Stephen Edwards Questions SHOWTIME Segment!
On June 29, WBC middleweight champion Jermall “Hit Man” Charlo (29-0, 21 KO’s) defeated a game and extremely durable Brandon “The Cannon” Adams (21-3, 13 KO’s). Heading into the bout, there were very few that gave Adams a serious chance at victory.
The majority of the boxing public assumed that Charlo would make running over Adams look like easy work. In preparation for the title fight, Showtime, the network that aired the prizefight, released a number of promotional pieces that helped foster this belief.
One of these short programs was one of their rarely used ‘Anatomy of a Punch’ segments. The last ‘Anatomy of a Punch’ appears to have been released two years ago, and dedicated to Deontay Wilder’s destructive one-punch knockout of Artur Szpilka.
Since then, until now, Showtime has not done much but let dust gather on that particular series. Perhaps this is why Stephen “Breadman” Edwards was peeved with the piece.
When Showtime chose to make the latest ‘Anatony of a Punch,’ they opted to make an examination of Jermall Charlo’s impressive one punch knockout of Julian “J-rock” Williams. In all fairness, the pinpoint uppercut that Charlo felled Williams with was a thing of beauty.
It’s doubtful that even Edwards himself would argue that point. The main issue is when the piece was released. The match and punch, in question took place nearly three years ago in J-rocks first attempt at a championship title. Now, Williams is the unified super welterweight world champion.
A Tempered Perspective
It actually is really easy to see why Edwards would not care for the segment. Particularly so when given the fact that Breadman is Williams’ longtime head trainer.
Not only did Showtime release the piece via Youtube in the days before the bout, on night of the fight, they showed another large section of the segment directly before the Charlo v Adams took place. It was at that point Edwards took to Twitter to air his displeasure.
In accordance with his demeanor, Breadman did not get out of pocket, curse or become belligerent. Instead, he made a simple post that openly questioned why they chose to use the rather dated footage.
The argument cannot even be made that Charlo was ‘more’ of a Showtime fighter than J-rock. Both, Charlo and Williams, have appeared on Showtime eleven times apiece. Going a step further, J-rock made his premiere Showtime debut on October 1, 2010, nearly three years before Charlo.
Hit Man did not grace the station until January 26, 2013. These are just a few more reasons why Edwards may have perceived the segment as somewhat a slanderous blindside.
In the end, it was odd that it took so long for the network to use the footage in such a fashion. Yet, much stranger things have happened in the zany world of boxing. While this doesn’t appear to be much more than a blip on the radar, it will be interesting to see if the relationship between Team Williams and Showtime alters in any way in the future.
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By: Bakari Simpson
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