Chris Byrd is criminally underrated here

What "elite heavyweights"?

Ibeabuchi f*cking destroyed him.
Vitali was beating him easily then retired with an injury.
Holyfield was 40 and injured.

Who did he beat that was elite? David tua??!?! B*tch please.

 

It´s not Byrd´s fault that he was avoided by the heavyweight top. But besides Wladimir he was competitive against anybody. Funny that anyone claims an injury when losing to Byrd, yet you won´t see any indication of that injury in the fights. And yes, Tua was an elite heavyweight at that time. And Byrd did a very good job that night. Much more convincing and especially entertaining than Lewis.

 

First he fought all the elites, now they were all ducking him. atsch

David Tua is his only solid win. Tua who was in no way elite and was 9 months off a shut-out loss to Lennox Lewis. Byrds losses are far more telling than this sole win.

Nobody avoided him. He was a boring, no money fighter. He deserves to be forgotten. Let it go.

 

At that time Tua was elite and he came into the Byrd fight in tremendous shape, didn´t help him though. Holyfield still was a solid win, even if he wasn´t in his prime. McCline was another solid win, considering the size and weight disadvantage Byrd had.

And yes, Lewis avoided him.

And for calling him boring, i know a lot of boxing fans will agree with your statement, i don´t understand why though. Byrd wasn´t running, he stand in front of you, made you miss and pay for it. I think him being called boring is just cause he fought at heavyweight and people love the heavies for their power only. I never heard people calling Sweet Pea boring, yet he did have a similar fighting style.

 

Ike Ibeabuchi must be the GOAT if Byrd is underrated.

 

:deal

I'm over this thread. Byrd was average and needs to be forgotten. Stop trying to build him up Klittards.

 

Food for thought, Byrd/Lewis/Wlad from 99-04

I know there's more to these matches than the results but interesting how on paper, Byrd isn't that far removed. He was the clear #1 to Lewis during his undisputed reign. :yep


Byrd

L: W. Klitschko, Ibeabuchi

W: V. Klitschko, Holyfield, Tua, McCline, Oquendo,

D: Golota

Lewis

L: Rahman

W: Tyson, V Klitschko, Holyfield, Tua, Tyson, Grant, Rahman, Botha.

D: Holyfield


W. Klitschko

L: Sanders, Brewster,

W: Byrd, McCline, Barrett, Botha, Mercer.

 

Spot on.

The Klitschko fan club like to hype up Byrd for obvious reasons but I agree with your assessment.

At one point in his career Byrd was so unpopular with fans & promoters (due to his style) he took out a full page advert in a Vegas newspaper looking for top quality opponents & the only guy who responded was Jorge Luiz Gonzalez.

 

He did own Vitali. So we gotta give him some credit.

 

FFS, Lennox Lewis did not duck Chris Bryd, the fight didn't happen because no one wanted to see a 6ft 5 245lb Super Heavyweight ATG smash up a feather fisted, blown up middleweight. There was pretty much zero interest from fans and TV networks in this fight happening because people could see it for the mismatch it was.

You Klitards might be impressed by Wlad beating Bryd, but a true ATG like Lewis is held to higher standards than that and unlike for Wlad, a win over Bryd would not rank very highly on Lewis' list of victories.

Bryd wasn't a bad fighter at all, infact he did pretty well considering his lack of size and power, but he wasn't that great either.

 

People said the same thing about Clay/Liston, not to draw a direct analogy but if a contender earned his shot, he earned it regardless of how favored the Champion was. The fight was on the table for Nov, but HBO ended up with Holyfield/Byrd instead.

It wasn't accepted that Lewis/Byrd would be a murderous mismatch not worth following through, HBO did want the fight for winter of 2002, and the media certainly didn't let Lewis completely off the hook. Byrd already had a reputation as a difficult opponent.


The fight was for a piece of the heavyweight title that Lennox Lewis sold to promoter Don King for $1 million and a Range Rover rather than fight the elusive Byrd. "I thought he (Byrd) looked good," said Lewis, who was at ringside. Asked what he liked, Lewis said, "Speed."

