By Don Deane
17.12 - This past Saturday night we were treated to a more crowd friendly Chris Byrd. In a complete domination of the "real deal" Holyfield, Byrd once again proved his mettle at the top level of heavyweight competition. Byrd was given vast exposure due to the pro-Holyfield viewing audience on HBO, and seemed to acknowledge that in his post fight interview. On that note, let the analysis begin.
Byrd's major point in his interview was that he mixed it up a little bit and wants to go toe to toe with some guys now and try to take them out. That could very well be a bad decision. In Byrd's last six wins he has had only two TKO victories. One was a thrown in towel, the other was an injured shoulder. The guy gets his knockouts by putting too much leather on the face, he doesn't do it with power. It may look good knocking out statues like Jimmy Thunder and other overmatched fighters, but can he bring the pain against top level competition? In his win over Vitali Klitschko, Vitali was winning the fight until the injury. His only other two fights against sluggers were against Ike Ibeabuchi (TKO loss) and to Wladimir Klitschko ( Decision loss where Byrd was decked two times in the late rounds.) This should give Byrd all the info he needs to keep doing what he is doing. Fighters should use their natural abilities and exploit those. Byrd is very fast and naturally small for a heavyweight. He should fight that way like he has been doing.
Byrd also looked very arrogant in the ring. He repeatedly smiled after successful weaves, and even stuck his tongue out at a frustrated Holyfield. As a fan of Hamed and Judah, I can't very well chastise Byrd for these actions. But I can say this. For a man that isn't happy about not getting big fights, and not having fans, being cocky in the ring isn't going to help win over the mainstream boxing public.
Enough Byrd bashing for now. I like him a lot. Like I said about the natural advantages, his biggest is being a southpaw. Couple that with his superb defensive skills and reflexes and you already have a Pernell Whitaker-esque slick southpaw model that is tough to beat. Byrd is also very unorthodox and throws a flicking jab. The jab is not meant for power, and is not incredibly accurate, but it frustrates the heck out of his opponent. He can throw it non stop, and can throw it while he moves in either direction. He has also developed a stiffer straight left hand that he used to assault Holyfield's body extensively. Overall, it seems Byrd has more pop, but still is more of a slick boxer that throws a lot of punches.
With good wins over Maurice Harris, David Tua and Evander Holyfield, Byrd is now an A class fighter. He can dominate B and B+ fighters, but I don't know if he really wants to go toe to toe with Lennox Lewis or Wladimir. What would be cool is if Roy Jones beats John Ruiz, Byrd against Jones would be a very good fight.
