The forgotten British Middleweight

Foggy · Post by **Foggy** » 28 Dec 2005, 07:09

Just looking through the site when i appeared upon this name 'Chris Pyatt', seems as though he was WBO middleweight champion in the 1990's, was he any good, it just strikes me that i've never heard him mentioned on the forum.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 28 Dec 2005, 08:27

Pyatt was a very strong fighter with good combination work and decent handspeed. I remember his middleweight championship days very fondly and in those days he was an agressive fighter. His fight with Kalamby was one of the best I have ever seen, he nearly blew that one and was spent at the end.

He was a hot prospect who seemed to dissapear TV wise in the early nighties only to reappear with the WBO title opportunity, which he grasp. Seemed to be on the crest of some really big fights when Collins came along and took his title, and his place.

I don't remember him much as a light middleweight, where he was apparently better, but I was a big fan of his as the WBO Middleweight champion. A worthy title holder, IMO.

Old bones Ian · Post by **Old bones Ian** » 28 Dec 2005, 08:28

There was a recent interview with him in either BN or Boxing Monthly, he said that he never really produced all his skills when he fought, that in the gym when training he used to show alot more, but when he went into the ring he just wanted to take the other guys head off.

Barryboy · Post by **Barryboy** » 28 Dec 2005, 08:47

When Chris Eubank fought in Glasgow in 1992 I went to one of his training sessions & Chris Pyatt was his sparring partner, the two of them really went at it, the action was better than some fights! so much so that Ronnie Davies had to stop the session & tell Eubank to calm down as it was getting a bit serious, Eubank was like "Nah your alright Chris aren't you"? and he said yes so they just carried on as they were!

Pyatt seemed like a nice bloke & I got him to sign a poster after the sparring!

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 28 Dec 2005, 09:06

I remember watching Pyatt and thinking he looked really impressive. He was a right physical specimen and looked really evil in the ring, always looked like he wanted to kill his opponent.

He was perhaps a bit small for SM, but he looked like a monster at middle as I remember.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 29 Dec 2005, 18:03

i saw Pyatt's fight with Kalambay.

Kalambay was an excellent former middleweight world champ (wins over McCallum, Barkley, DeWitt, Sims, but was sparked by Nunn) and was near unbeatable in Europe (wins over Herol Graham, Steve Collins, narrow rematch loss to McCallum).

Pyatt fought a brilliant fight against Kalambay. He really was timing him, making him miss, countering & pushing him back off balance. Superb performance. Didn't CP get stopped by Steve Collins?

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 30 Dec 2005, 19:20

i suppose Pyatt can console himself that he could beat Kalambay and Collins couldn't. though it sounds like Collins gave him a beating. there used to be rumours that Collins was robbed, in Italy vs Kalambay, but it's nonsense. Kalambay landed all the good shots, even bent Collins double with body shots a couple of times.

Old bones Ian · Post by **Old bones Ian** » 31 Dec 2005, 07:04

Pyatt was at his best as a Light Middle IMO, he was unfortunate to come up against John David Jackson in a title try, Jackson really put on a superb boxing exhibition that night. He was a very slippery boxer.

KO Artist · Post by **KO Artist** » 31 Dec 2005, 07:12

Pyatt was genuine top 10 world class at 154. Its just a shame he came along in the 80's when the division had awesome talent.

Reminds me of Tony Sibson in many ways, both physical and circumstancial.

Pyatt would have given blown up Welters like DLH real trouble at 154.

IMO He would also have given guys like Vargas a run for thier money.

I think Tito would have been a bit too sharp for him though.

dandantheweatherman · Post by **dandantheweatherman** » 31 Dec 2005, 11:50

I could be hopelessly wrong here (sorry if I am), but didn't Pyatt's career stall in the mid 80s due to a spot of bother out of the ring? Could be getting mixed up with someone else here though....

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 31 Dec 2005, 14:09

Bumped into him in a pub off Leicester square about 5 years back - had a few drinks and both ended up pretty sozzled. Talked about his career and he seemed pleased I remembered his boxing days. Think I mentioned one of his losses, and he started looking at me a bit strange, so I left sharpish.

KO Artist · Post by **KO Artist** » 31 Dec 2005, 15:58

mercman wrote:
Reminds me of Tony Sibson
I can see your point. Both were small, powerful and aggressive with good skill and fast hands, although Sibson tended to be more bulky than Pyatt. I think they were both based in Leicester too.

Arguably both were unfortunate to be around at the same time as some really outstanding middleweights so perhaps didn't achieve as much as they would have done otherwise. Mind you, at least Pyatt won a version of the World Title. When Sibson was at his peak there was a unified Middlewight Title with Hagler as the champion. Sibson must rank as one of the best fighters of recent years never to have won a World Title.

I agree with you wholeheartedly.

Imagine if sibbo was around now?

Old bones Ian · Post by **Old bones Ian** » 31 Dec 2005, 18:53

KO Atrist wrote: Imagine if sibbo was around now?

Sibson would have been a hit on the domestic scene no doubt, but would he of won a world title against this lot.

Hopkins - I see this as a points win for Hopkins, maybe a late stoppage.
Taylor- Again a points defeat
Abraham- This would have been a 50/50 fight, i'd maybe favour Sibbo to come out on top, just.

KO Artist · Post by **KO Artist** » 01 Jan 2006, 08:09

topper123 wrote:
KO Atrist wrote: Imagine if sibbo was around now?
Sibson would have been a hit on the domestic scene no doubt, but would he of won a world title against this lot.

Hopkins - I see this as a points win for Hopkins, maybe a late stoppage.
Taylor- Again a points defeat
Abraham- This would have been a 50/50 fight, i'd maybe favour Sibbo to come out on top, just.

If you are talking about Hopkins and Taylor now, I think a prime Sibson would have beaten the pair of them. Take Sibson from when he beat Lucas right up to the night he tore Collins apart and he would have beaten a 42 yo Hopkins and Taylor. He would have been far too agressive for both of them, especially over 15 rounds.

As for Abraham, he's a bit awkward but Sibbo was better than him. Look at Tony's record, He beat guys like Minter, Davison and Collins while they were still fairly young and live.

Hopkins is gun shy and miles past his best, Taylor is average and so is Abraham