[url]http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/boxing/news/2002/12/14/holyfield_byrd_ap/[/url]



Holyfield never really wanted to fight Byrd, whose unorthodox style causes other fighters fits. But the lure of a fifth title proved too much, even though it was a title that Lewis sold to promoter Don King for $1 million and a Range Rover during an African tour. Lewis, generally regarded as the top heavyweight in the world, was at ringside to watch one heavyweight he had beaten and another he didn't want to fight battle it out for the title he gave away.
[url]http://enquirer.com/editions/2002/12/15/spt_wwwsptzbox15.html[/url]



The fight was for the IBF title that Lennox Lewis gave up rather than fight Byrd, a light-hitting former Olympic 168-pounder who likes to frustrate opponents rather than beat them up.

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Byrd's style was the reason why WBC heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, who was at ringside doing commentary, opted to take 1million US dollars and a sport utility vehicle from Don King to vacate the IBF belt

[url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/3039761/Byrd-beats-Holyfield-to-take-IBF-title.html[/url]


This is why Holyfield said he did not want to fight Byrd. This is why many assume Lennox Lewis, the universally recognized heavyweight champion of the world, ditched his IBF belt rather than fight Byrd.
Lewis said he had the fans in mind when he abdicated the title.
"I didn't think the public was interested in a fight with Byrd," said Lewis, who did commentary for the international feed. "You can't come down from a fight with Mike Tyson to a Chris Byrd fight."
Maybe.

[url]http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:W29OW7yDjK8J:http://a.espncdn.com/boxing/s/2002/1214/1477179.html%2Bbyrd+exposes+Holyfield+lennox+lewis+espn&safe=active&hl=en&gbv=2&safe=active&safe=active&safe=active&ct=clnk[/url]

 

Some "Fans" do understand that boxing is a business as well as a sport. Not fighting BYrd was a business decision. EVeryone knew who the champ was and to get a million bucks and a car for not doing anything that would not hurt your future earning potential . . . it is a no brainer. in fact fighting Byrd and stinking out the joint could cause LL to lose some marketability and become worse off in the process (ask WLad after his last "win").

So LL did not fight a fighter that almost no one want to see and HBO would never buy.

 

Maybe...maybe not.

Bah, Wlad hasn't had a fun fight since Brock, he still gets on HBO and sells out stadiums. And Byrd vs Tua/Golota/and McCline were all fun matches from this time, so I'm not certain a Lewis fight would stink.

HBO bought Holyfield/Byrd and aired it in the slot they wanted Lewis/Byrd, so I'm not sure what you mean by HBO wouldn't buy it.

 

HBO set aside Dec. 7 02 for a possible Lewis/Byrd fight. He refused Byrd and couldn't decide on another challenger in time.


The decision by Lewis came just as the IBF was to take purse bids Thursday from promoters for a fight against Byrd, a crafty left-hander who tends to frustrate his opponents and make them look bad.
In a statement Thursday, Lewis, who for a brief time held all three major heavyweight titles, said the champion was more important than the title.
"Prior to today, my team and I had already determined that there was no public interest in a Lennox Lewis-Chris Byrd bout," he said. "My decision was also based upon the fact that I believe, as I have said repeatedly, that Chris Byrd offers no competitive challenge to me."
HBO had set aside Dec. 7 as the date for a possible Lewis fight, but a network executive said earlier this week that the heavyweight champion would have to quickly agree to an opponent for the fight to happen on that date.

Lewis' options as far as other opponents are limited. He could fight Klitschko, who is ranked No. 1 by the WBC, or possibly WBA champion John Ruiz, although Lewis has deemed both fighters unworthy of his attention.

[url]http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/boxing/news/2002/09/05/lewis_ibf_ap/[/url]

 

Vitali took the fight with Byrd and dominated him for 9 rounds before injury stoppage. Lewis was to scared to step into the ring with Byrd and dropped the belt without fighting when Byrd challenged him as a mandatory contender. Yet, somehow haters have balls to call Vitali a coward when Lewis gets a free pass.