Chris Byrd Fought Chronic Pain And Depression; Now He Wants To Fight At 50

[Ruthless-RKO]

By Corey Erdman

Becoming the heavyweight champion of the world is one of the sporting realm’s crowning achievements. Society at large has long considered holding that title one of the most impressive claims a man can make, often referring to the claimant as the Baddest Man On The Planet, the man who could, in the words of John L. Sullivan “lick any son of a bitch in the house.”

It would seem antithetical then that someone who had climbed to those heights would have any regrets about getting there. But the paths boxers take to the top are often more traumatic than we realize.

Such is the case of Chris Byrd, perhaps the sport’s most unlikely heavyweight champion, and the one who never wanted to be in the division in the first place.

“The thing is, after the Olympics, I didn't get signed by nobody. I won a silver medal. I'm still, to this day, hurt by it,” said Byrd, tearing up. ”I had to go to heavyweight. I didn't want to fight at heavyweight, but nobody wanted me, so I was like damn, what do I do?”

“When I fought at heavyweight, it was so scary, I took it so seriously. I took it so seriously that it was almost like a joke. I used to stay up all night before fights like oh my goodness, tomorrow I have to be in front of David Tua, did you see him at the weigh in? But I had to do it for my family. Depression. That's why I fought at heavyweight. Straight depression.”

Byrd achieved a level of notoriety that comes with holding a heavyweight title, but never the level of popularity one might expect. Given his stature, Byrd was forced to use his dynamic boxing skills to defensively frustrate opponents and score with accurate shots. He was branded as boring, as a skittish runner, and as a man who couldn’t punch, rather than as a smaller man standing up to and miraculously defeating giants.

Last week, a shirtless Byrd appeared on Instagram, fresh off a run in the mountains, looking significantly thinner and more defined than in his prior fighting days, and declared that he was coming back and wanted to become the middleweight champion of the world.

Byrd last fought in 2009, and hasn’t fought at the middleweight limit since 1992, when he was fighting at the Barcelona Games.

To grasp why Byrd would want to do something as risky as returning to ring at 50, in a sport he feels mistreated him, one must understand two things. First, as HBO commentator Jim Lampley put it during the fourth round of his IBF heavyweight title win over Evander Holyfield, “he's just a fan who can't resist the sport." And second, he can’t conceive of a trauma worse than what he endured emotionally and physically over the last eleven years.

“I had nerve damage in my foot so bad. I was suicidal, going crazy. I told myself, when I get through this, I'm going to reward myself with a middleweight title. I never got a chance to fight at middleweight, so this is my time,” said Byrd.

“In 2009, I had a major freakout. I was in major pain, and I started taking Lyrica. I was having suicidal thoughts. I almost jumped on my son and my nephew, we were surrounded by cops, downtown LA, it was crazy. I lost my mind.”

The subsequent years were a parade of surgeries, doctors’ visits and prescriptions trying to cure his litany of issues. Byrd says he had both hips and both shoulders replaced, but says that chronic nerve damage in his foot was worse than the pain in both his hips and shoulders combined.

In 2012, Byrd visited the Mayo Clinic and says he was sent home with a clean bill of health, doctors telling him that although they believed his foot was indeed giving him immense trouble, they couldn’t determine why, and couldn’t offer a solution other than additional painkillers.

Byrd determined that the physical pain couldn’t just be from his years of fighting and athletic training—particularly for a fighter who by his own admission didn’t take an overwhelming amount of punishment in the ring due to his defensive prowess. While the wear and tear had its effect, it was amplified by the additional weight he carried while doing it, and how he put and kept that weight on to fight above 200 pounds.

“To say I was eating non-stop would be an understatement. I trashed my body with the worst junk food you could eat, and it killed me. I had allergies, I had extreme fatigue when I was fighting at heavyweight. My body went through it. Nobody knows about that. It ruined me. It was because the food was devastating my body. I put on fifty pounds. And I still won two heavyweight titles,” said Byrd.

Byrd made the switch to a vegan diet, and a particularly strict version of it. Byrd only eats plants, no sugar, no processed foods, no wheat.

But there’s one particular plant that Byrd says has made the biggest difference: Cannabis.

“Shannon Briggs, he's the one who got me smoking. He pushed me big time, because he saw all the pain that I was in,” said Byrd. “The first time I did it, I hit a bong with Shannon Briggs. I fell asleep at first, but I woke up and I had a lot less pain in my foot, and I was like, what is this?!”

Byrd uses both THC and CBD products daily, and not long after beginning to use them, noticed that he felt both healthy and happy enough to start running and exercising again. Soon enough, he was the lightest he’d been in 28 years.

