem more interested in Charlo than Benavidez. I just used logic. I’m not saying Benavidez is better than Charlo. I just know how this works at this level. Again it’s bigger than Canelo.
If Charlo had knocked Montiel, Adams, Devrenchenko and Korobov stiff within 5 rounds apiece, he most likely would not have gotten this fight. But Charlo went the distance in each fight. He took big shots in each one. So I just thought to myself, he would be the pick over Benavidez, Bivol or Beterbiev. That’s just how things work.
Now here is the thing. Just because he was picked, it doesn’t mean he has to follow script. I do believe this fight will be competitive. I know Charlo has looked like he’s peaked out and leveled off. But that may have been the level of opponent he’s faced. He may raise his game vs Canelo. Charlo also has two things that makes for competitive fights at the elite level. He has a real CHIN. I keep telling you guys Charlo takes one of the best shots in boxing. He has a top 5-10 chins in boxing. He’s extremely strong and durable.
The second thing is he’s very DETERMINED. DEMTERMINATION allows a fighter to find spots in a fight where maybe he may not be as talented but the opponent, gets a cramp, hurts a hand, loses concentration, needs a 2nd wind etc. Determination is what you need to beat Canelo. No matter what criticism you give Charlo, he doesn’t stop fighting hard throughout a fight. Korobov was really countering him well, what does he do, hurts him in the 12th round with determination. Montiel hurt him to the body and had lots of momentum, Charlo bit down and kept fighting. He doesn’t SEEM to have “give” in his personality. I don’t believe he will bow down to Canelo and just allow his spirit to win to be broken. I believe Tim Bradley lost to Manny Pacquiao 3x. But Tim Bradley never allowed Pacquiao to break his spirit. He kept trying and in the 1st fight, he got the decision because of his determination. GGG made a historic push vs Canelo in their rematch and made the fight controversial. Why, because of determination. Canelo’s stamina looks better because no one challenges it lately. If this fight is made. I believe Charlo will give it 100%. I believe he fights his heart out win, lose or draw. I feel like determination is such an underrated quality.
We just saw Deontay Wilder mean it when he said he wanted to go out on his sword vs Tyson Fury. Wilder’s determination allows him to be competitive with a more talented and skilled opponent. The talent and skill between Canelo and Charlo is closer than the talent and skill between Fury and Wilder. I believe Charlo is super competitive and I don’t care what anyone says. I’m not making a prediction. I’m not saying who wins or loses. I just know certain things about fighters. The boxing ring is a truth machine and if what I suspect Charlo to be on the inside is TRUE, he’s going to fight Canelo like a savage wild dog.
Now in contrast the issue for Charlo is this is not the same Canelo. The Canelo I saw at 154-55lbs I believe a few fighters could give him a run for his money on the right night. Canelo couldn’t ko Shane Mosley in 2012 and he hit him with the kitchen sink. He boxed Austin Trout off the back foot because of stamina issues. He struggled mightily with Erislandy Lara and was outboxed and outfought by Floyd Mayweather. He couldn’t drop or stop Miguel Cotto at 155lbs and Cotto has been dropped and hurt several times. Cotto has a solid beard but you would suspect that the Canelo that broke BJ Saunders face and punched Callum Smith’s muscle off the bone would stop Cotto if he hit him as clean as he did.
Since Canelo left 160 for good after the Danny Jacobs fight, I see a different fighter. He’s calm. His reflexes are on 100. He’s operating at a Master’s level. His physical strength and ability to impose himself just seems different. He gives off an energy of intimidation. He’s punches through his opponents to the head and body. Charlo is going to have to really raise his game to compete with Canelo at this point. It doesn’t mean he can’t but if you’re honest you see Canelo’s recent form being better than Charlo’s recent form. I’m looking forward to seeing what Charlo and Ronnie Shields can come up with, if they get the fight.
