Byrd or Young - Who Ranks Higher?

No.

I will consider the rest of the equation later.

 

While their resumes stack up against each others prety well on paper I feel that Youngs fares better on scrutiny because of the circumstances of the better wins.

Young beat George Foreman and whatever his circumstances at the time he wasnt old or shot and it was a clear win.

Byrds best win is over David Tua. While Tua might have got his weight down for this fight he was inactive, let Byrd wail away on him and was not the Tua that fought Ibeabuchi. I think that he was at least as far removed from his best as the version of Foreman that Young beat.

Byrds win over Klitschko is verry impresive on paper but you know the circumstances. Holyfield again is a good name but he was going into a loosing streak with this fight. Perhaps a win over Ron Lyle is better than either of these.

Young drew against Shavers and Byrd drew against Golotta. I would say that the Shavers draw is a slightly better credential because Shavers closed the gap more times at the elite level.

Beyond that we are down to combing the lower teirs of their resumes.

 

That stands in his favour because a lot of people think Golotta beat Byrd.

 

Byrd is higher up..... Byrd was a title holder of the IBF..... Byrd has solid wins over "Tua & Holy." Byrd is not a great fighter, but he was slippery when wet.... He ranks above James Young with ease.....

MR.BILL

 

What makes you say that? Shavers got outclassed almost any time he stepped up. The only world class win i can think of is Norton, who in retrospect was at the end of his career and never in his life beat a puncher in the first place.

Golota was one of the finest technicians for a man his size, ever, but obviously lacked the mental capabilities, and chin.... the latter of which is a non-factor against either Byrd or Young. So is the former. And for that reason, he is a VERY hard stylistic matchup for Byrd, whereas a guy like Shavers, a one-dimensional puncher with weak stamina and horrible technique, is tailor-made for Young... by the way, he went 0-1-1 with him, though to be fair, it should read 1-1.


I think the answer to this question ultimately comes down to how much weight you add Byrd's paper win over Vitali Klitschko. If you consider this to be a legit win, then this combined with the masterpiece of an embarrassement of an in-shape Tua, plus his other work, is a bit better than what Young did. However, i consider the Vitali win to be more Klitschko's former European attitude to boxing (it's a game) than to Byrd's credit, since he was trailing badly. And then it's also a matter of how much credit you give Young for the fight in which, in my opinion, he should've been awarded the decision over Ali.

 

Tough to say because Young did beat Shavers in the 2nd fight( but Shavers was beatable) and most felt he beat Ali, Young had the win over Foreman and Lyle but dropped out of condition and went down hill...still he should have gotten that nod.

Byrd had the win over Vitali although he was shut out before the injury, he had a good win over Tua and a draw with Golota. he ouitpointed Holyfield pretty easy but he was dominated by Vlad and Ko'd by Ike...The McCline and Oquendo fights , Byrd could have lost

who do I think was better....Young had the better defensive skills and quick sporatic flurries...Byrd had the southpaw style and good movement...Young never won a title but there was only 1 champ in his day...could he have won a title in the 80's or in Byrds day...YES

If you count Youngs fight against Ali a win and add it to the Foreman win
If you count Byrds Win over Vitali and add it to the Tua win

I think Young edges Byrd

 

I suppose aside from Ali and the three judges who scored his sparring match with James Young in 1976, and myself, are the only people on the face of the Earth who think Ali really won that stinker.?.?.?

MR.BILL

 

Byrd has a much longer prime, and IMO a better resume.Young never had to match up vs super heavies with skills, Byrd did.

 

Yup.

IMO, Young was better. Had he fought in the same era as Byrd, who knows, he could have been undisputed champion. At least Young was up against the best of the 1970's, Byrd, sad to say, was in one of the worst transtional periods in heavyweight history. I mean ffs, John Ruiz was a champion, Lewis was almost out the door, and Roy Jones would come out of nowhere and caused waves....there wasnt a single true legit heavyweight, not even Tua could keep it together long enough, with his damn weight issues.

 

Good mention, i've never seen this one myself.... some people say he edged it, some people say he didn't. Sounds to me like a very even fight. But considering Norton was at his best again boxing-type of fighters, this is an outstanding performance.

 

Young vs Norton was a close fight. Do you go for the guy who landed the most significant punches, or for the guy who landed more light jabs?

I think Norton edged it.