Rahman/Byrd.

[Rover]

Two heavies who were near the top of the division at around the same time but who never fought. Who takes it?

[MEISINGER]

Two heavies who were near the top of the division at around the same time but who never fought. Who takes it?

chris byrd would take it by ud

too fast and skilled
rahman's only chance is if he can get
inside and try to bully byrd.

rahman was no klitschko so i do not see
him being able to get past byrd's jab

[gilgamesh]

I think Byrd outboxes Rahman fairly comfortably. Expect a 116-112 or 117-111 type victory for Byrd.

On a good night, Rahman may drop Byrd with a right hand or something, but even if that were the case. Byrd is tough enough and so slick that he would avoid trouble the rest of the round and go right back to beating Rahman with his jab and movement.

[Rover]

I would favor Byrd, but he did have several close calls against less than great comp.

[gilgamesh]

I would favor Byrd, but he did have several close calls against less than great comp.

He definitely did, but Rahman other than the one major victory never necessarily won all that easily either. For the most part Rahman was only dangerous with the right hand and he often telegraphed the punch badly. I don't see him being able to put away Byrd with it and I don't see him landing enough to take a decision over Byrd. If these two had fought in 2004 or 2005, it's conceivable that Rahman could've managed a draw, but on their best nights I think Byrd outboxes Rahman clearly.

[Rover]

I would favor Byrd, but he did have several close calls against less than great comp.

He definitely did, but Rahman other than the one major victory never necessarily won all that easily either. For the most part Rahman was only dangerous with the right hand and he often telegraphed the punch badly. I don't see him being able to put away Byrd with it and I don't see him landing enough to take a decision over Byrd. If these two had fought in 2004 or 2005, it's conceivable that Rahman could've managed a draw, but on their best nights I think Byrd outboxes Rahman clearly.

The one difference is that Rahman still clearly beat Lewis and Sanders.
Byrd didn't clearly beat Oquendo, McCline and Golota.
I think Rahman also got screwed against Tua in both fights--the first due to the shot after the bell ending the ninth and the decision in the second.

[gilgamesh]

I would favor Byrd, but he did have several close calls against less than great comp.

He definitely did, but Rahman other than the one major victory never necessarily won all that easily either. For the most part Rahman was only dangerous with the right hand and he often telegraphed the punch badly. I don't see him being able to put away Byrd with it and I don't see him landing enough to take a decision over Byrd. If these two had fought in 2004 or 2005, it's conceivable that Rahman could've managed a draw, but on their best nights I think Byrd outboxes Rahman clearly.

The one difference is that Rahman still clearly beat Lewis and Sanders.
Byrd didn't clearly beat Oquendo, McCline and Golota.
I think Rahman also got screwed against Tua in both fights--the first due to the shot after the bell ending the ninth and the decision in the second.

I never got to see the first Rahman-Tua fight, but I scored the 2nd fight 116-112 for Rahman, I agree he got jobbed in that one. I know the stoppage was controversial in the first bout.

[gilgamesh]

I know Rahman probably has a better resume than Byrd, but I just feel like Rahman with his slow plodding style would be tailor made for Byrd. Byrd would be able to move around him and jab him silly for long stretches and he'd be able to make him miss glaringly on several occasions. I figure more often than not Byrd gets the better of Rahman head to head.

[dempseyfire]

I would favor Byrd, but he did have several close calls against less than great comp.

Byrd didn't clearly beat Oquendo, McCline and Golota.
.

I think that's bogus. All competitive close fights but I thought Byrd clearly beat McCline and beat Golota as well in a close fight. Oquendo probably deserved their fight but the decision could've gone either way; not the out and out robbery many proclaimed.

I think Byrd takes this comfortably. Rahman was pretty slow and unpredictable (and really just not "intelligent" in a boxing sense) and this fits right into Byrd's style.

[gilgamesh]

See this guy gets it. Rahman's slow footed, plodding, predictable and tailor-made for Byrd.

[Rover]

See this guy gets it. Rahman's slow footed, plodding, predictable and tailor-made for Byrd.

I said I'd favor Byrd, though I think it'd be close.
I thought Oquendo beat Byrd, I had the Golota fight a draw, and I thought Byrd edged McCline.

[gilgamesh]

See this guy gets it. Rahman's slow footed, plodding, predictable and tailor-made for Byrd.

I said I'd favor Byrd, though I think it'd be close.
I thought Oquendo beat Byrd, I had the Golota fight a draw, and I thought Byrd edged McCline.

I had the Oquendo-Byrd fight 114-114 when I watched it live, 115-113 Fres when I rewatched it about a year later. I don't plan on watching it again.

I never saw the Golota fight.

