By Mark Vester
Chris Byrd (43-3, 21KOs) certainly has guts. The former champ is past his prime and heads to the heart of Germany on Saturday to face unbeaten Alexander Povetkin (13-0, 10KOs) in Erfurt. The fight was put together as part of an IBF elimination tournament that leads to a title shot against Wladimir Klitschko. Before either of them gets a shot at Klistchko, the winner would first have to face the winner of Calvin Brock and Eddie Chambers, taking place on Nov. 2
Byrd, 37, tells BoxingScene's Tim Smith in his latest NY Daily News column that his overall experience will be the key to victory in this fight.
"He only has 13 fights and he's only gone 10 rounds once. So he's young and doesn't have a lot of experience," Byrd said. "But he's got good technique and a good foundation. He's got 10 knockouts so he does have some power. It should be a good fight. I know what I can do. I know I can still whip these guys because I still have my reflexes and I can still make guys miss. I still have it in me and it's still fun. I want to fight for the title. I'll fight Wladimir Klitschko every day if I could. This fight (against Povetkin) will put me in a position to fight him again."
Byrd told Smith that he plans to bring back his "old style" of fighting by boxing his opponents and being elusive. Citing the constant pressure from the boxing public, he broke away from that style of fighting and began to stand in front of his opponents and slug.
"I'm too small to stand in there and bang with these big guys," Byrd said. "In sparring I've been boxing a lot more and moving my head more."
Byrd has already fought Klitschko twice, losing both times in one-sided fashion. The second bout which took place in 2006, saw Byrd being battered on route to a bloody seventh-round stoppage. He feels that going back his old style of fighting will give him a much better shot of beating Klitschko in a third meeting.
Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingscene@hotmail.com
