Chris Byrd vs Muhammad Ali

Ali would have the edge in Speed, reach and skill. Think he wins every round for a lopsided decision. If he clowns around or gets lazy some of the rounds might be close.

 

great post, you may get shyte on it but interesting post.

I also think there is a fair chance Byrd would of been a harder fight for Ali then most would think :good

 

Byrd is a tough guy and great defensively, but he has nothing to hurt Ali and Muhammad would be much faster. I'd rather see prime vs prime matchup though.

 

I agree with most of what you say, but I fail to see how Byrd could actually beat him?

He would make Ali look bad throughout the fight, but would he be able to land anything substanial himself? I see it as a boring decision for Ali. I suspect he would win most rounds by throwing a lot of fast combination without really landing anything cleanly. In the end Ali would be frustrated and embarresed, but he would get a wide UD.

 

Ali fought ONE southpaw his entire career I believe in Mildenberger and looked average,struggling half th time despite the scorecards" you can look in the Karl mildenberger thread"...Mildenberger 6'0 190 pounds ,decent skills ,average movement weak puncher/cut easy and was chinny vs 6'1 210/215 Byrd,fast hands great defense ,great footwork and good chin? Well If the Ali that fought Mildenberger shows up Ali is going to have a bad night! I'll take 1974 Ali over Byrd!

 

Chris byrd ko 1

 

Byrd would make him look bad at times because Ali struggled against defensive boxers but, Ali could box enough and steal rounds too.

 

Because Ali, just like Byrd, was hard to hit clean. What history? You are talking about Young, Ali was close to a decade removed from his prime. Byrd might beat that Ali, I assumed you were talking about the prime version.

To say that a bigger, much faster, stronger, defensivly skilled fighter who proved himself against the maybe best competition ever seen in heavyweight boxing would probably beat Chris Byrd is far from stupid.

As I already stated, I think Ali would have a hard time landing cleanly on Byrd. There we agree. You however seem to believe that Byrd would have no problem landing on Ali. I don't see that at all. What fighter didnt have problems landing on him? He faced some of the greatest offensive fighters in the history of the sport, and he made them all miss most of their punches. Ali gets overrated as a fighter at times, but his defense is underrated.

 

Ali was well past prime when he fought Jimmy Young. Ali was taller, had a longer reach, and was heavier then Byrd... he was still faster than Byrd though. Both are durable, both are well conditioned, both are hard to hit... especially with combinations.

Byrd was 169 for his pro debut (his opponent was 160), 171 for his second fight (his opponent was 177), and 193 for his third fight (his opponent was 195)... but he was 200 Lbs. for his 4th pro fight. He never dropped below 200 Lbs. again until his 2nd to last pro fight. He fought as high as 222 and 210 1/2 was his lowest world title fight weight. He dropped down to LHW and was stopped. He fought once more (at CW) then retired. He fought at or above 200 Lbs. for almost 14 straight years.

Byrd won a close decision over Arthur Williams, he won clear decisions over Phil Jackson and Bert Cooper, he stopped Jimmy Thunder, and he won a clear decision over Elieser Castillo before getting destroyed by Ibeabuchi, LKOby5. He came back with 4 stoppage wins against no one worth bragging about, unless you want to brag on a 38-15-1 Jose Ribalta (KO5). His next fight he upset Vitali Klitschko, TKO9 (shoulder injury). Byrd boxed well but was clearly losing to Klitschko prior to the stoppage. Byrd was dropped twice and clearly beaten by W. Klitschko in his next fight.

He went on to outbox a very predictable David Tua, he beat an old Holyfield (Byrd did very well the 1st half of the fight but let Holyfield back in the fight during the 2nd half), he struggled with Oquendo and Golota but walked away with a win and a draw. He was dropped and struggled vs. McCline but won by split-decision. He won a close decision vs. Williamson. He was destroyed by W. Klitschko in their rematch marking the end of his career, pretty much. 5-2-1 (1) in HW world title fights, 2x Champ but never "The" Champ.

Ali is too good, Ali by decision. Byrd might make a few rounds close, he may even win a few... but Ali clearly wins.

 

You guys think of every excuse in the book for Tyson getting a hammering against Douglas yet completely forget to mention the point that Ali was grossly out of shape against Young and way past his best, it does make me chuckle it really does.

 

Of course Byrd will tag him now and then, but not often enough to win. Doug Jones troubled Ali. Mildenberger is a strange example though. Ali didnt look as good as people expected him to do, but he dominated the fight, dropped the german several times, cut him up and won nearly every round before stopping him. I think Byrd would do much better. I just don't think he would have much chance of winning.