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For Shaun George, fighting Chris Byrd chance of a lifetime
By Tim Smith
Tuesday, May 13th 2008, 10:45 PM
Shaun George knows that all eyes will be on Chris Byrd, the former two-time heavyweight champion, when they meet at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas Friday night. Byrd will be making his debut at light heavyweight after 14 years of fighting at heavyweight.
George (16-2-2, 7 KOs), a two-time Daily News Golden Gloves champ from Brooklyn, hopes he has an eye-opening performance of his own in the 10-round match that will be broadcast on ESPN.
"I understand that everybody is tuning in to see Chris," George said. "That doesn't bother me. I accept that. But I feel like this is my opportunity to show everybody what I can do."
This is indeed the opportunity of a lifetime for the 29-year-old George to make a statement about where he is headed in boxing and, in particular, the light heavyweight division. If he can stop Byrd, George will elevate his status and have to be considered a force at 175 pounds.
Byrd (40-4-1, 21 KOs) has a considerable edge in experience, having beaten Vitali Klitschko and Evander Holyfield for world heavyweight titles, and having been in with the likes of Wladimir Klitschko and David Tua since coming out of the 1992 Olympics with a silver medal at 165 pounds.
"I'm so confident it's unbelievable. There's no way I'm going to lose this fight," George said. "I'm doing road work. I'm running five or six miles a day. I'm sparring. I'm doing everything I can to give myself the best opportunity to win. I'm not intimidated by Chris Byrd. I want to be a world champion."
George has bounced back and forth between cruiserweight and light heavyweight. Both his losses have come at cruiserweight. His most impressive victory came at 175 pounds against Richard Hall, a former light heavyweight title contender, in an eight-round decision last May 18. He seemed to turn the corner in that fight.
George went away to camp to prepare for a fight for the first time in his career. He is in Phoenix, training with former champs Antonio Tarver and Vassiliy Jirov. It is a bigger sacrifice because his wife is pregnant with their first child, due in September.
"I'm missing that right now," George said. "But we're holding off on doing the ultrasound until after the fight. I definitely don't want to miss that."
George said he made a New Year's resolution that he would do whatever it took to dedicate himself to boxing. Going away to camp was part of that resolution.
Fighting Byrd is the extra motivation he needed to stick to the resolution. When he heard that Byrd was going to come down to light heavyweight, George said he begged Donna Brooks, his promoter, to get him the fight. He said Byrd's promoters at Banner Promotions initially turned him down, but when they had trouble finding a suitable opponent they came back with a deal. George jumped at it.
"This isn't about Chris Byrd," George said. "It's about what I'm going to do to establish myself. He's not a heavyweight anymore. He's coming down to my division. He's 175 pounds. I'm 175 pounds. He's not the bigger man. There is no doubt in my mind that I'm going to win this fight."
KLITSCHKOS UPDATE: WBC heavyweight champ Sam Peter and Vitali Klitschko reached an agreement last week to fight this fall. No site or date was set. Peter has the option to take a tune-up fight. It could end up being in Germany, where Vitali's brother, IBF/WBO champ Wladimir Klitschko, will defend his WBO title against Tony Thompson in July.
We'll have to see if Vitali Klitschko can actually make it out of training camp. His last two fights have been scuttled because of injuries, and he is running for mayor of Kiev, Ukraine again. He lost the last election. Vitali Klitschko was named champion emeritus by the WBC last year, which gave him the opportunity to come back and fight for the title without having to work his way back into contention.
By Tim Smith
Tuesday, May 13th 2008, 10:45 PM
Shaun George knows that all eyes will be on Chris Byrd, the former two-time heavyweight champion, when they meet at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas Friday night. Byrd will be making his debut at light heavyweight after 14 years of fighting at heavyweight.
George (16-2-2, 7 KOs), a two-time Daily News Golden Gloves champ from Brooklyn, hopes he has an eye-opening performance of his own in the 10-round match that will be broadcast on ESPN.
"I understand that everybody is tuning in to see Chris," George said. "That doesn't bother me. I accept that. But I feel like this is my opportunity to show everybody what I can do."
This is indeed the opportunity of a lifetime for the 29-year-old George to make a statement about where he is headed in boxing and, in particular, the light heavyweight division. If he can stop Byrd, George will elevate his status and have to be considered a force at 175 pounds.
Byrd (40-4-1, 21 KOs) has a considerable edge in experience, having beaten Vitali Klitschko and Evander Holyfield for world heavyweight titles, and having been in with the likes of Wladimir Klitschko and David Tua since coming out of the 1992 Olympics with a silver medal at 165 pounds.
"I'm so confident it's unbelievable. There's no way I'm going to lose this fight," George said. "I'm doing road work. I'm running five or six miles a day. I'm sparring. I'm doing everything I can to give myself the best opportunity to win. I'm not intimidated by Chris Byrd. I want to be a world champion."
George has bounced back and forth between cruiserweight and light heavyweight. Both his losses have come at cruiserweight. His most impressive victory came at 175 pounds against Richard Hall, a former light heavyweight title contender, in an eight-round decision last May 18. He seemed to turn the corner in that fight.
George went away to camp to prepare for a fight for the first time in his career. He is in Phoenix, training with former champs Antonio Tarver and Vassiliy Jirov. It is a bigger sacrifice because his wife is pregnant with their first child, due in September.
"I'm missing that right now," George said. "But we're holding off on doing the ultrasound until after the fight. I definitely don't want to miss that."
George said he made a New Year's resolution that he would do whatever it took to dedicate himself to boxing. Going away to camp was part of that resolution.
Fighting Byrd is the extra motivation he needed to stick to the resolution. When he heard that Byrd was going to come down to light heavyweight, George said he begged Donna Brooks, his promoter, to get him the fight. He said Byrd's promoters at Banner Promotions initially turned him down, but when they had trouble finding a suitable opponent they came back with a deal. George jumped at it.
"This isn't about Chris Byrd," George said. "It's about what I'm going to do to establish myself. He's not a heavyweight anymore. He's coming down to my division. He's 175 pounds. I'm 175 pounds. He's not the bigger man. There is no doubt in my mind that I'm going to win this fight."
KLITSCHKOS UPDATE: WBC heavyweight champ Sam Peter and Vitali Klitschko reached an agreement last week to fight this fall. No site or date was set. Peter has the option to take a tune-up fight. It could end up being in Germany, where Vitali's brother, IBF/WBO champ Wladimir Klitschko, will defend his WBO title against Tony Thompson in July.
We'll have to see if Vitali Klitschko can actually make it out of training camp. His last two fights have been scuttled because of injuries, and he is running for mayor of Kiev, Ukraine again. He lost the last election. Vitali Klitschko was named champion emeritus by the WBC last year, which gave him the opportunity to come back and fight for the title without having to work his way back into contention.