Heck yeah what happened to Aaron Rogers happens in boxing. Writers are human and they have feelings. It actually just happened. Shane Mosley is a nice guy. James Toney is not considered one. I think Toney was a slightly better fighter than Mosley. Both had PED issues. Mosley was voted in before Toney. Again, I think Toney was the better fighter by a small margin. At worst they are even. But Mosley went in earlier. Why do you think that was? I see it in boxing with affiliation, personal relationships and race. Media members don’t ask certain fighters certain questions just to gain access to them. They vote for certain fighters to be Fighter of the year. They vote for certain fights to be Fight of the Year. They vote for certain Trainers to be Trainer of the Year. I can go on and on about this. This is all subjective so it’s hard to argue. But if it’s close, the beneficial association gets the nod in these subjective votes. It’s just how it is. And I think a board should review votes just to make sure there is more objectivity. Breadman,
Your mailbag is great! This is my first time writing. I'd like for you to provide insight on the time schedule for a fighter making weight. Take Welterweight for example. What weight might the fighter typically weigh when he gets to camp? Then, what weight would you want him to be at say 6 weeks out, 4 weeks out, 2 weeks out, 1 week out etc. Lastly, how close to the weigh in date would the fighter actually hit 147? Secondly, I'd like to get your thoughts on the great Pernell Whitaker. I don't think he really gets enough credit for how talented and great he was. Especially at Welterweight for how small he was at the weight. He probably could have stayed at the lighter weights but of course more money was there to be made at 47. I think he's right there with Duran as best lightweight ever. Give us some insight into just how special this guy was and how he would have fared in different eras. Thanks. Alex
Bread’s Response: Thank you. A welterweight in this era will most likely start an 8 week camp around 165-170lbs. But let’s say 170 for an even number. With the new modern technology and what we now know about the human body, a fighter does not need to walk around at 150lbs for 8 weeks if he fights at 147lbs. If he’s naturally 170lbs it’s too much strain on the body to be that low. Now at 6 weeks I would like for him to be at 165lbs. It may seem high but if he’s 165lbs fully hydrated without depleting himself then he’s ok. He will leave the gym at 162lbs every day then eat back up to 165lbs.
At 4 weeks I want him walking in the gym at 160lbs. So therefore he will leave the gym after a workout around 157lbs. Again fully hydrated. At 2 weeks out I want him strong at 155lbs fully hydrated. I don’t want a fighter too low while he’s still sparring and taking punches. If he’s a little higher I wouldn’t get upset as long as he’s hydrated. When I say hydrated I mean a Gallon of water a day level of hydration. That’s 8lbs of water. After the last sparring sessions I would like for him to be 152-155lbs. After the last session the bigger weight cuts can occur. He won’t feel his best but he’s a fighter. Mentally he has to be tough but it makes the weight cut easier when you aren’t sparring and taking punches. The last sparring session is about a week out. So if the fighter can lose ONE pound a day leading up to the fight, he’s good. So if he’s 154lbs, 7 days, he loses a pound/day for 7 days and he’s 147 on the nose. This is of course perfect world. The fighter should hit the target weight, the day of the weigh in. He doesn’t have to be too low for too long.
And after the weigh in the perfect rehydration would be to gain 10% of what whatever he weighed in. So if he weighs in at 147lbs, the perfect rehydration is 14.7lbs. So that’s 161.7lbs. Pernell Whitaker is one of the greatest fighters ever. He was arguably our greatest amateur ever at 132lbs. He’s 1st or 2nd best fighter of the 1984 Olympic class. He’s a top 2 fighters of the 1990s. He’s no worse than a top 2-3 southpaw ever. He has a top 10 jab ever. He’s a top 3-4 defensive fighters ever. Historically he’s more likely a top 5-6 lightweight ever because of his level of competition. As far as head to head, he’s even higher. I don’t think he would beat Duran 2 out of 3 but he has a shot. It’s a 50/50 fight but I give a slight edge to Duran. Not a big one.
His welterweight run is grossly overlooked. He was welterweight champion longer than he was lightweight champion. He didn’t unify at 147lbs but he had just as many title fights and his challengers were better. Buddy McGirt, Julio Cesar Chavez and Oscar De La Hoya are great fighters. The only great fighter he fought at 135lbs was Azumah Nelson. Whitaker has a case for being a top 10-20 welterweights ever.
The only thing I disagree with you about is how small he was. I think he was short. But he had squat powerful legs. A big head. And he had long arms for his height. Whitaker was also physically strong. There is a difference between being short and small. I think Whitaker is bigger than Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao and both of those guys had terrific welterweight runs. Hi Bread, Great mailbag as always. So I’m 38 and I’ve just started boxing - I just wanted to experience it before I got too old and lost the opportunity. It’s given me a huge appreciation of just how tough it is. I had under-estimated the cognitive side of things and how physical fatigue impacts on your ability to think and make the right decisions. I do mainly cardio, pad work, heavy bag and some light sparring. But I’m struggling with my footwork and balance - any advice? And coach is constantly on at me to “get your hands up” when I transition out of combos.
