Could Dempsey Be Competitive with Modern Super Heavies?

Yes. Vitali showed against Byrd that he can’t handle any kind of cleverness and that he’s one dimensional. He’s good against fighters that are easy to hit and don’t have an ounce of cleverness like Briggs, Kirk Johnson, Arreola, Timo Hoffman, but can’t adapt mid-fight or handle other styles like Wlad, who is by far a more skilled fighter. Byrd himself admitted Vitali can’t punch like Wlad and that Vitali isn’t as skilled as his younger brother.

Vitali was never able to adapt to Byrd’s crouch and had no answer for all of the straight lefts Byrd kept landing on his chest, which left Vitali gassed out in the later rounds. In the Lewis fight Vitali had no answer for the short uppercuts Lennox kept throwing. If Lennox had showed up 10 lbs lighter he would’ve put Vitali on his back.

The few times he fought an opponent that wasn’t so straight forward he lost such as against Byrd and Lewis. He did beat Corrie Sanders, but when he fought him Sanders was several years out of his prime, inactive, and 10 lbs overweight.

 

I am not even a Vitali fan and don’t relish being his advocate at all, but this is not grounded in reality?

Vitali couldn’t deal with cleverness? He was up on the cards at the point of injury (regardless of whether it happened in round 3 or later in the fight). If controlling the major portion of this fight against Byrd when he was not throwing or jabbing like his corner was imploring him to then I don’t know what you need to see from him? He was fighting a crafty HW and still controlling the fight.

I don’t like or enjoy Vitali, but your critique seems agenda driven? I don’t get it

 

Vitali quit, so the score cards are meaningless. Byrd was never going to win a decision in Germany and he knew it, so his plan was to gradually wear Vitali down, which he did, but before Byrd could get the knockout Vitali quit. If Vitali would've re-matched Byrd and beat him that would be one thing, but he didn't. I'd even give him credit if he re-matched Byrd and lost again, but the fact that he didn't even try to re-claim his title and fought Hoffman instead said it all. Imagine if Holmes after losing to Spinks didn't re-match Spinks, but instead fought someone like Michael Dokes, who would've been a much easier style matchup for Holmes. Holmes would've been the laughing stock of the division. Also, I don't have any issue with Vitali at all, since as I said against guys that don't move a lot or that aren't clever he's a tough guy to handle.

Just as a note, since we're on the topic of Vitali even though I don't rate him as a top 20 all time heavyweight I can confirm from the two times I met him that both he and Wlad overall were excellent representatives for the sport when in public and Vitali even donated to a firefighter charity I used to volunteer for many years ago.

 

Guys who might beat Vitali
Arslanbek Makhmudov
Anthony Joshua
Oleksandr Usyk
Ivan Dychko
Filip Hrgovic
Daniel Dubois
Lennox Lewis
Tyson Fury
Wladimir Klitschko

 

So Chris Byrd's plan was to lose every round on the scorecards and hope Vitali suffered a freak injury?

 

Klitschko led the fight narrowly, although Byrd's unorthodox style surprised and confused the Ukrainian. Klitschko had entered his third title defence with the impressive record of 27 knockouts in 27 fights. Byrd, who had only one defeat, was a late substitute for Donovan "Razor" Riddick, who pulled out with a stomach injury.

Byrd, the 1992 Olympic silver medalist, gave away 34 pounds and 14 centimetres to Klitschko, who appeared to be puzzled by the American's ducking and bobbing. By the end of the fight, the crowd was cheering Byrd, who backed up Klitschko in several rounds with a flurry of punches.

Klitschko caused confusion when he suddenly pulled off his gloves and did not answer the bell to start the 10th round. His camp claimed he faced an operation on his left shoulder. "I had pain from the third round. I hit with heavy pain," Klitschko said.

Vitali discussing how dominant the Klitschko brothers are when the fight as one.

"Together we’re stronger. I lost a fight against Chris Byrd. Wladimir came back and destroyed him, knocked him out. Wladimir lost a fight against Corrie Sanders, I knocked Corrie Sanders out next fight. Because I defend my brother.

 

How do you define NARROWLY?

ahead on the scorecards (88-83, 88-83, & 89-82)

 

Yes but that was all part of Byrd's strategy because everyone knows you can never get a decision against a Ukrainian guy in Germany. Just ask Tyson Fury.

 

The argument is not fair. Judge an athlete among his peers for 20-30 years. In every sport they have developed. Boxing too. Dempsey was a killer. Please don't think he compares to today. Within the next decade or so the next Tyson will come around.

 

Beautiful!!!

 

Perfect!!!

 

That was actually from an article I quoted from. It looks like my links didn't post. I'll re-post them. That said Byrd never had a chance of winning a decision against Vitali anyway, so he focused on going to Vitali's body and wearing him down, which worked like a charm, since Vitali started breaking down and quit. Also, that shoulder 'injury' was a convenient excuse. Vitali should've gracefully accepted defeat, which is why Merchant gave him such a hard time. Below are the links.


"Klitschko led the fight narrowly, although Byrd's unorthodox style surprised and confused the Ukrainian. Klitschko had entered his third title defence with the impressive record of 27 knockouts in 27 fights. Byrd, who had only one defeat, was a late substitute for Donovan "Razor" Riddick, who pulled out with a stomach injury."
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/klitschkos-injury-hands-title-to-byrd-280635.html


And, in what would be the final round of the contest, Byrd was winning over the crowd. The final 30 seconds proved as much when the American turned up the pressure, throwing his best punches of the fight and showing an offence that Klitschko could contain but never looked entirely comfortable with. The bell rang to end round nine and then the most unexpected conclusion played out.

“Is it hurting?” asked Klitschko’s trainer Fritz Sdunek as his giant sat down.

“It hurts too much,” replied the champion.

The fight was over. America had another world heavyweight champion in the unlikely size and shape of Chris Byrd.

The dethroned and deflated Klitschko was met by a chorus of boos when he took the mic to speak to the crowd in the immediate aftermath: “I am terribly sorry,” he politely said to an audience not known for its theatrics. “I am giving up but I am going to get back my belt. My shoulder is hurting too much.”

What we had witnessed was a world heavyweight champion giving up on a fight with only three more rounds to go and the high probability of a decision being rendered in his favour. The confirmed scorecards from the judges, two of whom were American, saw him comfortably ahead by scores of 88-83 (twice) and 89-82.

Meanwhile, Byrd was quick to point out an interesting parallel, noting that, “I fought Ike (Ibeabuchi) with separated ribs and no-one knew about it.” No doubt Byrd would have appreciated similar discretion on the part of Dr. Ironfist.
https://www.thefightcity.com/april-1-2000-klitschko-vs-chris-byrd/

 

I am going back to watch film. Was Dempsey too open to the big punch? Certainly an intimidating fighter. Dempsey, liston, Duran, Tyson, won there share of fights before the bell sounded

 

Byrd's strategy worked, so I don't see the problem. Also, Fury was an up and coming heavyweight that was well received and expected to become a champion and everyone knew Wlad's days were numbered, so this isn't a good comparison. Byrd wasn't in demand at all and in all honesty never was. Remember that the only reason Byrd even got the fight with Vitali was due to Ruddock pulling out. Vitali's team if they had anything to say about it would've never fought Byrd just like Lewis, who dropped a belt to avoid fighting Byrd. Merchant stressed throughout the entire fight that Byrd can't sell tickets and that networks didn't want to showcase him him, so Byrd was never going to get that decision. Vitali was supposed to be the star in the making, but his limitations as a fighter were exposed against Byrd that night.