Last night reminded me of watching Carolos Bojorquez humiliate a shot Pea Whitaker. Byrd and Whitaker, both crafty defensive southpaws, maybe the best defensive fighers of their generation, both 37 years old when the wheels came completely off. When fighters who rely on reflex and speed lose the skills, the results are not pretty. That said, I miss this sort of fighter that really understands the nuance of the game and isn't all blood and guts. I don't see a lot of guys coming up with their styles, and we certainly may never see another heavyweight with Byrd's skill set.
I agree Toney has a better defense overall but what sort of defense did you get to see from Toney at heavyweight? Showed up an old Holyfield. Fought a non-hugging Ruiz. Got jabbed to death by Rahman and ****ed up by Peter. The massive amount of fat he put on at Hw hindered his movement and allowed him to get hit waaaay too much at hw.
I disagree. Byrd in his prime was slicker than Toney at over 200 pounds. Overall, I would rate Toney the better defensive fighter, but not at heavyweight. Toney and Byrd would have been interesting at around the time Toney fought Evander.
Yes, I haven't watched Whitaker-Bojorquez since, and I don't intend on watching Byrd-George again. Byrd was a throwback in the sense that he'd fight anybody at any time. His record shows this; Wladimir, Vitali, Ibeabuchi, Golota, Povetkin, Tua, etc. And what makes it more impressive is that he was never really a natural heavyweight. That takes a lot of heart. I may be in an exculsive club, but I'm going to miss his skill set. He really was the essence of the sweet science. In this era of plodders and one-dimensional sluggers, it would have been nice to have a real slickster who could effortlessly make them look bad. Great career Chris...Thanks!
not forgetting they had almost the same record on the night 40-4 about toney being slicker thatn byrd...toney was a great defensive fighter but for one of the best around. the guy was/is damn easy to hit...it's hitting his cleanly which makes him the man to run from. toney was a counterpuncher. setting up traps and sutly techniques to measure his man then slip and counter. byrd was an out-boxer that when he was put under pressure went in the pocket where guys couldnt hit him. a great example of that was against tua where he countered with body uppercuts but was winning the fight by jabbing then circling to his right to get slip under the left hook. and also turning away when the hook landed and came back with a 1-2. toney sucked you in he would march foreward with a light pawing jab then sit on his backfoot. then when the man tried to hit him he would slip and counter with combo's. also he could punch much harder and his handspeed was far more acute than byrds.Toney was a slick inside-fighter toney's stlye was a very rare find to be honest. but yet so was byrd an outboxer who could be less than a metre away and be impossible to clip. against ibaebuchi i think that left hook was the only major punch ike had landed the whole fight at the point.
Humiliate? Have you seen the fight? Whitaker lost because he broke his clavicle. Borjourquez didn't do ****, and Pea was winning the first round or two pretty handily prior to the break.
Yeah, it wasn't an annihilation for Bojourquez or anything like last nights fight was. I just hate seeing an old warrior have to go out that way.
I haven't watched it since, my memory could be off, I guess it was more Pea humiliating himself by being in there in that condition with his skills so completely gone, rather than getting his ass kicked. Still a similar situation.