Hey B man, Its your brother from another motha from Panama City Panama. Well B man, im writing this email for my father in law who is pushing 85 and hates computers, but loves talking boxing. Last week I had the opportunity to meet another great Panamanian Champion of ours Eusebio Pedroza and to my wife dismay i stop and introduced myself and i asked if it was okay to ask him some questions. He was really nice and said yes. I asked him why in gods name you never fought Sanchez or Gomez, his answer was a typical Duranish . He said and I quote they did not want a piece of me.. I started thinking about that so i went to ask my father in law and he of course disagrees with me. I said those fights would have been a push. Pedroza was a mean man, but my father in law stated , Gomez would have killed pedroza and sanchez it would have been ilegal to have him fight Pedroza, Is he wrong or is my pops correct. What is your take. Now he is asking me to email you, go figure. You got a new fan in Panama bud. Take care, Ed
Bread?s Response: Eusebio Pedroza is an all time great featherweight. The problem with assessing how a guy like Pedroza would do in hypothetical matchups, is Pedroza is well rounded but not dynamic. Dynamic fighters are always more pleasing to the eye. But it does not necessarily mean they are better. For example Archie Moore is well rounded but Roy Jones is dynamic. People would you tube Roy more because he?s more pleasing to look at. Feel me? For those that are not familiar with Pedroza, I would describe him as a right handed Joel Casamayor , with a little twist of Bhop. Pedroza was great and dirty. I believe he would give Sanchez and Gomez both hell. Sanchez had a great reign but people overlook sometimes he struggled a little bit with Patrick Ford and Pat Cowdell. Pedroza was much better than both of them and he out performed Sanchez vs. Ford. Ford held Sanchez to a majority decision and Pedroza stopped him in 13 rounds. However I do feel that Sanchez would edge Pedroza. Sanchez had wonderful feet and I believe he would slide around Pedroza enough, in a tactical, intense boring type of fight. Pedroza got stopped three times early in his career but he proved to be a durable champion at featherweight. 19 title defenses should tell you that. Pedroza and Gomez would be nip and tuck. If I had to pick I would say Gomez by late stoppage in a great fight. Pedroza was tall but he liked it on the inside and I think he would get caught in there. Gomez was arguably the best puncher of the 80?s. That?s saying something when you consider Hearns, Julian Jackson and Mike Tyson all fought during that time.
Brotha B, I had some spare time so I brainstormed something different for your mailbox. I call this category the ?Best Performance in a Major Fight? award. The time period is post 1980 and is based on dominance, quality of opposition, and historical significance. The order was very difficult but here we go: Sanchez vs. Gomez-people forget this bout happened a month before Leonard vs. Hearns I and was a HUGE event. Gomez was coming up in weight but was an absolute MONSTER. Sal (RIP) out fought him, out boxed him, out punched him, and out toughed him. He took some good shots from Gomez but never flinched while beating his ass to a bloody/bruised PULP. Hopkins vs. Trinidad-Hindsight is 20/20 but Tito looked pretty indestructible before he ran into the Executioner. Bernard boxed smartly and did something Oscar bitched out on doing?mixed it up here and there and put HURT on Tito. The Executioner executed a beautiful game plan and culminated his evening w/a late stoppage. Mayweather vs. Corrales-Diego (RIP) was no Tommy Hearns like some suggest but he was undefeated at the time and a very good puncher. ?Money? handled him like he was just a regular cat at the local YMCA and again, finishing him was the cherry on top. Tyson vs. Spinks-Does everybody realized Michael Spinks was undefeated at the time? Hindsight is 20/20 but it was a big event for a reason. People (even Ali) thought Spinks would win. Tyson?s aura alone gave Spinks a severe case of STD?Scared to Death! This was TOTAL DESTRUCTION. Jones vs. Toney-I?ll admit, I picked Toney to win their 1994 bout. This was 2 of the top 3 fighters in the world at the time (Pete Whitaker being the other) and Roy made a damn fool out of Toney. When Toney imitated Roy doing the ?chicken man? and got his ass knocked down, I knew it was over. I?m not sure Jones could knock out Toney but he really didn?t try too hard. That’s why this one is lower than the others. Holyfield vs. Tyson I-I can remember the first punch Tyson threw knocked Evander half way across the ring. Instead of bitching up, Holyfield MANNED UP. This was a perfect example of the neighborhood bully getting his ass tore out the frame by the church boy. Plus, it changed the direction of each fighter?s legacy and Heavyweight history. Hearns vs. Duran-What I remember most about that fight is the oriental lady in the crowded making motions, facial expressions, and jumping up and down as if somebody was getting murdered. Hell, it wasn?t far from the truth. Although Duran was on the slide and Hearns was just a bad matchup for him, nobody before or since has done that to Duran De La Hoya vs. Chavez I-Oscar was sharp that night. No, he wasn?t up against the ?JC Superstar? of the last 80?s and the cut messed up the fight but Oscar was on point that night. He?s never looked that good. Curry vs. McCrory-Donald Curry looked like a MILLION DOLLARS that night. His first knock down was a crushing left hook & the finishing shot was a SINGLE right hand. Although a unification bout and McCrory was a solid fighter, he was never considered great so this entry is down the list. Barrera vs. Hamed-I always thought Prince was just a damn clown who could PUNCH but he was still undefeated at the time. Marco was thought to be washed up but he simply ?out pro?d? Hamed and sealed his dominance by ironically runny THE CLOWN into the ring post!
