do you think byrd can win?

No. Byrd has declined severely. His best win in 5 years is against a 40 year old retired Mariccino Cherry.

 

Its difficult to tell whether Byrd has significantly declined due to his inactivity in recent years (thanks to Don King?). If he holds form, I think he beats an inexperienced Povetikin by decision. If he has lost a step, Povetkin will get to him. Either way, the fight goes the distance thanks to Byrd's defense.

 

Hard to say. A top form Byrd can be trouble, but is he top form anymore?

 

Manny Steward had it right:

"Chris Byrd is a dangerous opponent for anyone out there"


Chris can beat anyone but Wladimir.

 

No he can't. He lost to Oquendo and was gifted. He lost to Golota and was gifted, and was dropped by McCline and should have lost that fight too.

Byrd touched the canvas three times against Golota and none of them counted as knockdowns.

 

When Byrd was just coming up, he looked extremely dangerous. A slick boxer who had great defense. Now, I think he needs to move down in weight to become great.

 

He most definitely can and has the upper hand towards this eliminator, but the period of inactivity and the Klitschko fight won't produce any benefits to his approach... I can clearly see Byrd doing the same to Sasha as he did to Tua, beating his man to the punch and following it up with flashy shots, getting off and shaking off Povetkin's fire-power.

 

Not that he's all wrong on this one but Steward also said Pavlik was an ordinary fighter.

 

Byrd UD12

 

Well yeah, but Taylor is his fighter and Byrd isn't.. that counts for something alright. :good

 

Povetkin may be one of three to knock Byrd out.

But that isn't saying much. Byrd has been past his best for some time now, dating back to the McCline fight.

I don't expect Byrd to win. Infact I am hoping he doesn't. Povetkin is the future.

 

No matter how much Byrd has declned it's still a huge step up in class for Povetkin and the fight will be close. Byrd's definitely one of those fighters who is capable of using his experience and ring smarts to compensate for his fading reflexes. He'll get hit often but he'll be there all night and Povetkin has his work cut out for him.

 

Povetkin is a very precise puncher, he puts combinations together beatifully. I think Povetkin matches up well against Byrd, it is wild crude fighters that swing and miss against Byrd.

Byrd stands right infront of you, but the problem is he is losing some of his elusiveness. I remember seeing a tv peice that Byrd learned to box in a very small ring in his basement. To this day he still stands infront of opponents, tries to make them miss then counter punch. I just dont think Povetkin is going to miss much , and Byrd is going to have trouble coutering while getting hit.