K2 Brothers vs The Brown Bomber

Byrd beat Vitali with only one week to prepare. . One week to prepare against a guy he never seen footage on.

Vitali should have smashed right through him in the early rounds when he had 2 healthy arms but he couldn't do anything to him other than nick rounds by a few punches because Byrd was formulating his game plan in real time.

I have no reason to think Byrd would lose the rematch with a full camp and having already adapted to Vitali's style. Vitali felt the same way which is why didn't activate his rematch clause.

 

Another neat detail, Cunningham was a 36 year old that night.

 

Looked to me that Vitali was up by 3 or so points, and was cruising before the 9th when his left arm had given out.

Remember, Klitschko was preparing for Ruddock, and got Byrd on short notice. Ten days to prepare for a difficult, defensive-minded Southpaw is a drastic change from Ruddock.

Also, Vitali had an awful lot of early KOs at that point in his career...I believe he had gone past 5 rounds only twice before meeting Byrd. Between 10 & 12 round fights, Byrd had been the distance 10 times heading into the Vitali fight, and had been past 5 rounds on 18 occasions. I think the experience from this fight may have helped Vitali a lot more than Byrd in a rematch.

 

Another detail, it was the only time in his career that he was stopped...

 

It is JOE LOUIS! He will go 2-0!

 

I would like to say that I just can't believe the conversation that this thread has produced. But I, of all people, should definitely believe it. And I do.

 

I always value your informed boxing opinions around here.