Thoughts on Chris Byrd vs David Tua

...except Byrd moved down to LHW/175 Lbs. after fighting at HW for years

 

Byrd was 211 3/4 Lbs on 10/27/07 and 174 Lbs. on 5/16/08... that's just crazy following a KO defeat

 

Ok LHW, but still remember how Byrd fought as a heavyweight. He was never a ripped guy, just trained and boxed in the gym and always came into fights somewhat soft. The analogy is still somewhat similar because guys like Bowe were 300 pounds when entering training camp. Tyson was reportedly in the 260-270 range before entering some camps.

Tommy Brooks said he looked like he stole all the inmates food when he entered camp for Botha following his road rage prison stint.

 

Some weird spinning going on...

Again, Tua was just in good shape for the Byrd. He actually bothered to train this time and came in just 10 lbs less than usual.

Comparing this to Byrd dropping 2 weight classes in a desperate attempt to get a final title shot in his late 30s is just mind boggling.

 

It was to make a point that inactivity and massive weight draining is not good. If youve boxed in the gym and gone through training camps you would understand the importance and how it can effect a fighter. Not only did he lose, he was knocked out against a LHW.
Tua me knowing this first hand, was very lazy and had the body type that required him to stay in shape year round. When he was with Main Events they kept him active and in the gym because they knew David would get too big.

I dont believe Tua was in good condition for Byrd, not only because of how he performed against Byrd, but because he was inactive compared to his younger days, was out of the gym more, and was showing up for previous fights in the mid 240's. When he was active in the 220's low 230's his punch output and aggression were far better, and what was needed for his style, which was very one dimensional and required him to be able to be very aggressive to pull out fights in the later rounds. Once that was taken away from him and he was less effective in the later rounds, he just continued to lose rounds and fights.

At his best the majority of his fights against the better opposition were come from behind stoppages or decisions where he was able to do the damage after wearing his opponents down.

 

Claiming a fit looking Tua at 233 lbs was weight drained like the grotesquely drained LHW Chris Byrd is insane. In addition to dropping 10 lbs of fat, Tua actually looked to have gained muscle mass for the Byrd fight, biggest and most toned his arms ever looked.


Did Tua looked gassed or lethargic in the fight or just confused by Byrd's style? As I recall he even actually finished the fight pretty strong, just wasn't enough.



Weight drained 233 lb Tua.....

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Here's a valid question

Does anyone really believe that Tua was in better shape for Lewis than Byrd?

I know he didn't train for Lewis or anything, but at least he wasn't drained from actual conditioning....eh

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In the build-up to this fight, the HBO commentators said Tua had been through "an intensive 8 week fitness boot camp"... I have to say this sounds plausible to me, because Tua visibly appeared to be in the best Non-Peak shape of his Past-Prime career. I think he was motivated to win this fight by brutal KO like Ike did to a undefeated Byrd. Winning impressively here would've gotten Tua's career back on a fast track for another title shot, either immediately or soon after. However I believe Byrd was simply too frustratingly awkward & slippery with his elusive headmovement & counter-punching. Didn't Tua start off better in the first half, but Byrd's bodypunches hurt & wore him down? Anyway, if anyone can provide an article from online or a magazine about Tua weight-draining for this fight, i'll be open to change my opinion.

 

Right, who in his right mind would train for the biggest fight and payday of their life?

Tua was in the best shape he could be against Ibeabuchi and Byrd. Against Lewis, he was overweight, although that was not the reason he lost so badly.

 

Tua claimed an injury prevented him from training for Lewis..I personally have no idea but most I've talked to don't seem to take it seriously. Did he injure his ribs for all the other matches he showed up bloated for?

 

This reminds me of G$ora against Fury... he claimed a bad hernia injury prevented him from training hard.

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GehygjOCpDE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GehygjOCpDE[/ame]

tua started strong, byrd outhustles him during the middle rounds by letting him swing and started to tire. then when tua started to roar back like against rahman/maskaev/izon/nicholson etc byrd started to stab him off with that left hand to the body coupled with the lovely 1-2-1-2-1-2-1 combos

in the 8th when byrd lands that left uppercut to the body. he just keeps gong for it. stopping tua in his tracks. it's a brilliant performance of a slicker longer guy 'going for the gun' and standing next to his hook all night. and as soon as tua started let rip byrd came back with fast counter combos which even though less damaging minimalised tuas power and surprise.



it is a great performance. tua was always a late starter. using his pressure to allow him as much time possible to land the equaliser. i dont know why anyone surprised by hos low workrate...he was always like that. but the way byrd turned him, slipped, caught parried punches all night long while drilling him with the crisper sharper shots is just amazing. makes you remember why the "drowning southpaws at birth" saying is relevent.

 

Yeah. He was injured, at least for the Lewis fight. Here is a documentary about it. Go to 22:55

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjmjyt6vfF0[/ame]

 

Tua was overweight for his 4 fights prior to facing Lewis, yet he wasn't injured in camp for them, was he?

 

Your still not getting the point which is understandable if youve never been a boxer. I dont believe there was much difference between the Tua that showed up to face Lewis because this was also part of his career where he was inactive and out of the gym quite a bit but I do think he was in better shape than the Byrd fight.

If you enter training camp after 6-8 months of laying off and doing nothing and on top of it your focus is to cut weight unnaturally its going to have a big effect and thats why he was rocked badly by Byrd. Thats why Tua never came into a fight shrunken down like that again after, because he couldnt stay in the gym consistently enough to naturally keep his weight down.

He didnt like boxing and staying fit when he wasnt on an active schedule. You've heard it first hand from Ronnie Shields and I know it myself, Tua was lazy and got lazier as his bank account filled up.

Tua has the genetics where he needed to stay in the gym and watch his weight year round to be effective. Even if he was fighting more infrequently he needed to stay in the gym. That all went south when Main Events went out of business and Dan Goosen bought his contract and sat on his ranking after the first Rahman fight.