By Rick Reeno
The IBF heavyweight champion, Chris Byrd (38-2-1, 20KOs), is one of the nicest guys that you could ever meet in boxing, unless you get on his bad side. On October 1st, live on Showtime, Chris will defend his championship against close friend DaVarryl Williamson (22-3, 18KOs).
Byrd is the longest reigning heavyweight champion in the division and the only fighter, other than Lennox Lewis, to defeat WBC champion Vitali Klitschko. Byrd has not been happy with his career since becoming the champion, but still has hope for a bright future.
BoxingScene sat down with Byrd to discuss his upcoming fight, his career, the Klitshkos, Samuel Peter and a lot more.
BoxingScene.com: Chris, I know that you and DaVarryl Williamson both knew that you would be fighting each other next, but you were unsure of the exact date and then the date dropped down pretty quick. How long have you been in camp and has the scheduling of the fight affected your training at all?
Chris Byrd: I've been in camp for about 4 to 5 weeks. Nobody knew the exact date (of the fight). Don King kept playing games with the date. He kept saying like the 28th, the date Lamon (Brewster) is fighting. Nobody knew where it was. He kept saying St. Louis as a possible venue, but we had no contract. We had nothing.
The date wasn't definite, it was crazy, it was strange. He wanted to do pay per view on a Wednesday night. I was training, I always train, I always work out. I didn't fly my father in or any sparring partners. I was just running and hitting the bag and kept thinking it may happen. He could of told me the week before and I wouldn't of had no sparring partners then. If it would of been the 28th or whatever date he had, it was a strange thing.
This thing just got put together. I guess Showtime really wanted us on the card so he made it happen.
BoxingScene.com: I know that you are just happy to be back in the ring, you don't care about your placement on the card.
Chris Byrd: Oh no, I don't care.
BoxingScene.com: DaVarryl told me that you two guys are very good friends. If I had to bet, I would bet that your fight with DaVarryl will be just as competitive as your fight with Jameel McCline.
Chris Byrd: Oh yeah. It's going to be very competitive. We sparred a lot of rounds together. If you work on something special, something different, it will last a few rounds. After that, it will be just like our sparring sessions, which were really good. I expect a very good fight.
BoxingScene.com: The question keeps coming up over and over again. The only two heavyweight champions to have fought each other is you and Vitali Klitschko. You hold a win over Vitali. Why is he considered the recognized champion in your weight class?
Chris Byrd: I don't know. At this point in my career, to be honest, I could care less. I used to really care about being number one, to be the number one heavyweight out there. Nowadays I don't care. The way things have been in my career. I can't say I'm upset on how my career went as far as being champion, that's great. After I became champion, it's horrible. I wouldn't wish it on anybody. Boxing has really put a bad taste in my mouth. I don't care what people say or thing is number one, I don't care.
BoxingScene.com: When you say boxing has left a bad taste in your mouth, are you referring to the politics that go along with being champion?
Chris Byrd: Just the business side of is horrible. It makes any fighter want to chuck it in and say I quit. You know...in the meantime I feel like it's not even worth it. Just the headache part of it. I love the sport, the competitiveness of the sport. It's a nice sport as the sport goes, but when you go to the business side and everybody is playing these games and everybody is a crook. I'm trying to be straight up and honest.
I don't ask for anything more, I don't try to beat nobody out of nothing. Just be honest with me. If you can't do it then tell me you can't do it and I can live with that. It's not like I can't work with you, I can work with you ever possible way. Everybody, I don't want to say everybody, but most people that I've worked with play games and always try to beat and cheat and take my kindness as a weakness. And once I stand up for myself they get mad and upset. It's a joke. I constantly get penalized for something I'm not even doing. All I want to do is box.
I'm with Don King, we agreed in a contract with a certain amount of bouts and the purse number. I didn't put a gun to his head and force him to pay me a certain amount. So live up to your end and if you can't live up to it, like he's been doing in almost every fight I had, then let's negotiate it. But don't go behind my back and do a purse bid after we make a deal and purse bid it so low and tell everyone that basically we worked out a deal and nobody is hurt during the fight, but him. And then he has to throw it in my face and (says) "see, this is what the market holds." That's a joke, it don't make any sense. That's dirty, it's just dirty playing. So when it comes to that stuff, I don't trust any of these guys no more. I always give people a chance, but you can't. Not in this business, it's a dirty business and I'm sick of it.