I thought Byrd beat McCline 115-112.

[loaded_gloves]

After Byrd beat Holyfield he seemed to become a fading force, just clinging onto his title. Fair enough, he was a super middle who already had put his body through a long career of maneuvering around big men.

Best versus best, I think Byrd beats him fairly comfortably. He's not going to get caught with a stupid punch like Lewis, not going to trade and gas like Sanders, so how does Rahman beat him? Outbox him? Byrd has more brains than Tua.

Byrd UD.

[jrc26]

I always liked Byrd, but it was a shame he didn't pack even an average heavyweight punch. He could have went down as an all time great cruiserweight. After Roy beat Ruiz I thought Byrd was the next logical fight for both of them, but Roy got trash talked into Tarver.

That being said I see Byrd fighting Rahman in a similar way as he fought Golota. Winning a close and arguable decision. Tsunami sure was tough to watch sometimes. With all his physical skills I would often be yelling at the TV for him to do his thing. He could have owned the division for a while after beating Lewis, but too bad there was that rematch clause. He tried like Hell to get out of it to fight Tyson, who he likely would have beat. A lot of missed chances for good matches in the 90s and 00s, and this thread mentions just one.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

He definitely did, but Rahman other than the one major victory never necessarily won all that easily either. For the most part Rahman was only dangerous with the right hand and he often telegraphed the punch badly. I don't see him being able to put away Byrd with it and I don't see him landing enough to take a decision over Byrd. If these two had fought in 2004 or 2005, it's conceivable that Rahman could've managed a draw, but on their best nights I think Byrd outboxes Rahman clearly.

The one difference is that Rahman still clearly beat Lewis and Sanders.
Byrd didn't clearly beat Oquendo, McCline and Golota.
I think Rahman also got screwed against Tua in both fights--the first due to the shot after the bell ending the ninth and the decision in the second.

I never got to see the first Rahman-Tua fight, but I scored the 2nd fight 116-112 for Rahman, I agree he got jobbed in that one. I know the stoppage was controversial in the first bout.

Rahman was shutting him out in the first fight before the after the bell shot. He owned Tua. That being said, Rock had a great jab, but he was pretty plodding when he had to be the aggressor and I can see Byrd dancing and making him look slow to a dull and wide decision win. Oquendo,McCline & Golota were all after Chris was slowing down.

[BoxBuzz]

On an average day there would be about a 25 pound difference between these two guys.

Recently much has been made about weight differences in this division. And what I believe I have learned by purusing the entries of a few very wise contributors is this.

If these guys fought a long time ago, Byrd would have a very good chance and based on his superior skills would likely win by wearing down the big man and achieving a KO, or even a better chance at a UD.

However these days, weight means more than it did in the past. (Probably due to a quirk in the space time continuum, and/or a glitch in physics of the cosmos). So in modern times, Rahman would have the advantage simply by weighing more than the leaner Byrd.

This explains why Primo Carnera is truly a better fighter now than he was when he was actually participating in the sport. Bob Fitsimmons on the other hand, is slowly losing ground and it won't be long before his pictures will likely show him sporting a cane.

[MEISINGER]

On an average day there would be about a 25 pound difference between these two guys.

Recently much has been made about weight differences in this division. And what I believe I have learned by purusing the entries of a few very wise contributors is this.

If these guys fought a long time ago, Byrd would have a very good chance and based on his superior skills would likely win by wearing down the big man and achieving a KO, or even a better chance at a UD.

However these days, weight means more than it did in the past. (Probably due to a quirk in the space time continuum, and/or a glitch in physics of the cosmos). So in modern times, Rahman would have the advantage simply by weighing more than the leaner Byrd.

This explains why Primo Carnera is truly a better fighter now than he was when he was actually participating in the sport. Bob Fitsimmons on the other hand, is slowly losing ground and it won't be long before his pictures will likely show him sporting a cane.

primo greater than ali

[Rover]

On an average day there would be about a 25 pound difference between these two guys.

Recently much has been made about weight differences in this division. And what I believe I have learned by purusing the entries of a few very wise contributors is this.

If these guys fought a long time ago, Byrd would have a very good chance and based on his superior skills would likely win by wearing down the big man and achieving a KO, or even a better chance at a UD.

However these days, weight means more than it did in the past. (Probably due to a quirk in the space time continuum, and/or a glitch in physics of the cosmos). So in modern times, Rahman would have the advantage simply by weighing more than the leaner Byrd.

This explains why Primo Carnera is truly a better fighter now than he was when he was actually participating in the sport. Bob Fitsimmons on the other hand, is slowly losing ground and it won't be long before his pictures will likely show him sporting a cane.

primo greater than ali