Who you got? This is interesting, right? Not a lot of evidence to suggest that either man is going to struggle with the other's style, and they're among the best of the era who aren't great or near-great. Byrd clearly greater though.
Good thread and interesting match. I don't see a stoppage here. But if I were to choose I think I'll go with Chris Byrd on the cards. Not sure that there was a huge gap in skill level, but I believe Byrd to be the faster and busier of the two and one who had a few more encounters with world class men.
I like Byrd by decision. Ruslan Chagaev was a decent fighter but how many times did he clearly beat a notable HW fighter? Yes, he has wins over- John Ruiz WSD12, Nikolay Valuev WMD12, and Fres Oquendo WMD12. He also beat Matt Skelton, Carl Drummond, Kali Meehan, and Rob Callaway x2. He lost to W. Klitschko by stoppage and to Povetkin by decision. Byrd would be 2 1/2 - 3" taller (depending on the source), with the same reach of 74", and a little lighter and leaner than Chagaev. Byrd was much quicker and much harder to hit than Chagaev. Chagaev doesn't have enough power to make Byrd blink... not sure how he got the nickname "White Tyson"? Byrd didn't always impress early in his career. He did struggle with veteran Arthur Williams in his 11th pro fight, WSD10. Williams even dropped Byrd in the 1st round. Williams would go on to win the IBF CW World title 3 1/2 years later. Byrd improved and went on to win near shut out decisions over Phil Jackson, Uriah Grant, and Bert Cooper. He stopped Jimmy Thunder in the 9th round. He nearly shut out Elieser Castillo. He was flying high. His first loss came against Ike Ibeabuchi, LKOby5. I think Byrd was expecting Ike to come at him more like David Tua would do 2 1/2 years later. Let's face it, Ike had a lot of potential... but I also think that Byrd improved after this. Byrd came back with 4 easy stoppage wins and took on V. Klitschko for the WBO HW world title. He was a big underdog. Byrd had his moments but V.K. was getting the better of it thru 8 rounds. In the 9th round V.K. quit due to an injured shoulder. Very odd. Next up was Wladimir Klitschko. Byrd tried his best but was dropped twice and lost a clear decision. A lot of people thought a fight with Mo Harris would be competitive but Byrd easily outpointed the journeyman. His next big fight was up was a clear decision win over Tua. He beat a past prime Holyfield for the IBF HW world title. Holyfield came on late but Byrd built up an early lead and won about 7 or 8 rounds out of 12. Fres Oquendo (W12), Andrew Golota (D12), Jameel McCline (WSD12, Byrd was dropped), and DaVarryl Williamson gave him tough fights but they were also at their best vs. Byrd. After these 4 tough fights he fought W.K. in a rematch. Klitschko put a beating on him and stopped him in the 7th. Anything after this doesn't matter. He should have fought John Ruiz, James Toney, Roy Jones Jr., Monte Barrett, and maybe even Joe Mesi and Michael Moorer. He should not have fought Wladimir Klitschko a 2nd time.
Bryd all the way, he was clearly the more talented of the two, and faced harder competition, and was slicker, and a lot tougher to find.. I see a lopsided 10-2 type decision for Byrd..
Worst possible match up for Byrd. Chagaev is decent swarmer and would outwork passive Byrd in wide UD.
Close match. The ring size and judges preference on how they score fights could be X factors here. When two southpaw's meet, neither has the advantage. I like Chagaev via SD. Chagaev had under rated skills. He could box and counter. Chagaev would have a power and work rate edge over Byrd.
I see this as a close fight and could go either way by a hair, Byrd was crafty but sometimes tried to trade as mistake against Ruslin who was crafty strong and solid. Game-plan would be very important for Byrd and he would have to box and utilized his speed and confuse. Ruslin tricky himself and strong SD either way or a draw
I think Chagaev would win if he showed up in shape and applied lots of pressure. He doesn't leave enough openings for Byrd to capitalize on unless he plods around at distance.
Close fight between two similar sized men. Byrd was skilled and took a good shot when he had to. Chagaev was a good puncher from the southpaw stance too and was the first to beat Valuev officially. Look like a tight decision either way. Ruslan would get the win if they meet in Germany, Chris likewise in the US.