BoxingScene.com: I know your goal has been to unify the division. Is that still your goal?
Chris Byrd: Honestly, I want a few more fights to secure my family and I want out. Really, I would fight Vitali Klitschko or Wladimir Klitschko. Especially Wladimir if it makes sense at the time or whoever is out there. I was a guy that loved boxing and saw myself fighting into my forties because when I get in shape I feel young, but man I can't take much more of this anymore.
BoxingScene.com: Do you think some of your frustration stems from the media underestimating you and the fact that they continue to underestimate you? They said you were too small, you couldn't punch, you would never make it and now you are the longest reigning heavyweight champion.
Chris Byrd: Yeah, I know. They always say that stuff, it's funny. I used to honestly care what people thought, but they aren't the ones fight and they aren't the ones getting hit. I don't care what they say or what they like. It's hasn't helped me a bit or hurt me a bit. I'm still the same person and basically in the same position. I don't care what people say, it's their opinion. They never fought or getting hit by the punches I'm throwing or the punches that my opponent is throwing.
BoxingScene.com: One of the biggest, if not the biggest, fight in the division is a rematch between you and Vitali Klitschko. Do you think this fight will ever happen or do you think it will continue to get shuffled around?
Chris Byrd: It's going to get shuffled. It's funny with fighters and I rarely want to put fighters down. I don't talk trash about any of these guys, but when it comes to the Klitschko brothers, to be a man in the sport you have to fight anybody. Vitali is champion and keeps saying that "you have to go through my brother to get to me" and I'm like what...everybody has to suck up to you, I'm champion too.
If it goes that course where I have to fight his brother first to fight him, then so be it. It's just part of the fights that I want to fight, but it's not like I'm going to fight Wladimir Klitschko and now I hope to fight Vitali. I don't care about fighting him again. I'm tired of saying that I'll fight all of these guys and we could make this tournament style. I've been saying that since I was 15-0. I was the only one ever, even when Lennox (Lewis) was champion. The only one ever calling for a tournament, let's go to a tournament format like the Olympics and the best man comes out on top and wins.
From the champion to the 10th rated guy or the 15th rated guy. Let's do it and give the fans a thrill by watching guys fighting instead of picking and choosing, but we are back in that again....picking and choosing. Guy are back to picking and choosing. Everybody wants to pick and choose who they want to fight in order to carefully guide themselves to a title. I'm tired of talking about it. It's kind of put a put a bad taste in my mouth with the sport. Something I used to go to, to the fights all the time. I could care less to really watch boxing anymore.
BoxingScene.com: I know Vitali's people say that a fight can't get made because they claim that Don King wants options on Vitali. Don King has been very public about the fact that he does not want any options on Vitali, because he feels that any of his champions can beat him. You are caught in middle, what are the facts?
Chris Byrd: I don't know 100 percent about everything that went on. I know that when I was supposed to fight Wladimir on May 23rd, in Germany, and then he (Don King) criticized me for not going. I've been there twice and know what goes on. He wanted options on Wladimir, plus money, plus all of this other stuff.
That may be the case, but I know in Wladimir's case he was going to get options. Like I've said, scared money don't win and all of these guys want to hold something over the heads of everybody to make a fight. Rather then say, "your guy was better that night, we lost our belt and want to get it back." They don't want to lose nothing. Everybody has an excuse for not making a match and their excuse is that it hurt's the fighter and it doesn't benefit the promoter.
BoxingScene.com: Who do you think is holding a tournament like that back? Is it the promoters, the fighters, the managers, the networks or a combination of everything?
Chris Byrd: A combination of everything. If the fighters really want it, something could happen. These guys talk a good game, but they don't want to step up to the plate. If the promoters really wanted to make it happen, there is a lot of money involved, they could make it happen, but everybody is scared. I'm not a gambling person, but I've always heard that scared money don't win. That's the thing, they don't want to risky nothing. They are afraid to put their product up against a major test.
BoxingScene.com: Would you agree that because there is such a lack of new stars in the heavyweight division, that it would make sense for everyone, from the fighters to the networks, to come together and unify the titles?
