What the hell was Chris Byrd thinking in his rematch with Wlad?

Loads of men are number 1 despite being past their best.

Look at Fury for example, he earnt his shot by beating a domestic rival, a couple of fringe contenders and then a 40 year old past his best champion.

Quite often throughout history the number 1 loses when he's past his best.

 

I think it was 2 things were at play in the rematch. One is Byrd was beaten pretty convincingly in their first fight and he had to know he had to do something different the second time.

Secondly, Wlad was viewed a lot differently then compared to how he was as his reign went on.

He had lost those 2 fights to Sanders and Brewster by ko and even in some of his wins after that-Peter and Williamson he was dropped in those fights, I think Williamson's was more of a balance shot though.

Wlad was seen as vulnerable to pressure and Byrd had to see that as his best chance. It was always a style nightmare for Byrd no matter what he did though.