Yes I concede that. He kept his belt but looked worse than he should have. Point still stands IMO though: Byrd dealt with plenty of big guys and troubled them.
His footwork was never flashy, but it was usually pretty darn efficient. He had Tua baffled and befuddled time and time again by using short quick pivots, that sometimes had Tua completely turned around. Byrd was a very tough competitor. I wouldn't write him off against Wilder, as I think he could possibly neutralize Wilder's jab. But if Wilder got his jab going, Byrd would have problems. But I still wouldn't count him out. Byrd had a way of making guys overextend and injure themselves. I believe Vitali, Golota, and Holyfield all had issues with their left arms when facing Byrd.
Byrd seems to have trouble with "super" heavyweight types. He'd have to box better than he has before to beat Wilder, at best, a close decision for him. Wilder would win by ko, he would get to him eventually.
His 2 best performances for me are Stiverne and Arreola. He was wary of their power and kept it long and was disciplined enough to not waiver from that game plan. Wilder has a lot of flaws and I rate Byrd above him currently but it's a matter of styles. Some of the guys Byrd beat would starch Wilder but I still think Wilder poses Byrd real stylistic problems as long as he fights his fight and doesn't get drawn into trying to take Byrd out. Now if Wilder does get drawn into Byrd's kind of fight then of course Byrd would clown him but I think Wilder has now shown twice he can stick to a game plan when he's under threat and needs to.
Wilder got that wild style that is perfect for Byrd, Byrd by ud unless he gets caught, but if Tua was looking so wild against him, Wilder would look like an amateur.
Byrd would ruin more than half of Wilders body with Wilder hitting air all night long. His hayemakers are easy to see and an injured tired Wilder will get put out late.
Vit Klit who had better punching technique than Wilder threw out his shoulder trying to hit Bird clean. Wilder with his bad technique would probably rip his shoulders out of his own sockets. His footwork is also ****ty so Bird by decision.
Wilder is much more lose and punches with greater fluidity than Vit Klit. Vit Klit didn't have good punching technique at all. He could only hit what was walking straight toward him. He couldn't land a clean shot on neither Byrd nor Johnson when they were laying up against the ropes. Kingpin busted up Vitali's face and for a journeyman , he had the same success as Byrd. Fast hooks and angles are the weapons to defeat guys like that , which is what Wilder brings to the table. He has an 83' reach to Vitali's 79' Wilder holds a 9' reach advantage over Byrd. Byrd isn't walking through that to land punches and if he stays on the outside , he gets picked off to a 12-0 shutout.
A 97% stoppage rate proves other wise. lol@ Byrd standing still in the the wheel house and not getting hit:nut Stiverne was a gonner if he hadn't a strong high guard . Byrd had no guard. He catches gloves on his mitts. That why he was blown out by Wlad.