Vitali Klitschko vs Sonny Liston

Byrd was good. If you objectively look at his resume of wins, its is impressive. Byrd's main problem was he was a 6' 210-213 pound heavywieght mixing it with much bigger and stronger men.

 

But he wasnt a natural 210 lb heavyweight. Just a light heavyweight who bulked up to 210 lbs. Not really the same thing.

 

Byrd's natural weight was on par or more than Marciano's. I don't Byrd was out of shape as a heavyweight.

 

Byrd has said several things on how he left training camp, SuzieQ has an example when he said 198lbs, i remember one where he was 210lbs.

At any rate, he is ripped at 210lbs and his natural weight is definitely not 175lbs.

 

Byrd was NOT a particularly good fighter.
His "smallness" was only an issue because he couldn't punch to save his life, and his boxing was overrated.

Holyfield was 210 pounds and packed a good punch, Moorer was a blown-up light-heavy, a bit flabby at 214, and he too could pack a punch. Tyson was 5-11 and 215 and kicked all sorts of ass.

Byrd had lots of courage and some skills, but he's way overrated simply because he owned some BULL**** ALPHABET PLASTIC BELT "TITLE".

 

His natural weight sure as hell isnt 210 lbs.

I think that if he had fought pre 1980 we would be looking at a 185-195lb heavyweight,

Eddie Machen might be a good comparison.

 

Why is his next fight at 175 then genius :yep

 

Talk of "natural weight" is kind of meaningless in most of these discussions.

It's natural to put on weight when you eat more or expend less energy. It's natural to lose weight when you burn calories and/or eat less.

It's natural to put on muscle with certain exercise, it's natural to lose fat with certain exercise.

It's natural to drop a load of weight if you starve yourself, restrict water intake, and sit in saunas.

It's not exactly natural to care about and adjust how much you weigh to the exact pound though !

I've heard Thomas Hearns described as a "natural welterweight". I dont know why. Sure, he was gentically programmed to be slim but maybe, just maybe, a lot of hard training and deliberate weight-monitoring made him a welterweight.

Boxers dont really have "natural weight" seperate from the weight they intend to fight at.
Heavyweights are an exception up to a point, but what's natural for any given heavyweight might vary 20-30 or more pounds anyway.
For example, Sonny Liston might choose to be 205 or 225, Lewis might have felt comfortable at 225 or 260, and no one would have argued anything different for their "natural weight".

 

Good points sonny.
I would also add,that the division in which you fight the majority of your adult career in is generally your natural boxing weight.
However,some fighters do dehydrate or eat themselves up or down divisions.
As for heavies,they are a different species,and byrd,jones et al are not real natural heavies. I think the smallest natural (without overeating or steroids or excessive weight training.) heavies are guys like marciano,dempsey, henry cooper and maybe charles.

 

Most boxers put on weight as they get older - it's part of the aging process. Take the majority of fighters over a say 10 to 15 year span and you'll see a natural increase in weight. For example, I bet it's tougher for Calzaghe to make SMW now than it was 10 years ago. Tommy Hearns would never have been able to make WW after 1985. It's partly why Lewis and Bruno both got heavier as they aged.

It's all to do with the slowing down of the metabolic process so don't get hung up on a boxer having just one natural weight.

 

It won't happen. I don't think it has been seriously considered for a while actually. Last I heard, Byrd was talking more seriously about cruiserweight.

 

Tell you the truth, I think Eddies technique, boxing skills, stamina, look far better than chris bryd on film. In fact Eddie Machen looks like a better pure boxer on film than most fighters I have seen. He is a fighter all beginner boxers should study if they want to learn the boxing fundamentals