Chris Byrd challenges Lennox Lewis at a press conference

Maybe i was being too harsh with McCall, and he does have underrated power and skill. But my main point was that you can't just write off Byrd's chances if a guy like McCall can pull off one of the biggest upsets in boxing history with all his problems.

I'm aware Lewis put on a lot of muscle. Again I was mainly talking about how flabby he had gotten in his last fight and his lack of stamina. Unless he whipped himself into shape for his last hurhah, Byrd would have a major stamina and mobility advantage.

 

I think Byrd posed a significant threat to the aging Lewis but it doesn't matter.

Byrd earned his shot at Lewis be defeating Tua. He then further cemented his status by humilating Holyfield for the vacant title.

Byrd and Lewis officially share their best win over the same man in Vitali.

Byrd deserved a shot at Lewis, twice over. He was a difficult opponent, Lewis wanted no part of. ESPN even called this out as a "duck" at the time.

 

I agree about the what if re: if Byrd would have faced him.
But even at 249 vs. Tua he does not really look heavy-at 249! Even if he might have been better & I think he said this, a little lighter.
Against Vitali he may have also lost muscle so gained more fat than we might assume.

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McCall is one of many fighters with certain limitations (his mostly psychological & drug issues) that was still one of the best fighters in the world for a few years.

 

People will argue till the cows come home that Lewis isn’t overrated and is an underrated H2H monster like Larry Holmes despite the opposite being the truth.

 

I really don't agree. Just because no one did it doesn't mean it's not possible. There's few I would pick to do it, but it could be done

 

Byrd also lost nearly every round to Wlad and Vitali.

Mercer could come forward and exchange with Lennox, while Byrd could not. It's very difficult to beat a much rangier opponent boxing off the back foot.

 

The 2 reasons Byrd vs Lewis never happened was
1 No big money to be made
2 Byrd was a Don King fighter and Lennox hated doing business with King especially after Holyfield 1.

 

Well for starters you're comparing prime versions of wlad and Vitali to an old fat Lennox at 38. You do realize the thread is referring to a hypothetical fight after Lennox's bout with Vitali?

If Byrd survives the first 6 rounds against the old lethargic version of Lennox all he has to do is hit and run tactics to thoroughly exhaust him and then convincingly win the last half of the fight. Lennox would not have the stamina to chase him down or cut the ring off. If he shows up like he did in the Vitali fight he would only have a punchers chance.

I disagree that Byrd lost nearly every round to Vitali. He was breaking him down bit by bit and Vitali quit before he could be exposed. Wladmir still had his legs at that stage and way better stamina, work rate, and accuracy compared to old Lennox.

 

The reason Lennox was fading was partly because he was out of shape but largely because Vitali pressured him by throwing 70 punches a round. Byrd isn't capable of doing that. Your idea that a fighter who has such large height, reach doing 'hit and run' tactics is somewhat laughable. Byrd would roll into range, he didn't have quick feet

Vitali quit against Byrd because of his shoulder injury and he was struggling to use his left hand from round 3 of the fight. He has the W, but it certainly deserves an asterix next to it. Byrd didn't do well against SHWs. The Wlad fights were dominations. A 36yo Golota beat him on a fair card. And Vitali was beating him early and up on the cards when he retired due to the shoulder injury. Ibeabuchi flatout destroyed Byrd and he doesn't have half of Lennox's arsenal.

 

Byrd didnt have quick feet? He couldn't use hit and run tactics? Go watch Byrd vs Tua and then get back with me before responding. Byrd could be in close range and make a guy miss with his slippery head movement and mobility.

Vitali wasn't even a great pressure fighter and had long arms with an upright textbook stance. How the hell do you let a guy like that pressure you with volume? It just goes to show how much Lennox relied on his physical dimensions to hide his deficiencies in defense and adaptability.

 

I think the Byrd version Golota was incredible shot.

 

Byrd was lucky Lennox never fought him LOL Look what Ike Ibeabuchi did to Byrd Nearly decapitated him. Imagine that big right hand of Lennox landing!!!!

 

On the one hand it seems only right to give Byrd kudos for his willingness to fight modern SHWs.

But, the flipside to this coin is that his was a career choice bordering on insanity and, in my view, Vitali K did him a huge disservice by, as Chris puts it, quitting on him. Not giving him a rematch to put that one to bed probably made it worse. I think it gave Byrd the false impression that he was some sort of giant killer.

If the negative, uneventful close shaves and gift decisions he'd been given since then weren't enough to help him realize his limitations within the division, then the hammerings he'd already taken from Ibeabuchi and Wlad should have been enough for him to know what he'd have risked against Lewis.

Easy for him and his supporters to be positive about his chances over a fight that never happened, in retrospect, but every indication is that he'd have been badly hurt. Add to the pot what Steward alludes to in the clip, i.e. Byrd was unwatchable, then there was little chance this bout would ever have been considered viable by the wiser heads.

I guess, one can only be grateful for small mercies.

 

Vitali pressured Lewis ? In what sense? The fight i watched had Lewis being the forward aggressor with Vitali fighting on the backfoot like he does
Mid range boxers like Vitali didn't like being up close since he couldn't shorten or put any angles on his punches.

If thats true , how come the ringside observers never noticed it? Can you time stamp the moment he injured his shoulder in round 3 ?

 

Shame Lewis never fought him. I recall was weary of putting Lewis in with high level technical fighters.