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BREAKING BREAD ON KLITSCHKO VS. JENNINGS: "I BELIEVE IN BRYANT...I THINK HE'S GOING TO PULL IT OFF"

By Stephen "Breadman" Edwards | April 24, 2015
BREAKING BREAD ON KLITSCHKO VS. JENNINGS:

I'm not going to make it a secret that I'm a huge fan of Bryant Jennings, but what's crazy is we are both from Philly, but we don't train at the same gym. I just really admire the guy. I respect him from afar. Philly is a big city, so it's not like we train right next to each other or at the same gym. I just think he's a great guy. He started boxing not too long ago and he made a great life for himself in the ring. I'm really scared that he does not have a lot of experience, but sometimes that could work for you. Sometimes that can work for a guy because you don't overthink. He may be so lost in the moment and not know what to expect, sometimes that helps a guy because he can kind of just react. I'm playing devil's advocate with this because obviously experience is a trait that you want to have, but I've seen guys sometimes who are kind of ignorant to the moment and they can just go out there and operate without overthinking and not be too tensed up.

An example of that is Azumah Nelson versus Salvador Sanchez. He didn't win the fight. He was 13-0 when he fought Salvador Sanchez in a 15-round fight. And just imagine that; 15 rounds is 15 rounds. That's 15 3-minute rounds. You got guys in this era that don't even fight 10 freaking rounds until they are like 20-0. So they threw him in there in a 15-round fight against Salvador Sanchez, who was rated by Ring Magazine the third best fighter of the 80's. I don't even have to name you the killers that was walking around in the 80's and he was named the third best fighter of the 80's. He was in the middle of his prime run and they just threw Azumah Nelson in there and he fought Salvador Sanchez like he was just a regular guy because it wasn't a big deal to him because he was kind of ignorant to the moment. You go watch that fight on YouTube, and let me tell you something, the end result was Salvador Sanchez knocked him out in the 15th round, but you couldn't hardly tell who was winning the fight. So a lot of times, that can happen.

I respect Wladimir Klitschko as far as accomplishments are concerned and longevity. He's one of the better heavyweights that we have had. But head to head against a lot of guys that I admire, I don't really rate him that high. Not his last fight against Pulev, but the one against Povetkin, he was grabbing so much in that fight. And Povetkin was outgunned and was hurt, but the one thing Povetkin didn't do was stop trying. And whenever you don't stop trying against Wladimir, every single time in his career when he's had adversity, he did not respond well. Nobody could tell me a fight, whether he won it or lost, because he beat Sam Peter, every time somebody fights him back consistently and they don't stop trying, he does not respond well. He absolutely panics whenever you get past his long range bombs. He goes into a frantic grab. I've never seen a fighter that is so afraid to get hit with a punch. The Povetkin fight made me cringe to even watch that fight. So while he is a fighter that I respect, he's not my cup of tea because he shy's away from contact more than any great heavyweight I have ever seen. People said Lennox Lewis didn't like contact. Lennox Lewis is 10 times tougher than Wladimir Klitschko.

I'm going to pick Jennings. I do not think Wladimir has a mid-range or inside game. Every time I see Wladimir uncomfortable, I see Wladimir act in a state of panic. Everybody is talking about this winning streak that he's on; it's really because the heavyweight division is so dreadful. You really don't have to be a huge heavyweight to make him uncomfortable. You just have to be consistent and be a dog. Lamon Brewster is not a great fighter; he's just tough. And he's only 6'1". So when people say that. it's like, listen, Ross Purity, Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster are not great fighters; they are just tough. If you look at the Ross Purity fight, at the end of the fight, Wladimir's corner threw the towel in and he wasn't even getting beat up that bad. Ross Purity was just walking him down. It was late in the fight and he was happy the fight was stopped. I never seen nothing like that before. People try to dismiss that like he was green. He was like 28-0 when they fought and he was an Olympic Gold Medalist. So you talking about somebody that comes from an extensive background. He wasn't a baby. So I think Bryant Jennings is going to employ the Lamont Peterson strategy against Danny Garcia. I think he is going to use the whole ring, he's going to try and tire Wladimir out, and he's going to try to frustrate him. He's more or less going to tire him out mentally more than physically. I think he's got a really slick move that I want people to look for. He holds his hands up high and tight and he steps in real quick to close the distance. I think he's going to use that move to get in on Wladimir and get up under him and I think he's either going to win a split decision or clip Wladimir late.

I haven't been paying a lot of attention to his demeanor leading up to this fight because he hasn't been training in Philly. I just know that the guy has high character. Obviously I wish he would have had a couple of more fights after the Mike Perez fight. I think he was a little bit nervous for that fight. I think he got all of that out of the way and I'm glad he went 12 rounds in that fight because now he has that under his belt. It would have been beneficial to him to get a couple of fights after Mike Perez to see exactly where he was and to gain a little bit of experience, but I just feel like a fighter that uses the whole ring and a fighter who gives Wladimir the threat of being able to punch him back on a consistent basis all night long...see, the last guy that he fought who he hit with that big left hook, that dude was a freaking punching bag. I know he was undefeated, but the way he held his hands and how slow his reaction time was, that could be fool's gold a little bit. And I know Bryant is a long shot, I know he struggled against Mike Perez, but I just believe that Wladimir Klitschko is so fragile mentally, and I know Ross Purity was a long time ago, but if you watch that fight, you see a man who was happy to lose his undefeated record. Against Lamon Brewster, he just kind of collapsed in panic. Corrie Sanders, he got hit with a legitimate shot and he was hurt. Against Samuel Peter, he was flopping, literally flopping and ducking out of the way of punches by laying on the ground. I have never seen an elite heavyweight act like that under stress.

