It's quite possible that Byrd could make Louis bad for a couple rounds. But eventually Louis would just stalk Byrd and break him down in the mid rounds.
Look Byrd is one of the great under appreciated talents f the past generation ... if he did not come in the era of super heavyweights he would have been a champion of far greater accomplishments ... he was a terrific fighter ... I think he was better than Jimmy YOung and would have been a very tricky fight for Louis but the young, pre-wat Louis would have broken him down and beak him in a challenging fight ...
The first Wlad fight is another good point of reference for how this fight might go (Byrd still had a lot left and it was a great win for Wlad). Wlad was patient as always and timed Byrd perfectly with his Jab/Left Hook/1-2. Louis had a better left hook than Wlad and a faster jab and right hand, he could also box patiently from a distance and had just as much power as well as better timing. He's really only lacking in physical dimensions compared to Wlad, and even then he's still taller with a longer reach compared to Byrd. The more I think about this the more I see Louis knocking him the **** out.
Yeah, he was doing just fine until that point. Man, do I have to start channeling Jimmy Young again?atsch
I thought I covered that ground...I pretty much eloquently explained in a Young thread that he was superior to Byrd.
You might be forgetting Wlad is 23 feet tall with a 5 feet reach. I can't begin to use the Wlad fight as a barometer for how Joe would fare.