If Chris Byrd, he of the Vitali fight, went in against George Foreman in San Juan? I's Chris capable of replicating Young?
It’s possible that Byrd might have pulled off that upset. Especially given that according to reports Foreman really didn’t have his head in the game. But much of it would depend greatly on whether or not Byrd’s chin could stand up to some of the same punches that Young took. Contrary to what some will say, George did manage to land some hard shots on Young in that fight.
He did for sure, I' watched bits of the fight today and didn't realise how many times George actually landed on Young. Even towards the end of the fight, George was still having a little success. Can Bryd do it..?.. He took good hard shots off the guys in his era so maybe, or he could end up in the same circumstances as against Ike.
If Foreman hits Byrd with the barrage he hit Young with in the 7th, Foreman will win. But Byrd was more elusive than Young and actually threw punches so I don't see Foreman landing too many bombs on him. Byrd via UD.
Call me delusional but I am picking Byrd on this one. Remember, Bryd was only beaten by Ike and Wladimir in his best years at heavyweight (and only by Wlad and Povetkin thereafter). Foreman was an exceptional puncher (and boxer too) but the style favored Byrd with the added advantage of poor ring IQ by Foreman against Young following the Ali debacle.
Foreman (slugger) vs Byrd (counter puncher) Power: Foreman Speed: Byrd Chin: Foreman Footwork: Byrd Stamina: Byrd Technique: Byrd Body shots: Foreman Punch selection: Foreman Timing: Byrd Ring IQ: Byrd Adaptability: Byrd Offense: Foreman Defense: Byrd Heart: Foreman 8-6 edge to Byrd Although Foreman had diminished confidence and wasn't in an ideal condition going to Puerto Rico late, I think the stylistic issues would've been there regardless. Foreman probably would need a KO to win. The 2 big questions are 1) how Byrd handles getting rocked 2) If he can endure those body shots. While Byrd did beat some bigger punchers such as Tua, Vitali, etc, few opponents relentlessly pursued him the way a 70's Foreman would. Byrd did seem lost and in a daze when Ike nailed him, and Wladmir managed to get to him, so this would be quite the nail biter. And although Byrd has good defense, footwork, and the stamina advantage, if he can't endure or neutralize those body shots he's going to get bulldozed and then the head will get nailed too. Conclusion: I'd say if Byrd is cautious, can survive the body punches, and doesn't become too predictable he should be able to pull off a close decision win.
On that particular day then Byrd is a massive chance. That was arguably Foreman at his absolute worst.
Unless we’re assuming George comes into the fight with heat exhaustion like he did against young, he’s steaming rolling Byrd with the best ring cutting in heavyweight history. Even if chris was fighting under the same circumstances as Jimmy, there’s no reason to assume he’d do better under the hot climate than foreman did, as he never fought in it before. Even assuming the heat doesn’t bother him, he never took a shot as well as young did, who was still badly hurt in the fight and admitted he was out on his feet in the seventh round, only surviving it by a miracle. Chris byrd’s chances are still very low as far as I’m concerned.
Not sure about absolute worst, but yeah post-Zaire he wasn't nearly as affective, as the Lyle and Denis bouts indicated. His jab, which was one of the greatest of all time, become only good visually. It only looked good really but it wasn't nearly as powerful. He tried to make his body mechanics more fundamental to be more "correct" but it ironically made him worse. Posted about this before post-Ali, Clancy tried to change Foreman's stance and body mechanics. He made Foreman bring his feet to close together, which prevented Foreman from utilizing all of his power and left him off balance quite a bit (perhaps never more apparent in the 7th round against Young when he had him ready to go), his jab also became notably weaker and though it still looked good, it was more or less just there, when before it was a beautiful weapon that could stun and stagger very durable ATGs such as Frazier. The first time it was very noticeable was against Dino Denis. In his bout with Young I also noticed his jab was less "mobile" for lack of a better term, as he'd mostly throw it while standing still, instead of walking in with his weight behind the jab, which he did beautifully against Norton.
What do you mean "footwork Byrd "? Foreman was a great ring cutter off-er , was he not? And Byrd was a guy who fought out of the pocket. This is why Ike ran right through him. Jimmy Young was known for springing around the ring , Byrd was not. The footwork here goes to Foreman. If Ali couldn't escape Foreman , Byrd wouldn't have a prayer. So we're taking about the night he fought Jimmy Young? Young had to constantly hold Foreman when his footwork failed him.
Cutting off the ring and having good footwork are two different things. The whole point of cutting off the ring is to corner someone who has better footwork than you. In what universe did any version of George Foreman have better footwork and head movement than this? This content is protected
You could use any version of Foreman Byrd just isn't the type of fighter George can handle. I’ve been thinking of what sorts are best for him?We’ve had a small sample size really to say he’s some juggernaut. Joe Frazier was very small for a HW and past prime, no defensive savant either JF was a hard nosed guy who was at the stage of his career where he’d been fighting the Standers and Daniel’s read the scales he was in a similar shape for Foreman too, JF was recovering form the fight of his life enjoying the high life read the scales. look at his career right after GF it reads like a shot fighter cashing checks IMO. Lyle who has near no wins over prime or ranked competition (from memory) almost KO’d George at his own game… not the best case for saying it’s a suicide mission for a guy to fight George head on. He’s also the only guy of similar size and power he fought in the 70s…Jimmy Young stood there right with him, hurt stunned and dropped GF later in the fight “but the lights” “but he was depressed” “but Gil Clancy” etc. Norton? His second best win was a shot Quarry, a come forward guy who despite all the gymnastics had chin issues and it was very well known. Did you see Nortons attempts at sticking and moving? I don’t think Foreman’s first career is really indicative of anything but a very good contender who wasn’t meant to be a long reigning champion.I think you could take a few guys and they’d have exactly the same career.
