Chris Byrd vs. The Elite at Lightheavy

well byrd is fightign a guy who fights at cruiser.

i think this might mean that he is going to be about 185 this fight then 174 after....maybe testign if he can go a bit further down in wieght or go to cruiser.

 

Way too many factors playing in to tell how Byrds gonna do.

It looked like he was on his way out the door over his past couple fights.

Cruiser would seem like a more logical move but this could turn out to be a wise decision....by his wife .

Very interesting to see how this plays out, I'm looking foward to it.

And when was the last time anyone looked foward to a Chris Byrd fight?

 

At his best, Byrd was a great and especially quick techician in the HWs. But his speed advantage isn't an advantage at all at LHW, just look at the handspeed of the 39 years old Jones, the very quick Erdei, the lightning fast Calzaghe and the not as fast but HOF in timing Hopkins. And don't forget about Dawson's handspeed.

The speed Byrd showed vs. Povetkin was poor compared to his best days and pretty awful compared any of the names I've mentioned.

But who knows, maybe Byrd can gain some speed at 175 but I doubt... for the first time (not counting his first two, non-HW pro fights) he's gonna have to make weight and deal with weight-drain which is probably the worst thing for an aging fighter.

 

Well he was bulking up to fight before and now he's cutting weight to fight, so I'd have to see him fight first. One thin is for sure, no one could knock this man out at 175. Those shots he took from Ibeabuchi and Klitschko look like they would have killed any other fighter but the mad man that he is he got right back up.

 

tua-byrd:think

i was bare young but i remember thinking that tua was going to pound him through the canvas.....

then byrd totally otusmarted him and hurt him to the body almost every round from the 6th round and on

 

Dropping the weight will effect his chin a little. Look at Cotto...he used to have to cut weight and got hurt quite a few times at 140 against people like chop chop and other feather hitters...now he's taking shots from Zab and Sugar Shane and staying up...granted he was hurt by each of them at points in those fights but he wasn't in serious danger of being out like he was at 140.

 

We will see soon. I can't believe the guy can still cut down to 175. He is getting older, and may be weight drained of course but if he is not then look out. He might even have a little bit of power at Lt. Heavy.

 

I prsonally wish Byrd retired ..He will be twice as boring at lt heavy ..Imagine a fight between Byrd and Tarver zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz sorry fell asleep just thinking about it ..

 

Wight drained Byrd may not fare very well at 175.

Wait and see.

 

He might be able to KO some guys...seriously...Byrd i always thought had underrated power at HW...the only guy to ever hurt David Tua...stunned Golota and McCline...

 

Chris Byrd was orginally a Super Middle Weight in the amateurs.

 

damn hes 37 years old now.

I wish he would have tried this sooner, maybe he could have been exciting and a top notch 175lber

It will be interesting to see what happens

 

and Calzaghe beat him

 

I don't think he will be weight drained. Chris originally planned to drop to cruiser, but he realized he was dropping the weight so easily, he might as well keep going. Fighting at 210 or so, he was kind of bulky. There should be a noticeable improvement in handspeed and overall energy from Byrd with the weight reduction. I think he's gonna be really comfortable at 175. That's not far from what he walks around at. It's rare to have a top heavyweight that has to gain weight to fight.

 

Byrd's whole game was being slippery and elusive against bigger (and less coordinated) fighters so that's pretty much out of the question here. Byrd's been on the downslide for a few years now and should have moved down earlier but you can't change the past.

Byrd's a savvy veteran and his chin will always buy him 12 rounds so if he has anything left in the tank he should be able to do something at light heavy. Time is the problem. If he wants to fight for a title he's gonna have to fight a couple times in a rather short amount of time to earn a shot.