Byrd came on strong knowing at that point he could win the fight at best, he'd already lost the event to Vitali. Byrd was a tenacious fighter, he wanted the event more than anything as a growing boy.
Evander Holyfield at age 41 hurt his shoulder in the 2nd rd against byrd but he finished the fight IMO Vitali was tired which is why Byrd backing him up and walking him down which led to him quiting.
Yep, that´s exactly how it was. Byrd was getting stronger and stronger and Vitaly was dead tired and frustrated, cause he could´´nt catch Byrd really clean. He was scared of being stopped and therefor quit.
It was a really hot night in the arena, Vitali threw a lot of punches that did not connect. He was tired, very tired. It is not out of the question he knew he was going to be in trouble. If you add in the fact that Vitali had never gone that distance and he was getting hit clean (he lost the 9th) along with his arm and being tired iot is not that much of a surprise.
Oh and i was rewatching the 9th rd. Larry Merchant, "he doesnt have the mentality of a champion. He had a bad left hand, so what!"
I'd never really though of that before; Byrd was indeed a slickster and although he had no power whatsoever, he could fire off effective combos at awkward angles and his accuracy allowed him to land a lot of them cleanly. On top of that Vitali was having trouble with Byrds style and was struggling to hit him cleanly, and as a consequence was incredibily tired. So with doubts that his stamina was giving out, his arm was all but useless, he was beginning to lose rounds etc, I suppose it makes sense that his will would be fading. But seriously, would VK really fear that Chris Byrd of all people was gonna come on strong and take the fight from him? It's possibly but i'd like someone to convince me! Also, a bit unrelated, but can anyone tell me why Byrd carries no power? i've never heard of any hand troubles, and you'd think a guy who's obviously in great shape with his handspeed would be able to at least make people think twice about walking in on him.
I think you answered your own question. Vitali was tired, that is the longest he had ever gone in a pro fight. The arena was very hot. Byrd made him miss a lot and vitali had trouble hitting him cleanly (which really tires you). On top of that, for some odd reason byrd was easily able to take Vitalis power. I think this combination frustrated Vitali. I dont think it was so much as Byrd taking Vitali out, but rather Vitali didnt want to be taken out by being exhausted. At that point it wouldnt have taken much offense to get the fight stopped. Oh and people fail to realize it but the fight stats for landed punches in that fight was nearly even.
True, very true, if Vitali had nothing to throw back and Byrd started firing off combos I suppose it would be quite easy for a stoppage to happen. Doesn't sound right though, Vitali being stopped by Chris Byrd hahah.
Kinda like when Wlad beat the living **** our of Brewster, it was brutal. Only to get Ko'D from stamina. Vitali it seemed wanted to avoid that.
Yeah thats true also, cant be great for your mindset having seen first hand what it can do to people, especially your brother. Though the Klit-huggers make an excuse for that I believe, something to do with being poisoned I believe?