Chris Byrd: If Mayweather Returns, He Should Fight Golovkin
By Edward Chaykovsky
Former world heavyweight champion Chris Byrd has been retired for the last few years, but now the talented boxer is actively training fighters.
Last year another talented boxer, five division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26KOs), retired from the sport after 19 years. He last fought in September, winning an easy twelve round unanimous decision over former welterweight champion Andre Berto.
A lot of insiders expect Mayweather to return to the ring at some point to at least pursue his 50th victory. Mayweather continues to deny any and all comeback rumors.
If Mayweather intends to return to the ring, Byrd believes he should fight IBO/WBA/IBF middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (34-0, 31KOs).
Around the time Mayweather was walking away from the sport, a lot of fans were calling for a fight between the two of them. Golovkin was willing to drop down to 154-pounds to make the fight happen.
Byrd believes it's a very winnable fight for Mayweather and broke down his thoughts on the contest.
"I don’t really look at him moving up a couple of weight classes and fighting Golovkin. Floyd’s style can neutralize guys and make it look easy but in the moving up in weight, I think it would be a little more difficult because he’s not a natural middleweight and Golovkin is very much a natural middleweight and he’s a good fighter," Byrd told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
"Golovkin is a good puncher, he’s an Olympic silver medalist, he knows what he’s doing in the ring. But I truly think if Floyd comes back, he should take up the challenge to fight him at middleweight. I think it would be an interesting matchup, and when I look at both styles, it would be a much easier fight than him fighting a pure boxing guy that moves and is rangy and could give him problems. Golovkin is more flat footed, and of course there’s the punching power aspect of it, but at the same time, I fought guys just like that all the time."