On a different note, who would you pair Benn with next for his development? He’s getting a lot of criticism for being linked with the likes of Broner and Hooker but I think that’s about right. He isn’t ready for the big guns. He’s 25 with no amateur career. Spence was 27 when he became world champ so am I missing something? Keep well, Joe from London Bread’s Response: Shadowbox more and take your time with your feet instead of doing so much pad work. Sometimes you have to slow things down in order to get them better to speed them up. I think Connor Benn is a solid fighter. But he’s picking on Adrien Broner somewhat. Broner is not in a good place. He’s inactive and he’s been really struggling. I get that Benn wants the name but there are UK welters he could fight. Josh Kelly…..He could also fight Mean Machine or Ray Robinson. I could literally give you like 10 names off the top of my head. Maybe even Mikey Garcia. Garcia is a big name and he’s a 4 division champion like Broner. Garcia beat Broner. If Benn wants an ex world champion under his belt which is understandable by the way, Garcia is a better option than Broner and an easier fight to make.
Hey Bread, I can attest to a fighters family members, a fighter I trained was preparing for a professional fight in the venue and family members kept interrupting to take pictures, talk about the good old days, etc. They made it all about themselves! They made the fighter feel loved and tamed the beast that was inside, the fighter lost the killer instinct and lost the fight. Jerry Cooney was never the same after the Holmes fight! Not saying any fighter is ducking, I must say that Canelo could've/should've already fought both Charlo's and Andrade, he fought lesser guys when they were available! Andrade is one of his mandatories at 168lbs, lets see what happens. I never thought that Canelo was going up to cruiserweight to face Jr. Makabu. I think Team Canelo goes after Beterbiev because he looked 'less than' in his last fight. Bread’s Response: As a trainer you don’t want to be intrusive but often times you have to be. I have told several fighters their friends and family will make it about them, except about him. The friends and family come for their enjoyment and assume the fighter will win, so they treat it like a celebration or party. But they don’t understand it’s 2 sides to a fight. A winner and a loser. I take boxing very serious and that plane ride home after a LOSS is the worst of feelings. Man you’re preaching. Fighters being tamed or domesticated is the #1 reason for their drop off in performance. They blame everyone else but that’s the biggest reason. Sometimes it’s too much money. Sometimes it’s not needing boxing to live anymore. And sometimes they just get the wrong emotions brought out in them. From my personal experience the fighters who felt the world was against them and they respected me because I stood by their sides when the world was against them were the hardest to beat.
If it were up to me they wouldn’t see friends or family until they got in the ring and looked in the crowd. Literally. They would turn off their phones 3 days before a fight and disable social media a month out. Then after the fight they can all hug and kiss and do whatever they want. This is a game of inches. In fact Half inches and everything counts. I don’t want anything taken away from my guy when he’s entering that ring.
In the military when you sign up for WAR you go alone. I feel like the same should be done in the boxing ring. But boxing trainers have to overcome the hardest dynamic in all of sports. The fighter pays them. In football, basketball, baseball and hockey the coach is paid by the organization not an individual athlete. In boxing the coach is an employee of the boxer. The boxer can fire them or get mad at them at any time. Often times the boxer will put up a no fly barrier. He will get mad if the coach brings up certain things even if the coach is right. So at that point the coach can say it anyway and chance he gets fired or let the boxer burn and sink and get his check anyway.
95% of the trainers/coaches I know tell me in confidentiality that all fighters are the same anyway so just get the check and let them do what they are going to do. Stay out of their family business or personal business. But 5% don’t care and they will say something. I’m one of the 5% but I try not to be intrusive, I have respect for fighters and I really don’t want to have to comment on anyone’s personal life. But I also want to win and I sacrifice a lot of my time, energy and money. And if they value my time, energy and money then they will respect I’m coming from a good place. Because if their personal life affects their boxing life then it is my business.