Technically he's a Hall of Fame fighter and you would have to put him in the top 15, top 20 heavyweights of all time based on his accomplishments, but as far as head to head competition, I could think of a lot of guys that could beat him and I don't think that they have to be great fighters. I think another fighter out of Philadelphia would have beat him, Tim Witherspoon. Tim Witherspoon is not looked at as a Hall of Famer, but Tim Witherspoon would have knocked Wladimir Klitschko out. I think it's going to be tough on Bryant. He's going to have to be better than he's ever been before, he's going to have to fight over his head, the crowd is going to have to be on his side, and they going to have to applaud his defense and his offense, but I think he's going to pull this fight out, man I really believe that. I was kind of keeping quiet about the fight and I saw it yesterday. I was driving home and somebody called me on the phone and I said, "You know what, man, Bryant Jennings is going to win this fight." I put it on social network and I believe that. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong and I got to live with it. I know we are both from Philly and it's a thing where people say I'm rocking with my city, but if I thought he was going to lose, I just wouldn't say nothing (laughing). I probably wouldn't pick against him publicly. I just wouldn't say nothing at all.

I believe in Bryant and I think he's going to pull it off. He's going to have to fight over his head and be better than he's ever been before and he's going to have to improve on that Mike Perez performance, but Bryant has a patient way about him, a steady and mental way about him that's going to drive Wladimir crazy. It's going to be like Terence Crawford and Thomas Dulorme. The fight looked even to the naked eye, but Dulorme was panicking with Crawford's confidence and his patience and his steady, consistent mind. It was making him panic. By the 6th round, it was over with. And I think that obviously Klitschko is better than Dulorme; he's a dynamic puncher with both hands. Bryant is going to have to be seriously careful with that. But Wladimir has showed me so many times his mental weakness. Even in the David Haye fight, Haye couldn't even move, but the threat of David Haye hitting him back kept him pawing and staying at a distance all night long, and with the condition David Haye's feet was in, he should have been able to knock David Haye out. But he's just not that kind of guy. So my pick is Bryant Jennings by split decision or late knockout.

BREAD CRUMBS (QUICK PICKS)

DANIEL JACOBS VS. CALEB TRUAX

I'm giving Truax a better chance than most people, but Truax is just too slow for Danny Jacobs. Danny Jacobs is too fast and explosive. Truax has slow twitch body fibers and he just doesn't get off fast enough. Everything he does, you can see it. I can see Danny kind of lighting him up and constantly beating him to the punch because he's just too slow. If Truax was a little bit quicker, people don't like to talk about stuff like this, but region does count. You out there in Minnesota; you not getting that urban slickness that a kid out in New York is going to get and you could just tell that Truax came up fighting in a different environment than Danny Jacobs came up fighting in. You get certain guys from certain places and you're going to be able to tell, you know, there is going to be certain things this guy is going to be able to do that other guys won't be able to do. Truax just don't have the guys in the gym that Jacobs does. In New York, just to get out of the Golden Gloves, you gotta be able to fight. Danny Jacobs is going to have just a little bit too much pedigree and a little bit too much quickness, but I think Jacobs better jump on Truax early. If this fight goes into the second half of the fight, I like Truax's chances a little bit better. But I'm picking Jacobs. I don't know if it's going to be a stoppage, but I think he's just too fast of a fighter.

ANTHONY DIRRELL VS. BADOU JACK

I think that Anthony Dirrell has some of the best punching range that I've ever seen. He don't load up on anything and he can throw power punches...he has a little bit of the Danny Garcia gift where he could punch while you punching. I think that the only problem with Dirrell is he's always looking for the big shot. He doesn't really jab or set up anything. He's kind of like a stalking counterpuncher. He's waiting for you to punch so he could counterpunch you with beautiful combinations. I love how he punch, but I worry how he loads up and looks for the big punch all the time. I actually think that Badou Jack is a solid fighter. I think he gets a lot of slack for losing to Derek Edwards, but Derek Edwards is a sneaky puncher. I think that Badou Jack is a good fighter, but I just don't know if he has the natural athleticism to beat Dirrell. Dirrell is a more God-given gifted fighter and because of that, he has more judge-friendly punches and just his natural athleticism will get him over. I think Dirrell probably could stop Badou, but I really like Badou Jack as a fighter. I think he's a solid guy and I always wish him the best, but I like Anthony too and I think Anthony is one of the better punchers in boxing. I think his punch ability is underrated. He's a real dynamic puncher as far as counterpunching and punching in combination. That may be a little bit too much for Badou. Badou is a little bit programmed. Everything he does is step-jab-right hand-step over. It's like he's going through the paces of his fight. He has no salt and pepper in his game, and I think there is nothing wrong with being basic, but if you don't have the athleticism behind you or something to offset what Anthony doing, then I think he's going to have to walk into Anthony's wheelhouse and get lit up a little bit. I like both of those guys, man, both of them are real cool. I hate to have to pick on this fight, but I think Anthony is just a little too blessed with God-given ability for Badou.



[ Follow Stephen "Breadman" Edwards on Twitter @BreadmanBoxing ]

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