Adamek has managed to build a large group of haters on ESB, so you won't see many valid opinions on this thread. I would tend to favor Bird by a very small margin. However, it could turn out a bit like the Cunningham fight.
I disagree. Byrd even though was very fast heavyyweight, he did not have the speed of Chad Dawson. His speed was comparable to that of Chambers or Estrada. I think its a 50-50 fight.
I disagree :smoke Most opinions underrating Adamek are, because people are simply ignorant. As most posters here are from US, huge group of these posters know US boxers and dont care much about foreigners. These ignorants are always proved wrong when Adamek fights. When you look at the first page of Adamek express (around the time when Adamek moved up to CW), few posters said that boxers like Bell, Mormeck and Cunningham are too big and too strong for Adamek. Not only Adamek beat Bell and Cunningham, but he went to HW and beat much bigger and stronger boxers. Most Adamek haters are die-hard Haye fans, who cannot stand that Adamek has much more respect here than Haye.
I think Byrd may have been more prime in the Vitali and Wlad fights around 2000 but with that said I think he is very slick and hard to hit has a crafty style of counter punching and can be frustrating I think he beats Adamek in a tough fight
I think that whole slick thing was hogwash. Against static opponents Byrd could look good like when he schooled Tua. But by and large he would get tattooed in most fights when facing top quality opposition. He didnt have the power to get anyones respect and he wasnt a good enough counter puncher or elusive enough to cause the bigger fighters at heavy any problems. Against guys closer to his weight though he had fewer problems. Against Adamek he wins a comfortable UD.
Adamek's hand speed is underrated in general. Its often mentioned when comparing him to his potential opponents in the HW division: Haye and Chambers. While Chambers is certainly faster than both Adamek and Haye. The difference in hand speed between Haye and Adamek is very small. TBH, Adamek's hand speed isnt terrific in any meaning, but its pretty good.
To beat Byrd his opponents have to be somehow crafty and powerful, Tua wasn't too crafty as Wlad, and Golota boxed too much giving up the power. Adamek is closer to Povetkin but at that time Byrd was a shadow of himself.