did chris byrd make a mistake by fighting at heavyweight?

Byrd was succesful at HW with his speed, but at the lower weights that advantage would've been negated more, Byrd would've been a world champ at lower weights too, but he wouldn't clean out a division like Roy Jones Jr.

 

Byrd had a good career at heavyweight having some good wins, but he would had a much better career fighting at either LHW or CW. I would favor Byrd to beat Jones at LHW and Toney at CW.

 

But his lack of power meant that he would of always had trouble with guys like Ike Ibeabuchi, Wladimir Klitschko, and Alexander Povetkin. Had he at least have Holyfield type power, he could possibly beaten those three.

 

People compare Eddie Chambers to the likes of Chris Byrd and Micahel Moorer, but Chambers has something those two don't have. For one Chambers actually has pop in his punches and two Chambers has a good chin with a very good defense.

 

A fighter can't have everything. Outside of the fact that Byrd lacked power, he was a very well-rounded fighter. I'd say he fared quite well as a heavyweight with all things being considered. I'll tell you one thing. He wouldn't have been able to enjoy the advantages that his style and chin gave him at heavyweight had he fought at light heavy or cruiserweight. He would have had to have found different ways to win fights against fighters his own size.

 

Boxers should never be at a weight class where they're incapable of beating xyz boxer because they don't have certain physical attributes. During his first 13 fights he won 10 of them by KO, so he's not really a light hitter, he's only a light hitter at heavyweight. Had he fought at LHW or CW, there would no serious disadvantages for Byrd. Michael Moorer is also another boxer that should of never fought at heavyweight.

Fighting at the appropriate weight class is very important. For example David Haye has all the physical attributes to be able to compete at heavyweight, it's too bad he doesn't Byrd's skills.

 

Byrd and Moorer would not have made any money at cruiserweight. That's basically what it comes down to. That division was filled with retreads and obscure fighters. What good would it have done either of them to have dominated there? The real money and accolades were at heavyweight and that is pretty indisputable. Are you saying that Chris Byrd would have made more money fighting Anaclet Wamba in France than fighting Wladimir Klitschko in Germany? Or how about Michael Moorer facing Glenn McCrory in England and not Evander Holyfield in Vegas? There's no sense in that both economically speaking and in terms of actual accomplishments. By the way, just as you point out Byrd's lack of power as a heavyweight I'm gonna point out David Haye's inability to handle heavyweight power. If anything, the fact that Byrd's durability and chin was usually good enough to buy him 12 rounds a fight against big hitters probably made him more equipped to fight at heavyweight than Haye will ever be considering how his chin can let him down before his punches ever connect.

 

Byrd did the right thing by fighting at Heavy. Had Lewis not ducked him Byrd would have been HW champ. Yes Lewis ducked Byrd. Yes Byrd would have beaten Lewis. Bring it on.:bbb

 

Sure he would :nut

 

Think what you want. Fact is we will never know and its Lewis's fault.

Lewis cried and bitched that Bowe threw that belt in the trash, then did the exact same thing to Chris Byrd.

The fact that we have to debate it falls on Lewis's shoulders. Byrd earned his shot, Lewis was at the least afraid of being made to look awkward. There was less money in fighting Byrd but **** that it's a sport first, business second.

 

I don't think I need to go over the reasons why trying to compare Lewis/Byrd 2002 to Bowe/Lewis 1992 is remarkably silly.

Unless Byrd knocked out Lewis in some Olympic final I haven't heard about, and had just knocked out the number one contender, and was an unbeaten young heavyweight with a big punch and...aw hell, I said I wasn't gonna do it.

Byrd made the right choice fighting at heavyweight.

 

Chris Byrd was an olympic medalist.

Chris Byrd had beaten the likes of David Tua...

Chris Byrd had beaten top contenders. Are you saying you have to have a knockout punch to fight for the title? This makes no sense to me. Maybe we should just do 3 1 minute rounds in boxing like toughman if its all about knockouts?

I compare the two because they are the same thing. A fighter throwing away a title instead of fighting the fighter that earned it. I don't know how it gets any simpler.

 

In that time there was no public demand for the fight against Byrd. Furthermore even if Lennox would defend his belt against Byrd.
IBF had already stated that next mandatory challenger would be Tua, Holyfield or Rahman. Lewis had already beaten all of them and didn’t feel that Byrd will be competive fight.

Vast majority of boxing world agreed with his decision to drop belt in that situation

 

In Byrd's time the heavyweight division was literally packed, it wasn't going to be easy to clean it out though he tried. Lewis, Tyson, Ibeabuchi, Holyfield, Mercer, Rahman, W.Klitschko, V.Klitschko, Purrity, Golota, TOS, McCline, Peter and many others were around are he was rising and at the end. Too many good/big fights and if you notice Byrd actually fought nearly all or more than half of them. The man was definitely trying and it's good he became champion for 4 years being as small as he is surrounded by many bigger elite competition.

 

No, at some point Byrd was considered the top HW of the world, how is that a mistake?

He did just fine.

Sure the lack of size and power, for not being a natural HW did limit his achievements.