Bread?s Response: Sarge you did it again! Wonderful list. Man Oscar was great that night. I always say Oscar left 140 too soon. That summer night in 1996, that kid was something special. He would have given Pryor and Chavez hell that night at 140. I want to add a couple of fights. James Toney vs. Iran Barkley. This was not a super fight but I do consider it a major fight. Toney was the best he ever was that night. He gave a clinic on fighting in the pocket. Barkley was laying on his stool looking like he was seething in pain. I never seen a fighter show so much visual pain from legal punches. Chavez vs. Rosario was to me the best pressure fighting performance of the last 25 years. Chavez was not human that night. Rosario is another guy who could be in the running as hardest puncher of the 80?s and Chavez was not even flinching when he was being hit. Chavez was the underdog but the old men in Vegas made a mistake that night. Chavez was patient and urgent at the same time. His punch placement was sickening. It was almost as if he read a book on pressure points, he tortured Rosario. Pryor vs. Arguello 1. I know about the bottle but Pryor was simply awesome that night. That one performance changed the landscape of history. Pryor became an all time great and Arguello lost his chance at Mount Rushmore. Alexis would have been the 1st guy to win 4 title in 4 weight divisions. Pryor took punches from a bomb thrower. Pryor also kept up a relentless workrate and he mixed in some boxing and angles to turn Alexis back. That one performance makes Pryor the favorite over every fighter ever under 140 for the exception of a select few.
“I don’t mean to take up for the kid BUT” WOW that says it all, you have never had to clarify yourself for taking up for Floyd Mayweather like that, but you tell it like it is and you don’t take sides. Talk to you later Johnnie “Pacquiao” Cochran, oh my bad the daily bread writer who does not take sides, I understand you have a problem with Mayweathers personality (which is why you always talk about what Bernard Hopkins would do to him). R U a journalist or a PROPAGANDIST bcuz I have lost track, due to the fact that you cheer lead and take up for Pacquiao so much, even though you say “you call both guys out”. I have to ask you this again r you a journalist? And if you decide to answer this in your mailbag, please add the fact that you have already dodged 2 questions that I totally demolished you on pertaining to drug use and your defense of Pacquiao to the point that I tore you aprt in a mailbag and you never answered bcuz I covered all bases.
Bread?s Response: Jeremiah Dedmon I am going to put you on blast for the last time. Hopefully after this you will email a writer who wants to help you carry Floyd?s jock strap because I am not interested. So what, you emailed a few times about Floyd and I decided not to post it. You are a stalker. I may call the internet police and get an order against you. Now let?s address my mailbag yesterday and your Man Crush on Floyd. I understand you are Bromancing with him but my comments should not have prompted you to get so upset. I said Manny only won one title at a catch weight. That was his fight vs. Cotto. Is that true or false? True , I will answer it for you Jeremiah. I also said that Cotto voluntarily came in at 146 his fight before Manny. True or False. True Jerry boy. Oscar came down 1 weight division and Manny came up 2. Was it really that unreasonable? Oscar was the huge favorite. I?m still trying to figure out what I said that would offend you. The truth should never offend anyone. The fans can easily look at my mailbag from yesterday to verify this. Now Mr. Dedmon the reason why Manny gets bashed over these fights is because of his ongoing offgoing thing he has with Floyd. But I am going to give you a list of A list fighters who made fighters come to them as far as weight just because they could. This has been happening way before Manny. Ray Leonard was a blown up inactive Welterweight, so he made Donny Lalonde a light heavyweight come down to 168. You like Ray Leonard don?t you. Is he worthy? You?re from Philly right? Ok look at boxrec and see what the weights were for Meldrick Taylor?s title challenge of Terry Norris. 149 for a junior middleweight fight! Taylor had all the heart in the world they just wanted to take an advantage when they could. Roy Jones fought Tito at 169! Am I pissing you off yet? You hate it when you guys make it look like something Manny is doing is so rare and then I prove to you that many others have done it without the critics. I have others. What weight did James Toney fight Prince Charles Williams at? Super middle weight. Williams was a life long light heavy weight. Toney made him shrink down. If these guys can?t make the weight healthy then they shouldn?t fight. Do you really think Bernard Hopkins wanted to come in at 156 against Oscar? Or do you think something was put in the unwritten contract? If you want to challenge me on this I will get Bhop on BT and shut you up. Speaking of Bhop didn?t he engage in two more official catch weight fights at 170lb vs. Pavlik and Wright? I think so. I have one more for you although there are many others. Floyd Maywether made Marquez come up 2 weight divisions , the same divisions Oscar had Manny come up. Marquez asked Floyd to come in 3lbs under the welter limit. Floyd burned him. Ok cool , the popular train of thought is Floyd would have beaten him anyway. And that?s correct. But he still engaged in a catch weight fight, something that you have a problem with Manny doing. So please do me a favor. I understand you are upset because you won?t be seeing Floyd on TV with his shirt off for a minute. But send him your resume, I?m sure he could use someone to pull up the toilette seat when he urinates. We know he loves these random test. If Floyd cared about you protective fans as much as you do him, then he would be giving you guys what you want and he would be fighting in Novemebr.
