This. Max regularly fought guys just as fast and as clever as Chris. Chris was one of my favorite fighters to watch and would no doubt give Max a tough fight, but Max’s right hand would eventually start landing clean and take Byrd out.
I'm not sure, if you're being serious? None of those guys fought anything like Byrd. They may have been good boxers - but they didn't have Byrd's head and upper-body movement, that enabled him to duck, evade or roll with the punches. He was uniquely "slippery" and extremely hard to land on. Qualities you don't see every day in a 210 lbs southpaw - and certainly not something Max faced "regularly" (if ever!) during his career.
I think these guys have quite a bit in common. Schmeling was pretty tough, and Byrd couldn't punch for ****, so he isn't getting he KO, and Schmeling had a good punch, but wasn't a devastating KO artist, while Byrd was extremely hard to KO, so I don't see either getting the KO. I don't think Byrd's wins over bigger opponents says much other than his chin for this match up. He had a style which was good for using his speed to counter bigger opponents, it doesn't mean he has the skill set to beat a smaller faster boxer like Schmeling. Byrd is slightly taller, Schmeling with the longer reach. Byrd fought heavier but wasn't bigger, he got annoyed because he couldn't get promoted, and then someone, who was going to sign him, sign a heavyweight instead. So he ate a ton of junkfood to pile on fat until he became a heavyweight. He then later done some weightlifting to put on muscle, but even after years of weight training at a high bodyweight, at 37, he could cut to Light Heavyweight. It's basically just a judgement call of who would win the chess match, and I pick Schmeling, much more proven against fast boxer types, and he atleast has some power, which will tell.
