Chris Byrd vs. Joe Calzaghe @ 175

kind of hard 2 say. I at least need 2 see how byrd looks at 175 1st be4 I can pick a winner

 

Hard to tell at present - bump this thread after Byrds frist fight at 175

:good

 

I don't see how you can even consider this "hard to say".

Calzaghe is 45-0 (32 KO) P4P top 2/3, Undisputed Super Middleweight Champion, The best Light Heavyweight in the world (beaten the man who's beaten the man who's beaten the man etc...)

Chris Byrd is a former Heavyweight Champ - when the division was arguably at it's lowest ebb in recent years (beat Vitali only through retirement, should have lost to Golota & McCline, lost to Ibeabuchi, Wlad x 2 & Povetkin) and whatever you say, was fringe world class at best. His "elusive" style was probably the only reason he was sucessful at HW due to the slowness of his opponents - but surely he loses this advantage at 175, especially with someone as fast as Calzaghe...

I think people are getting caught up in the novelty of a boxer coming down from Heavy to 175 and i feel that putting him on a level with the best boxer in the world at 168/175 is just ridiculous!

My prediction would be UD (Calzaghe winning most of the rounds) of even a TKO late on...

 

...plus he beat him in the amateurs - i know it was 15 years or so ago, but still, 1-0 Joe!!!

 

No way in hell that Joe would stop Byrd. I would bet my house on that.

 

I call BS on that one. and since Joe was a welterweight and Jr middle and Byrd was a middle. Joe did fight some fights at middle as a amateur, however that wasnt until 1993 as which point Byrd was already a pro. So Im going to have to call BS on that one. I could be wrong, but I did check Byrd amateur record and it said nothing about him fighting Joe.

 

Maybe i was getting a little excited there...but i'm thinking TKO as in 'the way i think' Lacy should have been a TKO - just an unanswered battering

 

Well i apologise if i'm wrong, i came across it on WIkipedia - which i know isn't always THAT accurate

"Calzaghe started boxing aged nine, with the southpaw having 120+ fights and won four schoolboy ABA titles, followed by three consecutive senior British ABA titles (British Championships) from 1991 to 1993. This made him only the second boxer in history to win at welter, light middleweight and middleweight divisions. He also beat future WBO and IBF heavyweight world champion Chris Byrd as a middleweight in 1992.[4] Calzaghe received his only ever defeat when he boxed at amateur level when he boxed at the 1990 Welsh ABA final against Michael Smyth"

 

Few years ago I would favour Byrd.

Now it is difficult to predict anything before Byrd has fought his first fight at 175 yet, but I think Joe would decision him.

Byrd prime was about his fight with Tua, and he deteriorated quickly since that. He lost a lot of speed, which used to be his (only) advantage in most of the fights. His chin is much better than Joe, but in this fight it wouldn't be a factor.

Anyway, we'll see today how much is left of Byrd and if coming down to LHW helped him or not.

 

I don't know if i agree about him having a better chin than Joe - Joe has only suffered about 3 flash knockdowns in his career - and has taken some BIG punches, especially those uppercuts against Kessler.

Re. the amateur debate, i found this...

"the actual tournament was in novemeber 1992 in italy.

the actual tournament has been posted and debated on ESB many years ago.

we had a round by round graph of every weight.

calzaghe and byrd met in the final at 165.
calzaghe won rsf 3.

byrd turned pro 4 months later.
calzaghe turned pro about 8 months later.

the reason calzaghe was not chris byrd`s first round opponent in the olympic games is because the amatuer boxing association of wales refused to let calzaghe have enzo calzaghe in the corner and calzaghe was this refused an olympic chance.

calzaghe was the amatuer champ of the uk in 1991/1992/1993 and was unbeaten as an amatuer at that time.

that calzaghe stopped byrd is a good indication that calzaghe would have had a very good shot at being an olympic gold medalist in 1992 if allowed to enter"

 

Wow never knew that. Thanks for the info. :good

 

Its too bad that he made it up, since Byrd turned pro after winning a silver medal in the 1992 games. His first fight was Jan 28 of 1993...Now does anyone honestly believe that I guy that won Silver would hang around for three months fight in a non-describe tournment then have his first pro fight 4 or 5 weeks later???

I call bullsh*t. Byrd turned pro after the 92' games he never had another amatuer fight after that, there is no record anywhere of this fight this guy is talking about. I think this maybe a rumor or lie that is being put out by camp Calzaghe to trick people. I have checked every site I know that shows ama records, and I cant find that fight anywhere. They have listed notable fighters that both fought and niether is on the others list.

 

I remember reading it was Ottke who beat Byrd (pts) in amateurs not Calzaghe.

 

i have seen the results of that tournament in novemeber 1992 in italy.

round by round as the fighters went through to the finals.

it was done in the form of a tennis tournament ..

16 down to 8 down to 4 down to 2.

it was debated at the time on esb because there were a lot of fighters who went onto to be well known champs and contenders.

the web page was an italian one , but as the names were all familiar we could all see which fighters progressed through the rounds.

when this result was questioned this website was produced again , by who i cannot remember as it was years ago.