“My wife looks at me and was like, you're thinking about fighting again, and I'm like yeah. I can't die with this on my mind. I've got to see what I would have done in my weight class. I can't die with that on my mind,” said Byrd. “When I was at heavyweight, I knew I was the middleweight champion. The matchup was always supposed to be me vs. Roy Jones. Period. I always thought I was better than him, and he's a great fighter. I just wanted to be in front of him, that's all I wanted to do.”

Fighting Roy Jones would have very much been a possibility for Byrd in present day, given Jones’ recent return to exhibition boxing against Mike Tyson in November. However, Byrd insists his return is not an exhibition tour—and even if it were, he’d be too small to fight Jones now anyway, and that’s not a road he wants to travel down again.

Instead, he wants to write not just a new ending, but an alternate plot to his career entirely.

“I'm going to relive my career, the real career I was supposed to fight at middleweight,” said Byrd.

[Blodhemn]

[IRONFIST]

Fine let him fight if he pass the medical. Luis Ortiz is still fighting at at least that age.

[AntonioMartin]

Oscar De La Hoyitis and Mike Tysonitis is affecting Chris Byrd too??

[Ruthless-RKO]

Saying he can return at Middleweight because he las lost that much weight

[gilgamesh]

Whatever.

Book him against David Price or something. That way at least David Price can get one big name win on his ledger before he hangs 'em up

[gilgamesh]

Or how about an Oquendo rematch?

[Jaywheel]

Great idea! He looked so good when he dropped 50 lbs 12 years ago to fight Shaun George at LH.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Byrd fought a lot of rounds and took a lot of punches. Mccline, ike, golota, povetkin, 3 klitschko fights...were seriously tough fights against very big guys

Its not surprising he has mental and physical issues.

[Alguiffer]

In the original posting Byrd said, "he had both hips and both shoulders replaced" - WOW! if he gets back into action with these types of replacements he is one motivated individual.

[JCS]

[margaret thatcher]

Who let the homeless dude into the gym?

[jamesmcdonnell]

Delusional.

[punchoutsb]

50 going on 80.

I really hope Chris can find fulfillment without stepping back in to the ring. If he can’t I hope he hits the Senior Circuit in Arkansas or somewhere “safe” where he damages himself as little as possible. I know how hard it is to feel forced away from an athletic career you have dedicated your life to...but it was time for Chris to hang it up a few years before he did. This is I’ll advised to say the least.

[goose 5]

Thanks for posting this article; I found it very interesting. Having said that, Byrd's day is long done and he should never box again.

[Puncher7]

I really wish one of these old dudes would fight Shannon Briggs. Dudes been yelling LETSGOCHAMP for years! Somebody get this man a fight!

[jewboypgh]

Stay retired. I remember he got clobbered at light heavyweight againt a guy last name was George I think.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Stay retired. I remember he got clobbered at light heavyweight againt a guy last name was George I think.

Shaun George.

[Enlightened-One]

I don't have a problem with Byrd fighting again at 60 years of age. He might need the money.

He's clearly in shape and if he's matched against veteran journeymen or engages in exhibition bouts against his peers from his own era, then he should be safe.

[gilgamesh]

I don't have a problem with Byrd fighting again at 60 years of age. He might need the money.

He's clearly in shape and if he's matched against veteran journeymen or engages in exhibition bouts against his peers from his own era, then he should be safe.

Surely there can't be much money in an Exhibition bout for a Chris Byrd type I wouldn't think. I mean it's not like he was ever a major star exactly.

There might be some minor interest in him fighting, but this Exhibition bout stuff is for the birds

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Chris byrd exhibition tour... that is what the people want

[greg]

..kinda looks like a shadow of his former self ...anyway, whatever he plans to do with his life is fine with me..he should stay realistic though and don't expect there'll be too many fans willing to pay..I know I won't..

[Tony1244]

Ahhh, didn't he try this about 12 years ago? He looked weak and emaciated.

It's like he's apologizing for a HW career where he won some huge fights against top guys like Tua and Holyfield.

He's also a good argument against increasing the CW division.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Ahhh, didn't he try this about 12 years ago? He looked weak and emaciated.

It's like he's apologizing for a HW career where he won some huge fights against top guys like Tua and Holyfield.

He's also a good argument against increasing the CW division.

HW is a bigger attraction than the rest. And fair play to him. He was competitive. Won world titles too. He shouldn’t be apologising at all.

[IKSRTFO]

Ahhh, didn't he try this about 12 years ago? He looked weak and emaciated.

It's like he's apologizing for a HW career where he won some huge fights against top guys like Tua and Holyfield.

He's also a good argument against increasing the CW division.

Not really, because the minute they do that, everyone at HW that falls into CW will not be considered marquee and whoever the super heavies/reall heavies will be more marketed.