Glyn Leach: Vitali quit against Byrd, in part, because he feared getting knocked out

nah

 

Byrd wouldn’t knock out Vitali with a hammer.

 

From boredom?

 

Look at the vicious uppercuts Vitali ate from Lewis and the brutal lefts he took from Sanders without even taking a knee and I'm supposed to believe he was afraid of getting knocked out by Byrd when the aforementioned shots would have dropped lesser fighters? That's some serious wishful thinking mate (and I'm a fan of Byrd too.)

 

Actually I somewhat agree with this thread, but not for the reasons that are given in the article.
I've heard that Vitali tore his rotator cuff in the second round, and the pain got increasingly worse as the fight progressed.
I think it was in the Klitschko documentary that by the 10th round he could have passed out due to the rotator cuff pain, rather than Byrd's punches and that's why he made the decision to stop the fight. Just my two cents.

 

Obviously, if Vitali knew he had no danger of being KOd, why not finish the last 2 rounds....if he it just meant staying on his bicycle

 

Getting stopped by injury or KOed, retiring on your stool, quitting during the round, it all means a inside the distance loss on your record no matter how it happens. I don’t think it really would have mattered to Vitali.