Chris Byrd: Yeah, but that's in a perfect world and that will never happen, but I hope it would some day. I don't think it will happen in the rest of my career. There is too much money, too many people hate each other and too many people are trying to be crooks and beat and cheat each other. They will never come together to try and make a tournament.
BoxingScene.com: There are a lot of people out there that feel you may be slowing down a bit, based on your last couple of performances in the ring. Do you feel like your slowing down or do you want to prove that you can fight as well as box?
Chris Byrd: I feel that it may be a little bit of both. I'm 35, in reality if you watch me spar, you will say "man this is not the same guy boxing in the ring". I go to war with guys and will fight tooth and nail to the end. It's fun and it's sometimes crazy, but sometimes I like getting hit to prove that I was in a fight. It's never good to take punches, but I've proved that I can take a punch. I'm getting close to the end of my career and I will show that I didn't go through my career being an elusive guy. I will go in the trenches and fight you. We can get in the trenches and rumble. I'm not trying to prove nothing to nobody, I'm just having fun.
You can't say when I leave the sport, that I was a cutie-pie, just a guy that ran around and threw pitty-pat punches and ran from guys. I gave you a little bit of both. First half of my career I was elusive, second half of my career I'm trying to sit down and rumble with guys. It all depends really on how I feel when I get in the ring. If I feel like the fight is getting boring, I hate being bored in the ring...I will sit in there and trade. We can just go at it and if catch me, that's a part of it, but if not, you better be in great shape because I will wear you out for twelve. You can't hang with me for twelve rounds.
BoxingScene.com: Not to look past DaVarryl Williamson because we all know that he is a very tough guy, but there is a very important fight coming up in the heavyweight division between Wladimir Klitschko and Samuel Peter. The fight is a mandatory eliminator for your title. Either guy would be a big fight in terms of interest and money.
Chris Byrd: I've never cared about boxing anybody. I've always been the one calling for these kind of matches so I mean if it happens and I fight the winner immediately, cool. If not, then I will just be here waiting.
BoxingScene.com: Chris, I know that you are always heading down to live to boxing events in order to watch fights or get a live look at your competition. In your time, you have seen a lot of fighters come on the scene and leave the scene just as quickly. What is your take on Samuel Peter and do you think he deserves the hype that he is getting?
Chris Byrd: You know....to be honest, he's young, strong and he has a real cocky attitude which is good in boxing. He is willing to face guys to prove that he is the best guy out there, but he hasn't fought anybody. When you knock out a lot of guys that you are supposed to knock out, the you could talk that way I guess. We will find out with Klitschko as to how well he does against a big guy in a crucial fight for himself, because if loses here, he should be completely done. HBO can bring him back, but he should be completely done, at least at the top of the division, but we will see.
When you have a guy coming back that wants to make a statement that he is not a coward, he doesn't quit and he can actually fight, to try and live up the hype that was given to him as the heir apparent and he might fight much harder to use Peter as an example to get himself back to the top of the division. We'll see. With Samuel, I haven't really seen him fight, there really hasn't been an adversity in his career. I believe that it's still out. If he runs through Klitschko and looks great doing it, then he would be a major threat, in my eyes. I just don't take boxers that come along and haven't really been tested, haven't really been around and say that they are a great prospect. He may prove himself this week, we will see.
BoxingScene.com: Is there any fight our there that you want before you retire? Something you may see as unfinished business.
Chris Byrd: No, not at all. I mean, I wanted to fight both Klitschko brothers. To me it's fun, these are fun fights. To me they are both good fighters, but I don't see anything happening and I don't care. I used to, but now I don't if I get any of these fights. I set a goal for myself when I turned pro, to become champion and I became champion. It may not have been an exciting time of being champion in my career, but I did it. I've always said that I wanted the heavyweight title so everything from here is just a bonus. I thank the lord the he put me in a position to be champion.
BoxingScene.com: What would you like to say in closing to the people who are reading this interview?
Chris Byrd: For the fans that stuck with me through the criticism, through the losses to Ike (Ibeabuchi) and Wladimir, I like to thank them for their support. For the doubters, I'm still champion. Everybody has a right to their opinion, but they are not fighting.
