Would it be? A terrible fight in the respect that Marciano, like many, would struggle to work him out, get to grips with him.? Is there any possibility that Marciano actually ends up losing a decision perhaps? Or is it just a matter of time, before Marciano batters him in to submission?
Byrd would be a very difficult fight for Marciano and he may win a 12 rounder or 10 rounder. Marciano beat plenty of good boxers though and although Byrd easily beat Tua; Marciano was better at closing the gap, counter punching, Defensively and closing off a ring then Tua ever was. I can see Marciano struggling and in need of a stoppage. Who knows wether he gets it or not he certainly was capable of it.
I agree Byrd would be a stylistic challenge for Marciano. His head movement and slipperiness would stand him in good stead. What's not so good for Byrd is his relative lack of mobility. He's not going to get any rest breaks and he's going to get it to the body if the head is too elusive a target. I might even favour Byrd over a shorter distance. Over 15 though, I think Marciano wears him out.
Did Marciano ever fight a Southpaw ? Off the top of my head I can't think of any. Byrd was actually very durable, in his prime he was only stopped by a monster like Ibeabuchi. I see Byrd winning a decision, Byrd only struggled against fighters who made him come forward, but fighters who come towards him aka sluggers he feasted on.
Although I’m leaning towards a 50/50 fight here I wouldn’t say Marciano was a strictly come forward guy. He often baited his men in and countered. He had more tricks up his sleeve then given credit for. He wasn’t just a come forward slugger.
It would be a challenging fight yes. Byrd was well accustomed to facing fighters of most different styles and fought plenty of big punchers
Since you have Marciano in your avatar, I'm assuming your a Marciano fan. So let me ask you did he ever fight a Southpaw ? That would be another challenging aspect for him.
I’m sure he met one or two that weren’t very good. I don’t disagree that Byrd is a bad matchup for him. Terrible actually. I don’t know how Byrd would do in a 15 rounder and as another poster mentioned I’m not sure if he gets away with taking his breaks on the ropes etc. Marciano had zero issue just pounding the arms and anywhere he could hit legally illegally whatever. He would have to sustain a terrible beating. Tua was able to catch him occasionally I think Marciano would connect a bit more. I have no issue with picking Byrd here was only pointing out Marciano didn’t have to move forward like Frazier or Tyson. He was a bit more adaptable then the two of them.
No in a word. Byrd is exactly the kind of fighter that Marciano excelled against. A difficult fight for him perhaps, but probably one of his better options in that era.
Chris had one of the most akward, trickiest styles in heavyweight boxing for many years. If we say Jersey Joe gave him trouble we can definitely say Byrd would. IMO
Byrd would give anybody trouble. The important point is that Marciano has the right style to nullify what Byrd brings to the table. If I had been managing Marciano in the era when Byrd was one of the top contenders (lets assume that we have decided to go the heavyweight route), this is absolutely one of the fights that I would have sought out.