Hello Mr. Edwards, I was reading Russell Peltz’ memoir and it had a story about a guy who quit judging after Escalera-Everett because he was tired of the pressure to fix the scorecards. Not that bad judging is ever far from a fight fan’s mind but it got me thinking about how differently we would remember certain fighter’s careers if the cards went another way. The worst victims of this are working class fighters like Mauricio Herrerra or Jose Armando Santa Cruz who lapse into obscurity when they deserve to become champion and have it taken from them, but this has hurt a lot of great or borderline great fighters as well. How would Jimmy Young be remembered if he had beaten Foreman AND taken Ali’s title? Jose Luis Castillo should have been the only man to beat Mayweather and he hasn’t even made the Hall of Fame ballot (which is a travesty)! I know Canelo has made a leap in the last few years but would people be calling him the greatest of his era and better than Barrera, Marquez, Olivares, etc. if Golovkin had two official victories? So my first question is, who do you think has suffered the most historically from being on the wrong end of a bad decision? (Ironically I think losing to Leonard actually helped Hagler historically because historians might have written Sugar Ray off as shot otherwise. But a lot of these get memory holed a lot more than that one.)And finally, what percentage of the judging problem is incompetence vs the subjective nature of the sport vs. the kind of raw corruption in the story I mentioned? When you take a bad call as a trainer do you tend to worry about that or do you have to just shake it off quickly? Thanks, Luke from South Carolina
Bread’s Response: Great Question. Historically I have seen so many bad decisions it will be hard for me to name them all. But I will try to name the ones that stand out in my mind that changed the course of a fighters career. Some decisions aren’t what I call bad but if they went the other way…..GGG comes to mind. I think he was ducked for over a half of decade. Then in the first Canelo fight he gets a bad decision. If GGG wins that fight and Canelo goes on and does the same exact thing he has done including winning the rematch, GGG is an ATG fighter and that win would have grown legs with time. Now he’s just a great fighter who beat B level fighters according to his critics but didn’t win vs his best opponent. Mauricio Herrera in 2014 if he wins his fights vs Danny Garcia and Jose Benavidez he’s the Fighter of the Year. Chocolatito.
If Choc gets the 1st decision vs SSR he never has to fight the rematch. If he gets the rematch vs Juan Estrada he’s 53-0! Historically he’s an ATG smaller weight fighter. But imagine if he was 53-0. He would be the Fighter of the last decade. Or at least in the running.
As a trainer I have lost 5 split decisions or had 2 split draws in 11 years as a head trainer. I thought my guy won 4 of those fights. 2 of the fights, I know for sure my guy won. I try to be objective, fair and open minded. Every close fight is not a robbery. It depends on how you look at it. Sometimes you say you’re competitive in most of your losses which is a good thing. Sometimes you don’t feel so well because you;re guy underperformed. But what you never do, is QUIT. You keep pushing to get better. You keep your eyes looking forward and you never feel bad for yourself. I don’t allow my spirit to get broken I’ve been through too much in life and boxing to get to this point to be broken. It does hurt though. The losses feel worse than the wins feel good. But you learn acceptance to the decision not the LOSS. The harder I train my guys, the more dedicated I am, the more I will be rewarded when it’s all said and done. I don’t accept failure in my energy. I don’t listen to anyone that tells me my guy will lose. It gives me chills to know everyone is against me. I love it more than any other emotion I have. Defiance! In a good way. Incompetence or corruption. I think it’s both and I also think it’s perception. First off the perception. One of the main reasons the public sees decisions are bad because the announcers favor certain fighters and they score the fight based on a carry over effect. So you see one fighter who is clearly better and he has some big rounds. The other fighter is feisty and he’s winning his rounds by a small margin but he’s winning some. The judges don’t hear the commentary and they are judging the fight round by round and not just one 36 minute fight. So you get a close fight or a closer fight than you THOUGHT you saw.
Tim Bradley who I have a great deal of respect for had this happen to him twice in his career and he was on opposite sides of it. I thought he was competitive with Pacquiao in their 1st fight, but I honestly thought Pacquaio won. I just didn’t think it was a blow out. The fans turned on Bradley because the announcers didn’t judge it round by round, they judged it as one big fight. Their narrative was slightly misleading although I do think Pacquiao won.
Against Diego Chavez the exact opposite happened to Bradley. Bradley won that fight but they gave him a draw because Chavez was sneaking some good work in and the judges saw it. Chavez was to him, what he was to Pacquiao. So that’s the perception error that happens because of announcing.
