Photos from the Byrd- Klitschko presser

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Byrd-Klitschko NYC presser!

February 9, 2006

By Jason "J-Gon" Gonzalez


The dry spell that has plagued the heavyweight division (since Lennox Lewis left) can potentially end in '06. James Toney and Hasim Rahman will be leading off in March and just recently announced IBF champion Chris Byrd (39-2-1, 20 KO's) and former WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (45-3, 40 KO's) are scheduled to follow exactly one month later.

Byrd and Klitschko have history together. The last time these two were in the ring together, approximately six years ago, Wladimir put on a boxing clinic. Klitschko dropped Byrd in the ninth and in the eleventh round, in route to a total blowout on the scorecards (120-106, 119-107, 118-108).

So as two of the premiere and classiest heavyweights prepare to collide on the 22nd of April in Mannheim, Germany, one would have to seriously question why Byrd would want to fight again in Germany considering he left with such a bad taste in his mouth the first time around.

Byrd is coming off of an abysmal performance against longtime friend DaVarryl Williamson. On that chilly October night, Byrd and Williamson combined for a formula stronger than the most potent surgical anesthesia. Byrd won the 12 round paint drying festival via a unanimous decision. But as Byrd explains, the lead-up to the bout was anything but smooth.

As both fighters entertained questions from the media yesterday at Gallagher's Steakhouse in New York City both Byrd and Klitschko were able to vent a little bit.

About the fight with Williamson, Byrd said the following, "I didn't want to fight," he admitted. "I'm at a point in my career where I want bigger fights. I always wanted to fight Vitali again before I fought Wladimir, but he retired. So knowing that I shouldn't have been fighting DaVarryl was one reason, two, the purse. I'm going in there and fighting a dangerous guy that can punch and if I lose, I'm out of this whole equation and I'm only making 400-something thousand when I know I should be making two and a half million dollars a fight. And then King tries to get me stripped the morning of the fight and before that, he tried to cancel the fight. This is going on all through training, and I trained, but mentally, I wasn't there. I didn't want to fight. I kept looking back at my wife, and she screamed at me, 'Just win the round forget the crowd and get the fight over with.'"

So now as a promotional free agent Byrd can roam freely anywhere he wants. The first stop Mannheim, Germany. His mission: To show the whole world that what happened six years ago was a fluke.

"I'm sure that Chris Byrd five years ago is not the same Chris Byrd today," said Klitschko. "I think he's got more experience from fighting guys like David Tua, Evander Holyfield, Andrew Golota, Jameel McCline. It's going to be a great fight with a lot of excitement because Chris Byrd has great motivation. He lost against me five years ago and my motivation is very big because of everything that happened in the past three years. I want to become a champion again and I want to defend my title for a long time. But first I have to win the fight and I'm going to win the fight as soon as I can. The more dominating, the less questions there will be about me after the fight."

The Ukraine-born Klitschko is a former world champion who has amassed a stellar ring record. Dr. Steelhammer has defeated Byrd, Jameel McCline, Ray Mercer, Monte Barrett, and most recently, highly regarded Samuel Peter. As of right now Klitschko is ranked number one by the IBF and the WBO, and is currently ranked third by the WBC and WBA.

But after sweeping through such stiff competence with great ease, Klitschko ran into some heavy artillery that had him being swept off the canvas. Both Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster knocked him out. DaVarryl Williamson knocked him down and in his last fight, Samuel Peter dropped him three times. Although Klitschko clearly won the fight, there were many questions concerning the sturdiness of his chin. But from hearing Wladimir talk you would have never thought there were any problems going on. "I think it will be a great feeling when I become a champion again and I can feel it, but I can't touch it. I have to do a lot of work in the preparation, and I have to deliver a great performance in the ring because as you know, it's not so easy to fight against Chris Byrd. It's not so easy to look great."

Byrd who previously proclaimed that he would never travel again to Germany was asked why the sudden change of heart. Byrd responded by saying, "I'm five years wiser, he's just five years older."

"Since the last time we fought, he's been up and down, up and down – literally. My mindset the first time we fought was, 'I'm fighting this big guy.' I was more timid and trying to use more finesse. My whole thing now is 'I like fighting big guys.' It's like an addiction. I want to test his heart. I can take it. I'll put my hands up and we can just go to thumpin.' Now I want to fight in the trenches more than anything. But at the same time, I'm not going to be ****** and get hit with his shots, but I still want to fight in the trenches and make these guys fight me. I'm going to be in great shape, so over 12 rounds, how is he going to be in the championship rounds? If he's still in there swinging and throwing punches, more power to him because I know I'm going to still be throwing punches. But if you're holding on and trying to survive in the fight, you're a coward. These guys have huge advantages over me, weight-wise, height, reach, everything – and you're holding or running from me, an Olympic Silver Medallist as a middleweight? So all those people who say I can't punch think again. If I couldn't punch, you would come in and just run me over."

When asked if he was concerned about any wrong doings in regard to defending his title overseas, "I'm not worried about it," said Byrd of going to Germany for the title bout, "My faith in the Lord is strong, and if something's going to happen, it's going to happen. Going last time, Peter Kohl was the promoter, and there was some shady stuff going on. This time we tried to get everything right like we wanted. I don't care where it is, all the pressure's on him."

At Wednesday's press conference it was announced that the scheduled 12-round championship bout will be televised on HBO's World Championship Boxing. In an unusual but an intelligent move, the network will present the fight live (04/22/06) Saturday afternoon at 5 PM ET/2 PM PT. In addition, HBO will replay the fight again later that night at 10PM ET/PT.

So with Rahman-Toney in March and Byrd-Klitschko in April, we're truly one step closer to having one universally recognized heavyweight champion. This is something that the fans have been longing for and this is something that boxing truly needs.

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[DiegoFuego]

Byrd looks like a dead man. Without a title, that man has no choice but to retire. Bet he regrets not fighting Vitali and Toney now

[Manny_P]

Vitali don't show up in Wlad's press congferences anymore? They seem to be together errwhere, errrrtime.

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Byrd looks so small compared to Klitshcko.

[THE REAL NINJA]

cool pics