Chris Byrd To Move Down To Light Heavyweight?

By David Lar: According to boxingtalk website, former IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Chris Byrd (40-4-1, 21 KOs) is reportedly moving down to the light heavyweight division, skipping the cruiserweight division altogether, in hopes of winning another title at the lower weight class. Byrd, 37, told boxingtalk that he plans on bringing excitement to the light heavyweight division. The move by the southpaw Byrd is somewhat surprising, because many people had previously expected Byrd to move down to the cruiserweight division to compete against the top fighters, like O’Neil Bell, Enzo Maccarinelli, David Haye and Steve Cunningham.

read more

Chris Byrd Looking To Restart His Career As A Cruiserweight

byrd798464.jpgIn a recent interview, two-time former heavyweight champion Chris Byrd (40-4-1, 21 KOs) stated that he has had had last fight as a heavyweight – his 11th round TKO loss to Alexander Povetkin on October 27, 2008 – and will not campaign as a cruiserweight for the remainder of his career. The 37 year-old Byrd hopes to make his first fight as a cruiserweight in March against an still un-named opponent, and following that he hope to challenge for one of the cruiserweight titles later in the year. How realistic is that, remains to be seen.

I personally think that Byrd should have moved down to cruiserweight two years ago, shortly after losing his International Boxing Federation heavyweight title to Wladimir Klitschko on April 22nd, 2006. Instead, however, Byrd sad idle for a year, not fighting at all, and wasted time that he could have used working his way up the cruiserweight latter. At this stage in his career, I now think it’s a mistake for him to move down to cruiserweight, because Byrd seems to have slowed down in the ring, and I think it would show against the younger, faster cruiserweights.

read more

Chris Byrd: “I’ve Yet To Be Beaten By An American Heavyweight”

Former two-time heavyweight champion Chris “Rapid Fire” Byrd (40-4-1, 21 KOs) hinted strongly that he will continue boxing after last night’s 11th round TKO loss to Alexander Povetkin (14-0, 11 KOs in Germany, saying “I’ve yet to be beaten by an American heavyweight.” In that respect, Byrd was telling the truth, as he has only lost to Eastern European fighters Wladimir Klitschko and Povetkin and Ike Ibeabutch from Nigeria.

read more

Povetkin Stops Byrd in 11th Round TKO

povetkin464644.jpgHeavyweight challenger Alexander Povetkin (14-0, 11 KOs) won a hard fought grueling battle tonight, stopping former two-time heavyweight champion Chris Byrd in the 11th round at the Messehalle, Erfurt, in Thüringen, Germany. Both fighter’s faces were badly swollen and cut from the many blows they landed on each other over the course of the bout. The fight was pretty even until the 11th round when Povetkin hurt Byrd with a hard combination. He followed it up with more shots on the inside, winging hooks and backing Byrd up. However, Byrd was fighting back effectively, landing sharp combinations on the inside when his father, Joe Byrd, suddenly threw in the towel after Byrd got backed into a corner.

It seemed like a foolish move, but I wasn’t really surprised because Byrd’s father had done a poor job, I think, in his corner, giving him bad advice and forgetting important things, like putting his mouthpiece in before sending him out to fight. Povetkin looked decent but not anywhere near the amount of hype that has been strewn about by many of his fans. He dished out a lot of punishment, but he’s not a really heavy puncher and had to rely on throwing lots of punches. He had major problems all fight long landing his short punches, as when he would come in side, Byrd would dodge his shots, and hit him with fast punches to the head.

read more

Povetkin Byrd: Is This Fight A Mistake For Byrd?

Former two-time heavyweight champion (40-3-1, 21 KOs) Chris Byrd takes on Alexander Povetkin tomorrow night in Germany as part of the four-man elimination tournament for the rights to take on International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2008. However, why Byrd has opted to fight in the elimination tournament is a looming question, because he’s already been beaten twice by Wladimir Klitschko, both bouts being one-sided beat downs. Clearly, Byrd is bright enough to see that he would stand a much better chance, albeit with less financial reward, by facing one of the other three heavyweight champions – Sultan Ibragimov, Oleg Maskaev/Samuel Peter or Ruslan Chagaev – all of which are much easier opponents than Wladimir and Povetkin.

read more

Byrd vs. Povetkin: Does Chris Have Enough Left To Beat Alexander?

Former WBO/IBF heavyweight champion Chris Byrd (40-3-1, 21 KOs) goes up against Alexander Povetkin 13-0, 10 KOs), former 2004 Olympics Gold medal winner in the super heavyweight, this Saturday iat the Messehalle, Erfurt, in Thüringen, Germany. The bout is a box off for the fight to fight IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. At 28, Povetkin is considered by many to the the best heavyweight prospect in the division, despite being somewhat undersized at only 6’2. He doesn’t have a lot of power, either, but he makes up for it by throwing a lot of punches and avoiding the incoming fire from his opponents. At this early point in his career, Povetkin appears to be being brought along a bit too fast for his own good, because he doesn’t seem to be even near Wladimir Klitschko in ability, size or power, something that will be found out should Povetkin get by Byrd on Saturday.

read more