Chris Byrd Interview: The Former Two-Time Heavyweight Champ Talks About “The Byrd’s Eye View”

By James Slater — Former WBO and IBF heavyweight champ Chris Byrd, a slick stylist who recently hung up the gloves on an illustrious yet at times unappreciated career, feels he and many of his fellow fighters have a pretty tough time of it when it comes to getting a fair shake from today’s boxing commentators.

“Rapid Fire,” now aged 42 and leaving the game with a 41-5-1(22) record in early 2009, wants to give the fans and the sport a new-look boxing show. Set to be unleashed on the web (as well as on You Tube and a number of other internet outlets) this month, “The Byrd’s Eye View” promises to pull no punches. Tired of the often negative attitude a number of the current well known crop of T.V commentators have, and as weary of their on-air criticism (often from people who, as Chris points out, have never ever boxed; HBO legend Larry Merchant being at the top of his hit list!), the southpaw is looking forward to letting people more qualified to call a fight do the talking.

Along with his own, in-the-firing-line-acquired knowledge of the fight game, Byrd will have a number of fellow pros, both active and retired, assisting him to give it real to the fans. Byrd’s show will consist of pre-recorded shows and, later on, live shows that take in big fights – with shows planned for Las Vegas and, next year, London.

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Mikey Garcia: “A fight with Yuriorkis Gamboa is ultimately the bout that I want”

Mikey Garcia: “A fight with Yuriorkis Gamboa is ultimately the bout that I want” By Joseph Herron: With an HBO date already scheduled for November 10th, and a big title fight with WBO Featherweight Champion Orlando Salido on the 2013 horizon, 126 pound contender Mikey Garcia (29-0, 25 KOs) is ready to make his mark in boxing.

The undefeated 24 year old fighter is slated to face tough Argentine Jonathan Victor Barros (34-3-1, 18 KOs) in the main event of a brilliant double header on HBO Boxing After Dark next month. His original assignment was supposed to be a title opportunity against the hard punching WBO champ, but Salido was sidelined after inadvertently slamming his index finger in a car door.

While some boxing pundits have questioned the decision of Top Rank and manager Cameron Dunkin to fulfill the November HBO date rather than wait for the championship opening, Mikey feels confident in his team and his abilities in the ring.

“Because we’ve already committed to fighting on November 10th, and we don’t know when Salido is going to be ready to get back in the ring, we decided to go ahead and fight Jonathan Victor Barros. I’m not too concerned with whether or not it’s a good or bad idea to take an interim fight with a title opportunity on hold; my primary concern is winning the fight on November 10th and getting a decisive victory.”

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Rios vs. Alvarardo winner could face Pacquiao in April, says Arum

By Rob Smith: Top Rank promoter really loves the idea of putting the winner of this Saturday’s clash between Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado in with Manny Pacquiao next April. Arum happens to promote all three fighters so it’s an easy thing for him to make this fight.

In an interview with the Manila Standard, Arum said Pacquiao and the winner of the Rios-Alvarado fight “Could be unbelievable. The public would go crazy for that fight. Imagine Manny against either of these animals. Manny will have to become an animal himself.”

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Boxing manager Luis Decubas Jr: “Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero will be in a blockbuster fight very soon!”

By Joseph Herron — With big fights currently scheduled on the remaining 2012 boxing calendar for many of the top 147 pound fighters, fight fans are curious who reigning interim WBC Welterweight Champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (30-1-1, 18 KOs) will be stepping in the ring with next.

Talented young boxing manager Luis Decubas Jr, gives us a glimpse into the future plans of the four division world champion.

“Robert is in a very good position right now,” insists the lifelong boxing proponent. “He’s a very hot fighter at this time, coming off of a very impressive performance against one of the highest rated Welterweight fighters in the world in Selcuk Aydin. He picked up his fourth world title in his first fight at the 147 pound weight class, and this was coming off of a 15 month period of inactivity. He made a big statement with the win.”

“There are so many great fights to be made in the division right now with Berto, Maidana, Alexander, and Malignaggi. We tried to make the fight with Timothy Bradley and he turned us down. Bradley feels that he has a very good chance of getting the winner between Pacquiao and Marquez, so he didn’t want to risk fighting a guy who would beat him.”

“So instead of making a fight with Robert a reality, he will more than likely choose to face a guy that he’s already dominated in Lamont Peterson.”

