19.04.06 – by Kent Appel: About five and a half years ago, in October, 2000, Wladimir Klitschko and Chris Byrd fought for the first time and that time Klitschko dominated the fight, scoring two knockdowns on the way to a unanimous twelve round decision. Will this Saturday’s fight turn out any differently? I don’t know but I have a feeling it will be a closer fight with the edge going to Klitschko by a close decision..
One of the reasons it could likely be closer is the fact that Klitschko has become more cautious because he has been knocked down quite a few times since their first meeting and he has lost that air of invincibility while Byrd himself has become more aggressive, more willing to get in the trenches and battle it out than he did in their first meeting.
I see Klitschko piling up points from the outside, utilizing his height and reach advantage to prevail by decision but Byrd will score more often than he did before by moving in close and flurrying and avoiding a fair enough amount of punches, because, as I said, he has become more willing to take chances in his recent bouts and he still has excellent defensive skills.
If the fight ends by knockout, it will more likely be Klitschko being the winner as he has a record of 10-2, 8 by knockout since Klitschko/Byrd 1 and even though Byrd has not lost since his loss to Klitschko, his record is 8-0-1, with only one knockout during that same period. Klitschko has been hurt and knocked down in several of his fights since their first fight but Byrd probably doesn’t punch hard enough to knock Klitschko out. Klitschko also has a much higher career knockout percentage.
I took part in a teleconference on Wednesday in which I asked Byrd two questions, Klitschko also took part in the conference but I was not able to ask him any questions as I was cut off by the operator before I had a chance to ask him any questions and there were a lot of reporters on the line and they ran out of time before I could ask him anything.
I asked Byrd the following two questions, 1. “You have had several very close fights recently, do you expect this fight with Klitschko to be a close fight and have those close fights helped you?” Byrd said, “they have helped me for sure. They gave me valuable experience that I have learned from. I have trained hard for this fight and I am ready for anything.” 2. “Are you planning to come out fast or are you planning to weather Klitschko’s early storm if he comes out fast and then come on later on in the fight?” Byrd answered, “sometimes I come out fast and sometimes I don’t it depends on how the fight is going and I won’t know until I get in the ring. I am ready to go twelve hard rounds.”
Both fighters were polite during the press conference and they showed each other respect, a little refreshing compared to some other big fights in recent times, and while this fight will not untangle the muddle of the heavyweight championship situation, it is a step in the right direction in determining a true heavyweight champion. Of course I thought Hasim Rahman verses James Toney would also help sort out who the heavyweight champion is but that fight, which ended in a draw, just added to the confusion. We will see what happens Saturday in the aftermath of Klitschko/Byrd 2.