Chris Byrd ... Underrated?

[Scott9945]

One of the worst posts I've read here.

You probably just lost interest when I didn't mention Mike Tyson even once.

[FightScorer]

Not one of my above posts = trolling or trash talking because every single thing I said can be proven via watching the fight again on youtube and listening to the post fight interview. I might be a bit harsh on Ole Vittles, but that's only because he let me down so many times.

[U_TALKING_2_ME?]

And on top of that he was no runner he would stand right in front of you and make you miss. Very skillful boxer, i used to love watching him on Tuesday Night Fights

[FightScorer]

And on top of that he was no runner he would stand right in front of you and make you miss. Very skillful boxer, i used to love watching him on Tuesday Night Fights

Thank you. It just make me so mad and angry I lose control when I hear Vitali fans bash Chris Byrd. I'm a huge Byrd fan and he honestly do not get appreciated enough. Taking credit away from him is not gentleman like.

We as boxing fans must not let delusion cover our eyes and speak the truth.
The truth is: Byrd started to outbox and out work Vitali Round 5 onward and won that fight. He would have troubled Vitali in the rematch as well.

[Scott9945]

Thank you. It just make me so mad and angry I lose control when I hear Vitali fans bash Chris Byrd. I'm a huge Byrd fan and he honestly do not get appreciated enough. Taking credit away from him is not gentleman like.

We as boxing fans must not let delusion cover our eyes and speak the truth.
The truth is: Byrd started to outbox and out work Vitali Round 5 onward and won that fight. He would have troubled Vitali in the rematch as well.

Stop the hypocrisy.

Not even one post in this thread has bashed Chris Byrd. But it did give you an opportunity to bash Vitali Klitschko, which is clearly your agenda.

[elfag]

Vits was winning the fight but he definitely wasn't doing it with ease. Most of the rounds were close and Byrd was competitive enough to back Klit up plenty of times and makie him miss more than any fighter before or since. I think Vitaly only landed 8 more punches. That alone says you're wrong considering Byrd gave up 35lbs and 8 inches in height and took the fight on 10 days notice. Vitaly should have redeemed himself by rematching him, belt or no belt. I don't know where the whole "Wlad needed that belt" thing comes from but its irrelevant. I would never pick Byrd to win, but I have no doubt Vits didn't want to look bad again and having his own fans cheering for Byrd again. And given the proper time to train that very well could have happened.

Vitali was winning the fight with the injured shoulder. Dont you think he would have performed a little bit better without the injury?

And Im talking about wlad facing byrd the second time. That fight was pointless but wlad didnt have a belt anymore and they both wanted to have belts at the same time. It would have made more sense for vitali to face him again.

Vitali's accuracy is going to be better without a torn rotator cuff.

[UglyPug]

DOMINATED. ..

[U_TALKING_2_ME?]

Thank you. It just make me so mad and angry I lose control when I hear Vitali fans bash Chris Byrd. I'm a huge Byrd fan and he honestly do not get appreciated enough. Taking credit away from him is not gentleman like.

We as boxing fans must not let delusion cover our eyes and speak the truth.
The truth is: Byrd started to outbox and out work Vitali Round 5 onward and won that fight. He would have troubled Vitali in the rematch as well.

Byrd would have beat him again given a full training camp and the fact that Byrd already figured V. Klit out so i think the second time it would have been a more decisive victory for Byrd. Styles makes fights and in a battle of the unorthodox normally the faster more coordinated boxer wins. The Klits are no fools they know what styles match up best and W. Klit style matched up better vs Byrd

[FightScorer]

Byrd would have beat him again given a full training camp and the fact that Byrd already figured V. Klit out so i think the second time it would have been a more decisive victory for Byrd. Styles makes fights and in a battle of the unorthodox normally the faster more coordinated boxer wins. The Klits are no fools they know what styles match up best and W. Klit style matched up better vs Byrd

Great post and great logic. I 100% agree. I am confident that if Vitali rematched Byrd, Byrd would have beaten him 9-3 or 10-2. Byrd was clearly figuring him out in the 2nd half of the fight. TBH, Vitali was and always will be tailor made for Rapid Fire.
Chris Byrd really did made Vitali look amateur at times in that fight. Especially in the fifth round and sixth. Man, Vitali swung against the ropes like 9 times in a row at one point and Byrd just shoulder rolled them all and came back with a beautiful counter. It's sad that Byrd lacks true power, if Byrd had good power, Vitali would have been stopped.

I also 100% agree with you about how the Kbros are not dumb and they just match the brothers up well. I think Vitali fought Sanders too ? Instead of Wlad? Even though Sanders dominated Wladimir?

Too bad Vitali didn't want the rematch. Chris Byrd was a true champion and was one of VK'S biggest nightmare.

[JAB5239]

Vitali was winning the fight with the injured shoulder. Dont you think he would have performed a little bit better without the injury?

And Im talking about wlad facing byrd the second time. That fight was pointless but wlad didnt have a belt anymore and they both wanted to have belts at the same time. It would have made more sense for vitali to face him again.

Vitali's accuracy is going to be better without a torn rotator cuff.

The fact is there was no mention of any injury by Vits corner until the 7th or 8th round (I'd have to watch the fight again to be 100% accurate), this means Byrd was in fact competitive. And there is never anything pointless in avenging a close fight you quit in and had your own fans cheering for the other guy. Like I said, I wouldn't even have picked Byrd in a rematch, but that doesn't means Vits shouldn't have gone after it. Both were ranked at or near the top of the heavyweight division for the next two or three years. Just because your brother beat him doesn't give you an exemption.

How would Jose Napoles have looked if he didn't rematch and beat Billy Backus? There are plenty of other examples as well. I'm not saying Vittles is a bad fighter, I'm only saying great fighters take pride in showing they're the better man. Now you can find examples of other greats who didn't rematch, but they also beat better fighters than Vits has in his career. Besides Lennox, Byrd is the next best fighter on Vitaly's resume. If he was confident he should have been chomping at the bit to get Byrd back in the ring.