The incompetence is just judges not scoring a fight correctly. But the incompetence turns into corruption because these poor judges don’t lose their jobs. They keep getting jobs and they keep screwing up. How do you keep your job after you screw up 3 or more decisions? Now here is more corruption. The system of boxing. I don’t believe someone approaches judges with an envelope and tell them who to score for. But the judges know who the A side and B side are. Often times promoters sit close ring side and they yell and scream and let the judges know who they are there for. The Promoters pay the judges per diems indirectly. So the unspoken loyalty is score for the fighter, they think the promoter wants them to score for. In turn these judges keep getting work. I don’t know how to fix it but that’s a huge problem.90% of poor decisions go to the A side fighter. That’s no coincidence. The reason behind it, is the reason I just stated. That’s not incompetence, that’s CORRUPTION. Trust all is well Bread: My questions/comments are delving into the negative side: Just read about Crawford's lawsuit against Arum. Hate seeing these type of things, but I'm glad it won't keep Crawford out of the ring. Think about the extra fights Andre Ward would have given us without his promoter dispute. I also think it's safe to say that Mikey Garcia lost at least half a step from his dispute with Arum. Without knowing Arum, I can't say whether he's racist or not and don't think it's wise to throw around accusations of any kind. However, I don't think Crawford's claims are "frivolous" either. I know Arum is older and says what he likes, which at times is refreshing. However, I remember hearing some of the things he said of Crawford and thinking a promoter should never say that about a fighter who is under his banner especially one that is THIS special. Even though, Arum may indeed have lost some money dealing with Crawford. It's part of the business, and he may pay for his choice of words. Would love your insight on this one.
Over the years, Philly has produced several great Black smaller guys (under lightweight) who have made their way to the title. There was Joltin' Jeff Chandler and now Stephen Fulton. One guy who never gets mentioned is Tyrone Everett, who had an unfortunately tragic ending. He was GOOD. I cannot find his controversial title loss against Escalera, which many feel is one of the worst robberies ever in boxing. Have you seen it and if so was it a terrible robbery? Do you have a top five or ten worst decisions in boxing history? BTW: Keshawn Davis visited our gym outside of Wash DC with Shakur Stevenson before the latter turned pro, so I've seen them up close. Your suspicion is correct: Keshawn has real grit! Simba Sana,
CEO Freedom Enterprises Bread’s Response: I did read about Terence Crawford’s lawsuit. I’ve never heard of anything like this before. I’m at a lost for words and I actually don’t want to comment too much on it. I think we should all wait until they get to court and release the discovery. I don’t think they can sit Crawford but I am fearful Crawford will never fulfill his career potential. At Top Rank he could’ve waited the Josh Taylor fight out as a back up plan. I would imagine that bridge is burned. Everyone else is over at PBC besides Vergil Ortiz who is probably not ready to challenge him yet. So technically Crawford doesn’t have to sit out but who does he fight? Sometimes you have to take a short just to play the long game to get the fight you want. Others have done it who were in similar situations than Crawford. I will leave it at that. I hope it works out for Crawford because I enjoy seeing him fight. I think he’s a generational fighter approaching the ilk of Mayweather, Whitaker and Leonard but he may never get to prove it which will be a shame.
Tyrone Everett was a tremendous talent. I did see his fight vs Alfredo Escalera. But not in it’s entirety. I think I saw it on VHS. I had a serious VHS collection about 15 years ago. Everett was as good as Fulton and Chandler in terms of talent but we never got to see him at the top level long enough….. I don’t have a top 5 or 10 worst decisions. But I do have some that I thought were bad calls. I thought Pacquiao beat Jeff Horne, Tim Witherspoon beat Larry Holmes, Oscar De La Hoya beat Felix Trinidad, Pernell Whitaker beat Jose Luis Ramirez, Erislandy Lara beat Paul Williams and on a local level I watched Omar Douglas win 8 rounds from Edner Cherry. Til this day I believe the judges got the corners mixed up because Omar’s dressing room was changed at the last minute. Everyone in the audience thought it was a mistake read on the cards. That’s how bad the decision was. I just knew they would change it but they never did. It was the most bizarre local decision I ever witnessed live. There is literally no way Omar lost more than 2 or 3 rounds.
Breadman--Big discussion on a virtual happy hour with three close college friends last weekend, each of my guys played a sport in college, are very successful in life and consider themselves knowledgeable sports fans, particularly in football and boxing. these same guys who I watched epic fights with Hatton vs Pacquiao and Winky Wright vs B-Hopkins, laughed me off the phone when I said 1.) Tyson Fury has all time great self belief, moxy, and will to win and my counter was he got off the canvas versus WIlder, one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history. At this point, they laughed and clowned me for literally 30 minutes and egged each other on when I said definitely top 10 right hands in heavy weight history and I believe top 10 power punchers in heavyweight history. I wont glorify their disrespect by repeating their comments, except to say some brought up his level of competition to which I had plenty of counters.
