How well would have Chris Byrd been at middleweight?

You go and get your facts right.

They have different weights in the amateurs.

The amateurs were allowed to weigh-in at 165 pounds.

His debut was at 169 pounds.

He didn’t have 3 fights at MW before moving up to HW.

Go and see for yourself.

Pull his record.

It would have been physically impossible for him to have had a significant run at MW, weighing in at 160 pounds.

 

Hey.
I decided take a break from this place for a while.

Byrd fought as a lmw in the amateurs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_US_national_Golden_Gloves_light_middleweight_champions

Using steroids, no doubt.

He said himself in that video that he now walks around at 165 lbs and he is in his fifties.

 

It’s great to have you back.

You’ll quickly find out that nothing much has changed.

Bailey’s still around.

Ha!

Yes, I know he was an amateur LMW when he was young. But he’d already moved up to MW in 1991, where he weighed in at 165 pounds.

He then remained there which culminated in him getting a silver medal at 165 pounds in the 92 Olympics.

Like you’ve noted, he weighed 169 pounds for his debut.

Whilst I appreciate what you’re saying, we’re looking here at a scenario where he would have turned pro and had a run at MW, which would have seen him weighing 5 pounds less than what he’d weighed as an amateur.

It’s completely unrealistic.

You don’t turn pro 5 pounds lighter than what you did as an amateur.

He was well conditioned in the ams when he was 21/22.

I just don’t see how he could safely have made the weight.

I think he would have made a very good SMW and LHW though.

With his talent, he’d have made huge waves in those divisions.

 

If you saw what I said , he could have fought at Middleweight, Super Middleweight, Light heavyweight and Cruiserweight. He could have fought at Middle especially without same day weigh ins.

 

It’s completely unrealistic.

He’d been fighting for 2 years in the ams at 165 pounds.

He wasn’t going to weigh-in at 5 pounds less than that. Especially as he aged, even without a same day weigh-in.

He turned pro at 169 pounds.

I agree with you though, that he could have made huge waves at those other weights.

He says himself he’d have been better as a CW.

 

No doubt he would have done well at the lower weights but then he is a 2 time heavyweight world champion.

 

He had a phenomenal career in my opinion.

It’s awful to hear that he’s in pain and smoking weed etc.

I’ve got huge respect for him.

The more I think about it, the more I think that he could have been a huge force at SMW and LHW.

 

Thanks, It's nice to be back

Boxingforum wouldn't be the same without him.

The amateurs have same day weigh ins. You have no choice but to fight at your fight night weight. The pros are different. you have weigh ins 24 hours before the fight, hence weight cutting

He fought in the amateurs during the same day weigh ins. If he weighed in at 165 lbs then he would of fought at that weight. All he is doing at a pro was fighting at his fight night weight without boiling himself down 10-14 lbs of water weight

Did you ignore the video I posted. He is 165 lbs now. If he boils down 5 lbs then he can make the mw limit NOW.

Of course you can. You cannot boil yourself down in the amateurs. You can do it in the pros.

Watch the video

At least we can agree on that.

 

chris Byrd woulda been a champion at any weight he fought at period. End of thread. dont be stupid.

 

He would have been champ at light heavy and cruiser. Also SMW if he could make that cut.

 

I see a lot of people saying he wouldn't have made MW as a pro? He was JMW and MW for pretty much the duration of his amateur career, how would he not have been able to make MW as a pro? Porter for example, fought at a far lighter weight as a pro than he did as an amateur but Byrd couldn't? This makes no sense.

Also, it's humorous that so many people are taking the position that a highly awarded amateur and Olympic silver medalist would've been "average" as a pro. The fact that he mainly went to HW because of the money and was highly successful should prove otherwise. Other than Roy and Toney, what other natural MWs have had the success Byrd did at HW (again, other than Roy and Toney, two ATGs?)

Byrd would've been a phenomenal MW.

 

I agree

 

I fully respect everything you’ve said. But I don’t think he could continually have made the weight, especially as he aged.

He fought in the am’s for a few years weighing 165 pounds. His in ring weight may have been the same or slightly higher, depending on when the weigh-in was and what his circumstances were.

When he turned pro, he had the option of trying to weigh-in at 160 pounds to officially fight at MW. But he didn’t do that. He weighed in at 169 pounds. His ring weight may have been higher than that.

He then had his second fight weighing-in at 171 pounds. Again, his ring weight may have been higher.

He only made the decision to move up to HW after those first 2 fights when he couldn’t secure a long term promoter.

Why didn’t he weigh-in at 160 and fight as an official MW for his first 2 fights?

Why didn’t he test the waters officially at MW before he decided to move up?

I’ve seen many interviews with him from over the years, and I’ve honestly never heard him say that he could have been a MW champ.

We both know that I’m not some sort of boxing expert. So I could be wrong. I’m only giving my honest opinion. If you can show me where he’s claimed he could have been a MW champ for a prolonged period of time, then I’ll hold my hands up and say that I’m wrong.

Maybe he could have weighed-in as MW when he first turned pro. I don’t know. But I know that he didn’t.

I once read an interview after he’d retired, where he was asked, if at the start of his career, did he ever see himself one day becoming a HW champ. And he said that he could have envisaged himself as a SMW or LHW champ, but not a HW champ.

At the end of the day, you’re saying he could have been a career MW, or a MW champ, yet he never had a single fight there. So again, I’m not buying it unless I have a direct quote from him saying otherwise. If I’m wrong, then fair enough.

The video you have posted doesn’t mean much to me. He’s had some real hardship since he’s retired. He’s been hooked on prescription drugs, and he was smoking lots of cannabis to ease the severe pain he’s had with his feet, as well as due to all of his hip operations etc. And recently, he’s been using CBD oil on a daily basis. That video is 2 yeas old. Maybe he was being truthful about his weight, maybe he wasn’t. We don’t know do we. We also don’t know how healthy he is, and what muscle mass he has and what his percentage of body fat is etc. Even if he was telling the truth and he was 165 in that video, it still doesn’t mean he could have made 160 when he was a professional fighter. His body would obviously have been in completely different shape.

Yes, he had the extra time to get down to 160 in the pros, which he didn’t in the ams. But he’d still have needed to have made the weight healthily and often. What about when he’d hit his prime, where he’d have settled into a routine where he’d have been fighting 3-4 times per year like most guys do? His routine would obviously have been much different to what it had been in the am’s. We don’t know what his walking around weight would have been and what his circumstances would have been.

You’re the master at finding links. I always remember how you introduced me to the free library etc. Again, maybe you can find a quote that will prove me wrong. Again, if you can, fair enough. I’ve been wrong plenty of times before. It won’t be the first time and it certainly won’t be the last time.

He seems a nice guy and it saddens me to read about the pain he’s been in. And I have huge respect for him for giving his all against those HW monsters. But I wish he’d never have fought them. I really wish he’d have had a career at the lower weights. We could have seen some great fights there. And he’d have been a real force in those divisions.

 

We have to ask ourselves why he didn’t turn pro at MW before he decided to move up and become a HW?

He weighed in as a MW at 165 in the am’s.

He then turned pro weighing in at 169 pounds.

In his second fight, he weighed in at 171 pounds.

He never weighed in at 160.

To my knowledge, he’s never claimed that he could have been a MW champ.

I agree with you, in that it’s completely baffling to me how some people think he’d only have been an average MW-LHW. That makes no sense. He was obviously a world class fighter. He’d have been a huge threat and a great fighter at the lower weights. Maybe some people are influenced by his loss to Shaun George. I don’t know. But I think he could have been a great SMW and LHW.