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Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez: “If Kelly Pavlik thinks I’m so horrible, he should prove it in the ring”

By Joseph Herron – After his dominant performance against previously undefeated KO artist Jason Escalera on HBO Boxing After Dark two weeks ago, Super Middleweight contender Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KOs) immediately issued a challenge to former universally recognized Middleweight Champion Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik.

Although the superb match-up would be one of the more fan friendly pairings that could possibly be made in the talent enriched division, the Youngstown, Ohio native stated through numerous media sources that Edwin isn’t an accomplished enough fighter to make a truly meaningful fight at this stage in his career.

The Dominican born puncher had much to say about Kelly’s public commentary on the October 9th edition of “The Pugilist KOrner”.

“In a recent interview I read, Kelly Pavlik stated that I was horrible and that he would rather watch paint dry than watch one of my fights,” stated Edwin Rodriguez. “He also stated that there wasn’t enough money in a fight with me at this time.”

After headlining HBO Boxing After Dark and closing the show with a resounding bang, “La Bomba” found great folly and hypocrisy in Kelly’s response.

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Pacquiao extends contract with Top Rank

By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao has extended his contract with Top Rank through 2014. It’s not all that surprising because Pacquiao seems to be pretty committed to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. The contract could pretty much finish out the remaining quality years of Pacquiao’s career. If he’s still fighting in 2015, it’s hard to imagine him being relevant in terms of still being the best at welterweight.

He’d still be among the top two fighters in terms of money in the sport, but the way that Pacquiao has been looking slower and less active in the ring, it’s hard to imagine him being able to fight on a high level by 2015. What this means is boxing fans will probably never get to see Pacquiao fight Floyd Mayweather Jr.

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Froch vs. Mack: Carl hopes this will be an easy fight

By Michael Collins: IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (29-2, 21 KO’s) will be taking a rare tune-up fight the next time he steps inside the ring to fight light heavyweight Yusaf Mack (31-4-2, 17 KO’s) on November 17th at the Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK. It’s been ages since Froch took on a guy that was clearly out of his league and didn’t deserve to be in the same ring with him. Mack, 32, is a decent fighter but it’s pretty clear that he doesn’t stand much of a chance in this fight unless he can score a knockout.

Mack does have good power, but he’s had problems with his stamina in the past for fights that go past four rounds. Also, he’s going to be coming down in weight from 175 for this fight and it’s likely he’ll be weaker than he usually is.

It’s unclear who’s idea it was for Froch to fight a soft touch for his next fight – his or his promoter Eddie Hearn. Froch had a ton of options available for him for the November 17th fight.

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Rios vs. Alvarado: There Will Be Blood

By John G. Thompson: This coming Saturday night Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (30-0-1, 22 KO’s) will face Mike “Mile High” Alvarado (33-0, 23 KO’s) in the ring at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California televised on HBO Boxing After Dark. While the outcome of this fight is as hard to predict as Rios’ conditioning, one thing is certain – when these two aggressive power punchers meet there will be blood.

Rios of nearby Oxnard, California (born in Lubbock, Texas) is just twenty-six years old, but has already battled weight issues in his last two fights, losing his WBA World Lightweight title on the scales in July of last year. Rios was an experienced and decorated amateur with about 275 bouts and was the 2004 United States Amateur Featherweight Champion and a 2004 Olympic alternate for the USA.

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Chavez Jr. receives suspension

By Rob Smith: Former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. received the first part of his suspension yesterday by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for testing positive for marijuana for his fight last month against Sergio Martinez. This is a temporary suspension until the Commission can sit down and decide on the young 26-year-old Chavez Jr’s case either at the end of this month or next month, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.

Keith Kizer, the executive director of the Nevada Commission, said to ESPN “He [Chavez Jr] had a license to fight in Nevada and we suspended it pending a hearing. Chavez had no objection to it. He wasn’t going to fight again this year anyway…I can’t imagine the suspension will be any less than six months.”

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Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao: “It’s just business”

By Joseph Herron: This morning on ESPN’s “First Take” with Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless, HBO’s Larry Merchant chimed in on whether or not a mega fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao would ever take place.

“What’s stood in the way of a big Mayweather/Pacquiao fight taking place up to this point is a financial disincentive for both men,” insists the world renowned boxing commentator. “Both fighters are already making 40 and 50 million dollars a year fighting lower risk opposition. There’s no financial urgency to make this fight happen. This is a business as well as a sport.”

While many fight fans and boxing scribes have called for a PPV boycott of both fighters’ events to force the hand of the promoters and athletes involved, Mr. Merchant feels the prospect of that actually happening is highly unlikely.

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