who was better, Jimmy Young nor Chris Byrd?

They are very comparable .. Young excelled against slow footed Lyle and squeezed out a decision over a lost Foreman .. he lost to Norton but gave a decent showing ... I think Byrd was smarter, better conditioned, more dedicated, stronger mentally and had more game ...

 

A green byrd got stopped by ike. A green young got stopped by shavers.

During his prime byrd endured fights against tua, holyfield, vitali and wlad without being stopped. Past prime he endured fights with golota and mccline without getting stopped.

Mentioning george makes me not want to continue discussing anything with you.

 

Such a thread really asks for a poll , yet there is none .

 

In fairness Young was 7-3 while Byrd was 26-0 and 28 years old.

 

So young was a green journey man and byrd was a green prospect. I'd say both were untested but obviously young was losing every other fight whereas byrd was beating up bums.

 

It'd be a stretch to call Byrd green. He had gone through the usual suspects, was seen as an avoided fighter and had a long amateur career behind him. Ibeabuchi just proved too strong for him.

I did hear from old Philadelphia boxing fans that Young may have thrown some fights, like the Clay Hodges fight for example although I can't say if there's any truth to it. Could be just talk.

 

An amateur career as a mw however.

What was byrd's best victory at the point of the ike fight in your opinion?

 

At his best, Jimmy Young. His fight against Foreman is a masterclass.

In career terms, Chris Byrd. Until his last few fights, he was consistently a good boxer and despite having no power & fighting bigger stronger men he was one of the better fake belt holders of his period. His best performance has to surely be the classic against Tua, which is another example of how to outbox a limited slugger (in this case, a very fat slugger).

 

I think that during lewis's reign the best fake belt holder was wlad. When wlad lost to sanders it became he. When lewis retired and vitali unified with sanders byrd became the best of the fake belt holders meaning when vitali retired byrd kind of fell into top spot.

Regardless of circumstance that's an incredible achievement for a former mw to reach.

 

In a way Byrd was the top claimant after and even b4 Lewis' retirement as his stoppage over Vitali was the most legit. Vitali stopped Sanders who stopped Wlad who beat Byrd and stopped McCline , and the only man whom might have had a better claim than Byrd was in prison , which meant that no man that stopped Byrd up to that time was active which couldn't be said about d rest of the claimants then.

And Byrd fought Tszyu as an amateur - light welterweight I believe.
Middleweight was the highest weight he competed in as an amateur and his very final 1.

 

And I agree with you. Both ultra defensive fighters,but Young was far more effective.

 

Byrd.

 

Peak for Peak, Byrd was both more elusive & more aggressive, with better combos too.

Byrd always tried his best & pushed for a win with great determination, unlike Young.

 

I'd say Byrd was a lot more consistent than Wlad during the 2002-2005 period. Wlad was better, but Byrd had the better title run (even if it involved some astonishing stinkers against Oquendo and Williamson).

 

Byrd