Exclusive Interview: Chris Byrd

GL: What's popping Chris? "I'm chilling. I don't know what's up next. We're looking at August 13, nothing is certain, but I hope everything gets taken care of so I can fight on that date." GL: It seems as though your next fight will be against either Sergei Lyakhovich or Wladimir Klitschko. Whom do you prefer? "It don't matter. My thing is, I just want to get back in the ring. If it's Klitschko, cool, the rematch would be great. If it's Lyakhovich, that's who they said I would be fighting, but at this point I don't care who I fight I'm just ready to fight." GL: Before you refused to fight Klitschko in Germany you came on the record and said that Monte Barrett was more deserving of a title shot than Wladimir Klitschko was. Do you feel that Lyakhovich is more deserving of the shot than little brother? CB: "It don't matter to me. His last win was Dominick Guinn when he just had the one loss to Barrett. He was coming back and they thought he was going to blow Lyakhovich away. So in reality, he's more deserving because who has Klitschko fought? You can't go by Castillo and say he's more deserving. Like I said, it don't matter to me. Whoever they put in front of me, as long as it makes sense financially, let's do it." GL: Most of the time when a fighter loses to someone they want to avenge the loss asap. Is that not the case with you and Wladimir because of how strongly you felt there was foul play in the first fight? CB: "You know there's still motivation to beat this guy, but it's not like crazy. The motivation was right after I fought him. But then I really wasn't worthy to them. I was so puffy I knew something was wrong but they never wanted to give me a rematch. They know what they did and they kept moving on. I win the title and he's regressing now. I guess he can't get on the right stuff. Me and him are eventually going to meet. It doesn't matter if it's now or later, I'm just really eager to get back in the ring against whoever it is." GL: Do you feel that there's more money in fighting Klitschko than Lyakhovich? CB: "Probably so, and if they come correct with the purse we could do it next. At this point of my career it's not just about fighting guys. I'm trying to take fights that make sense and I want to beat the guys that are going to get me into the hall of fame. I'm not trying to beat on cats coming up that aren't really worthy of fighting for a title. I've paid my dues and it's time for these guys to pay their's." GL: How do you feel about Toney testing positive after the Ruiz fight? CB: "I look at it two ways, if he was truly on something and he kenw about it he's a punk and coward for doing it. It would ruin everything he accomplished, but if you listen to many people in the sport, they felt he was on something before that. If he is, he's a punk because that's a coward move. All of sudden he's in the mix and then he gets busted and he says he's out of shape, look at my body, I mean come on be for real." GL: How do you feel about Toney demanding parity with Klitschko? CB: "It's wrong. Klitischko is the champion. He's feeling he's more popular and he feels he needs more, but I disagree big time. He should just be happy that Vitali wants to fight him and he could get another chance to fight for a title. All he got was basically a slap on the wrist. He should have been suspended for a couple of years for testing positive, but if he comes back for a title right away that would be ridiculous. And isn't it funny how James Toney talks so much trash, but now there's not a peep coming from him about me." GL: Mike Tyson has a fight coming up on Saturday night. Does he have a chance to return to heavyweight prominence? CB: "Nope. Mike will never get it back. With his age and his lifestyle, he'll never get it back. He still has punching power but nobody is afraid. I'm a huge Tyson fan and that goes back to the amateurs. No great fighter from the past will get it back. He's famous and he might get the shot at the title if he beats a couple of guys, but I could easily name ten guys that would whoop his tail right now." GL: So you don't think there's any chance Tyson becomes a champion again? CB: "I really don't see it." GL: Is there anything you'd like to say in closing? CB: "Keep following boxing. Don't hate on the sport, especially the heavyweight division and don't the believe the hype from certain guys. Stay true to the game."