Did anyone see that Chris Byrd fought this past June after a 17-year layoff? He got stopped in 1 round by Anthony Welsh, and they fought at middleweight for something called the WABA middleweight title. This guy that beat him had a record of 3-1 going into their fight, and the fight was held in Zambia of all places. There's even a short YouTube video of the fight that I'm not posting because it's not that good. Now what is Byrd doing back in the ring. Byrd had a great professional and amateur career, he had a lovely wife and kids, he didn't seem like the partying and gambling type. His family worked his corner when he was fighting. As a person he seemed nice, knowledgeable, and humble. I can see Byrd staying around boxing as a trainer, commentator, manager, or promoter, but not boxing at his age. Is he broke? What is going on with him? Does anyone know what's going on with him? Honestly, I always liked Chris, and he should be enjoying life at his age, not getting beaten up by club fighters.
i read his wife divorced him. Sad. Male athletes often face this issue. When the money isn't coming in at the same rate anymore post retirement, women often bail. It happens to NHL players, soccer players, NBA players etc. and of course, to fighters. I feel bad for male athletes. Unless there are some major changes in law, they will continue to get robbed. Byrd was indeed a very admirable character. He was no more than a natural 168 lber. I still think it would have made more sense for him to start at 168 or 175, win a world title there and work his way up to cruiser and maybe heavy when the right time came. Obviously i am concerned about his health. He took a ferocious beating from Wlad in their second fight. He also took some big hits of Wlad in their first fight. And while he beat Tua, he took some heavy shots there as well. And the tko loss to Ibeabuchi was brutal. All of these men were naturally in the 220-240 lb range and were exceptionally heavy hitters. Its a miracle Byrd had any success vs them. I hope he retires for good and focuses on coaching and his kids. He was defensively skilled and he could help a lot of cruisers and heavies develop his type of defensive skill.
I saw it and it was pretty bad. His legs were all over the place even before he got hurt. Sometimes,especially as we age, people are desperate to catch that last sliver of youth before it too goes away like everything else does. I can picture him just sitting around not doing anything worth while by his standards. Essentially just waiting to take that final ride. And then it hits him. What if I could fight just one more time and for the first time in awhile he feels alive. Excited. I don't blame him for trying and I understand why he did.
The Women's Ampersandium Basketball Association (WABA) title is one of the greatest achievements in all of sports. Show some respect.
Chris actually announced he will be returning to the ring when I interviewed him in April. He was aiming even at junior middle. Sad to see him like this, but hey, he always felt he had something to prove and it didn't change.