By Matteo Alderson
I was doing research on the different American Olympic teams so I got in touch with Joe Byrd, the father of IBF Heavyweight Champion Chris Byrd and the head trainer of the 92 U.S. Olympic team. Mr. Byrd was gracious and kind and has contributed his life to the sport. At the beginning of the interview I was more intent on hearing his views on his experience as the Olympic coach of such stars as Oscar De La Hoya, Chris Byrd, and Tim Austin, but during the course of the conversation, Joe Byrd the man also became intriguing.
Joe feels that “the 76 Team was the best, they were superstars they proved themselves, they fought everybody, and came out with all the gold, that was the most special Olympic team that we ever had.” Obviously Joe was referring to the fact that the U.S. team won five Gold Medals competing in a wide open bracket in comparison to the 84 team that didn’t have to face the Cubans or the Russians. The Cubans also boycotted the 88 Olympics in Seoul. Coincidentally since their return to Olympic competition in 1992 they have dominated Amateur boxing and the U.S. has only won three Gold Medals in the last four Olympics.
After discussing the different Olympic teams I inquired about how Joe felt about Oscar De La Hoya’s potential as a professional at the time of the Games and Joe thought, “Oscar was going to be successful because he worked so hard, we had to try to calm him down because he trained so hard. Oscar could run better than anybody and what they put in is what they get out and Oscar was a really hard worker, he was really easy to work with.”
All in all Joe was disappointed with the teams success and still feels like the team didn’t get a fair shake because of the computer scoring system that was introduced that year. He felt that the team “should have came away with at least three Gold medals,” and that once the bad luck started with Eric Griffin’s controversial loss involving the computer scoring system that “the team went into a slump.”
Our conversation changed gears and we started to talk about Joe’s career as a heavyweight boxer and interestingly he had a pretty lengthy career, which included fights with some of the games most notorious figures. In his first pro fight Joe fought Don Elbaum. If you’re not familiar with the name you should be. Don is well known in the fight game and is famous for promoting Sugar Ray Robinson’s last fight, for helping bring Don King into the boxing business, and for supposedly fighting on his own promotions when fighters didn’t show up. Before his pro-debut Joe Byrd didn’t know whom his opponent was going to be and they told him, “You’re fighting a guy that has some fights,” but Joe didn’t care. “If he is in the ring then I’m gonna fight him.” Joe entered the ring and was waiting for his opponent, “Who come down that Aisle was Donny Elbaum, he gave me one of the best fights that I ever had in my life,” Joe ended up winning a six round decision to kick off his professional career.
Later on Joe also fought The Acorn Earnie Shavers, one of the hardest punchers in boxing history and a man that was a dominant fixture in the Heavyweight division when it was at it’s best in the seventies. Shavers almost knocked Larry Holmes out in their 1978 title fight, dropping him with a right in the 7th round that was so hard that one astute observer commented, “Holmes dropped like a sac of potatoes.” The great Larry Holmes miraculously picked himself off the canvas and ended up knocking Shavers out in the 11th round. Shavers also fought Ali for the title and Muhammad said that Shavers hit so hard that he “shook my kin folk back in Africa.” Not surprisingly Joe Byrd’s experience with Shavers was similar, “Oh my god that’s the hardest hitting heavyweight that I’ve been in there with, Shavers could hit.” Joe was stopped in three.
“I was a good fighter but I never got to fight at home I was always on the road.” According to BOXREC Joe compiled an overall record of 14-20 (7 KOs) and not only engaged in ring wars against Don Elbaum and Earny Shavers, but also had fights against Ron Stander and Terry Daniels, two guys that ended up fighting Joe Frazier for the world title. “When me and Ron Stander fought, oh my God that was six rounds and we got a standing ovation.” Stander won the decision in a fight that took place in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.
The conversation eventually turned to Joe’s son Chris, the IBF Heavyweight Champion. Joe said that Chris “might fight another couple of years,” and that “Chris really hasn’t been hit except for the Ibeabuchi fight.” If you watched Chris Byrd, you know he carries himself with dignity and that family values and Christian beliefs are an important part of his persona. Well Chris is a reflection of his father Joe who is a very religious man whom has tried to set an example for his son. “All the guys I fought were gentlemen and I learned a lot from that and I always tell my son the two things to do are to have the Lord on your side and always be yourself.”
NOTES:
The Brock-McCline on the ESPN Pay Per View card is an intriguing match and if Brock is victorious I’ll deem him as one of the divisions hottest up and coming contenders right along with Nigerian powerhouse Samuel Peter. The only negative with Brock is that he is kind of a smallish heavyweight by contemporary standards. He’s only 6’2 220 and I don’t know if that type of size will be sufficient to dominate the division. I still believe that an exceptionally gifted fighter like a Larry Holmes or a Muhammad Ali would be able to bitch slap the overgrown giants of today, but I don’t think that Brock will ever be mentioned with those aforementioned legends.
I don’t what they are doing, but Holyfield and Tyson should demand that their brain trusts make the fight, with the loser having to sign a contract that he will have to pay back his purse if he ever fights again. Think about it, the name recognition alone of Tyson-Holyfield III will generate enough revenue to guarantee Mike and Evander around 10 to 12 millions apiece.
I’d pay for it and I wouldn’t have spent one of your dollars on that Garbage Pay Per View the other night.