I think that people who know recognize stellar power when they see it and that's what I believe WIlder has. Can you rate Deontay WIlder as a power puncher and rate the power of his power hand historically amongst heavyweight boxers? Can you also rank top 10 responses to a knockdown---you already know I dont have a bag as deep or knowledgeable as yours so I can't come close to 10, but off the top of my head at 2AM my list would contain--Ali getting off the deck in round 14 of fight of the century, diego corrales getting up several times to beat Castillo, Ortiz getting off the deck several times against Berto, fury getting off the deck vs Wilder in last rounds of Wilder vs Fury I, and JMM getting off the deck three times in the first round in his first fight against Manny Pacquiao.
Wishing you, J-Rock, and Kyrone the best in the ring and more importantly in life in 2022!
Billy Bomaye Bread’s Response: Well if it means anything which I doubt it will, I agree with you. But people in boxing are stubborn and prideful so no matter what proof we show they will still stick with their guns. But yes I believe Tyson Fury has ATG self belief. Fury has gotten up off the canvas 4x vs Deontay Wilder and each time finished stronger. When something becomes common haters take it for granted. Like for example people who don’t like Lebron James say stupid things like he lost 6 finals. But he went to 10! I’ve played sports more entire life and just reaching a championship game is an accomplishment. James made it to 10 NBA finals the hardest league in the world to make it in and he gets criticized.
Fury responds to the odds being against as good as anyone you can imagine. He brainwashes himself into thinking he’s the best, so therefore he is. He was the underdog vs Wilder and Klitcshko and he answered the call both times. He has an odd shaped body but he believes he’s an Adonis. There is literally nothing you can say to him to bothers him. His self belief and belief in a higher power is among the highest in history. I don’t think he’s a better fighter than Ali but his self belief is on Ali’s level. People with this type of self belief are often viewed as being CRAZY because it’s so uncommon. Tell your friends they aren’t as acclaimed with sports knowledge that they think they are if they can’t see this.
Wilder’s power is real. No he hasn’t fought Murderer’s Row, but he’s stopped every opponent he’s ever faced except Fury and he knocked Fury down 4x. Think about that statistic. Most of the big punchers in heavyweight history have feasted on C and B level club fighters until they stepped up. It’s how boxing works. Tyson, Foreman, Shavers, Lewis, Tua, Klitschko etc. You can name who you want. Then when they reach the top level the kos still come but they slow down slightly. Wilder’s never did except vs one opponent.
I am careful with praise. I think Wilder is a top 10 ever puncher at the weight. I think his right hand is top 10 at the weight. But I don’t put him number 1 despite his lofty ko% because competition faced does matter. But he’s faced enough world rated guys with solid beards to let me know he’s CRACKING. Ask Fury can he crack? The only thing one can criticize Wilder for as far as his power is he doesn’t have a 2 fisted attack and it’s usually the same step in sling right hand. Where as Joe Louis had left hook kos, right hand kos, right uppercut kos etc. Mike Tyson had left hook, right hand and also uppercuts. George Foreman had jabs, walking left uppercuts, body shots and right hands.
Wilder has basically the same shot, over and over again. But you know it’s coming and he hits everyone with it and hurts everyone. I have seen fighters shake off everybody’s big blows and show no visual effects. Tyson is a murderous puncher but Holyfield can take his shots. Foreman is a murderous puncher but Holyfield and Ali can take his shots with no visual effect. They say Wilder can’t box. But yet he hits everyone with the same shot and no one can take it without at least getting put down. Most times being kod. We haven’t seen one fighter walk through Wilder’s punches with no ill effect. Top 10 rises from a knockdown. I don’t know but let me try off the top. In no order. Ali rising from the Frazier knockdown in fight 1. Marciano rising from Walcott knockdown in fight 1. Marquez rising from the 3 Pacman knockdowns in Fight 1. Duran rising from the DeJesus knockdown in fight 2. Corrales rising from the Castillo knockdown in fight 2. Gatti rising from the Ward knockdown in fight 1. Fury rising from the Wilder knockdown in Fight 1. Moore rising from the Durelle knockdowns. Holmes rising from the Shavers knockdown. Benn rising from the McClellan knockdowns. This one hurts. I don’t know if that’s top 10. But those just came to my mind with no google or youtube.
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