Chris Byrd on Lennox Lewis

the midget byrd was effective against crude superheavys like vitali, but SHWs with at least some skill such as wlad would always beat him.

 

LL would have knocked him the f out

 

Chris Byrd was a class B fighter. He would have a puncher's chance against Lewis and that's it.

 

He was feather fisted at HW he wouldn't even had a punchers chance

 

Taking the **** surely

 

he was B+ at hw, his skills making up for his lack of natural hw stature.

at LHW he was A grade, most likely.

 

of course, kirk was good enough for the title eliminator with vitali, the kliturds are at pains not to mention that.

kliturd self destructs once again.

 

At the time nobody wanted the fight apart from Byrd and his team. He had lost to Ike and Wlad and simply wasn't an easy fight to sell. Lewis was at the stage where he was looking for money and Byrd simply didn't represent a significant payday.

Sure you can argue it would have made an interesting style match up, something Lewis hadn't faced before but does anyone really have any doubt that Lewis would have won convincingly? Byrd had no weapons to hurt Lewis, best case scenario he makes Lewis look bad and takes him the distance in a one sided loss, worst case scenario Lewis catches the smaller Byrd reaching in and he gets KTFO.

 

Lewis was very crafty and selective over who he fought and when, similar to Khan in that respect but a much better fighter.

 

I just read the case file which is available online.

Lewis rushed into negotiations with Grant in January 2000, with the intent that he wouldn't be bound to honor his contract if the leading contender was undecided.

However, the WBA moved Ruiz to the top spot in their January ratings. Lewis went through with the Grant, which was official announced in Februray.

 

Not true. Byrd topped an ESPN poll as the fighter people wanted Lewis to fight after he beat Tyson. He wasn't Tyson but Byrd was an HBO regular at this time, well liked by the American media, and regarded as a fun talented fighter despite his lack of power. Byrd didn't get The boring stigma until later as he slowed down and started having stinkers. The Byrd fight was projected to be an above average pay day for Lewis, more than Johnson.


So, just because Lewis was favored he didn't have to fight him? Look what just happened with Fury, people said the same thing. Interesting style but no chance..

 

What are you trying to say? Fat Johnson fighting Vitali, makes him good?

And

Unforgiven is the last guy I would call kli****. Are you stupid? The guy doesnt
hate them but is hardly a fan. As fair as they get.

 

Byrd was a good fighter, but I never once thought of him as a champion. His "reign" was overshadowed by others and he barely survived the challenges of guys like McCline and Golota. He was a slick and tricky contender...but never close to being champion. Lewis would have wrecked him.

 

Lennox would of demolished bryd inside of 8 rds maybe sooner.

 

I'm aware of this poll, no denying Byrd was deserving of a shot but there was another poll at the time asking who Roy Jones Jr should fight next and Byrd won that poll as well ahead of Tyson, Wlad, Tua and even Lewis.

Those poll's simply reflected the opinion of hardcore boxing fans at the time in regards to which fights they thought would be interesting and what they would prefer next. But this poll doesn't take into account of other aspects such as which fight is more lucrative and which fight would appeal more to casual fans.

Hardcore boxing fans may have wanted Lewis/Byrd but the fight had little appeal outside of the hardcore fan base, it was a hard sell to a broader sports audience. Byrd also only just edged out Tyson by a small margin in the poll, so that was hardly a big endorsement, Byrd was seen as a slightly better option over a guaranteed beatdown in Tyson.

Fact is Lewis wanted the Johnson fight for some time, he had planned to fight Johnson even before he fought Tyson. He had an idea of an all Canadian title fight in Canada, which of course didn't come to fruition when the fight came to be arranged. Byrd at the time was never a fighter he really ever thought about fighting, maybe because he never saw him as any kind of threat and due to Byrd's lack of marketability.