BoxRec

Can hardly keep up with British stuff and tend not to stray that far. However, I understand it's reported Stateside that Byrd-Wlad K will face off in Mannheim, Germany on April 22.

Apologies if this is mega old news. I'd like to see Big Wlad win this one.

Surely Klitschko wins this one, I cant see Byrd having enough pop to stop him coming forward. Klitschko's shortcomings are well known but he'll get away with them against the likes of Byrd. Wlad by TKO, then Byrd's retirement with any luck!

Just get the belt out of his hands so it keeps the HW division from even further decay and we can actually have hopes of a unified champ. I mean c'mon, the Cruisers did it and they're almost heavyweights.

Mattyp151 wrote:Just get the belt out of his hands so it keeps the HW division from even further decay and we can actually have hopes of a unified champ. I mean c'mon, the Cruisers did it and they're almost heavyweights.

Agreed. Now get back to the land of heavyweights who include this clown! (private-ish joke!)

Wlad by UD all the way

Yeah Wlad by decision for me too, last time they fought Wlad just spannered his jab off Byrd's head all night and when he started landing the heavy artillery he nearly stopped Byrd late one. Can't see a more tentative Wlad getting the stoppage but i expect him to beat Byrd over the distance.

On a boring teccy point, I used to live in Mannheim and can't imagine there is a decent enough sized arena in the vicinity.

How many people can there be int he ice rink?
There can be 25000 in the stadium but its doesnt have a roof.

Wlad is more tentative now, but Byrd has slowed considerably since their first fight. Enough that I think Wlad will stop him in the second half of the fight. Surely everyone will be glad to see the back of Byrd he has stunk the joint out for a while now.

Do you think Wlad will still be tentative knowing it's Byrd and knowing what his punches feel like first hand? If he is then surely it must be his stamina is as big a worry to him as his chin?

Can't see Byrd winning this as he is not the fighter he was

Hmm, Wlad isn't the fighter he was either.....he fights so scared now.

I give Byrd a shot at winning this one. Goimg to be a truly awful fight.

Either way since I agree with the first sentence in James post as Wlad is not mentally there at ze moment.

Byrd does have the better Stamina though.

I have a mad notion for betting on a Byrd late stoppage....

And on April 1st Valuev takes on Owen Beck in Germany.

Can't see Wlad being too scared of the light punching Byrd - perfect fight for a gun shy boxer in fact.

MightyWarrior wrote:And on April 1st Valuev takes on Owen Beck in Germany.

I hope this is the Germans showing their sense of humour, otherwise this is an absolute joke.

But, as seems the case, this is what back-to-back losses against Barret and Ray f'ing Austin gets you in todays world, I think we should all put down thy keyboards and pick up thy gloves.

MightyWarrior wrote:And on April 1st Valuev takes on Owen Beck in Germany.

Can't see Wlad being too scared of the light punching Byrd - perfect fight for a gun shy boxer in fact.

This is true, however, I can see him running out of Stamina. I am not saying this is the likely outcome, but I'm going to stick a tenner on it because the odds will be massive.

Yeah I can understand that - anything can happen with Wlad these days. Wouldn't ever want to have money ON him, that's for sure.

I've spoken to a couple of people who know people who have fought Byrd, and they said that he hits harder than people think. Apparently Tua had told one of them that his shots stung more than he expected, though of course that is some time ago now.

Wlad is a fighter who can fall apart at any given time, and I suspect that there is something physically wrong with him as well as mentally, his terrible stamina cave in could be symptomatic of something he's done to himself physically.

Lenny Albert wrote:Do you think Wlad will still be tentative knowing it's Byrd and knowing what his punches feel like first hand? If he is then surely it must be his stamina is as big a worry to him as his chin?

Yes i think he is worried about both his stamina and his chin, he looked ready to throw the towel in against Peter and Steward coaxed him round with some motivational ramblings. When Wlad fought Byrd last time he stood upright and commanded the centre of the ring, throwing authorative jabs and left hooks and keeping the smaller man at bay all night. However the new version of Wlad is a lot different, if Byrd backs him up and lands a solid shot or two i can see Wlad just descending into blind panic and running around the ring or desperately holding to the point of falling over.

I was impressed with the bottle he showed coming through the Peter fight but Peter was a one dimensional hippo who was totally knackered by the end anyway. Byrd you would expect will give Wlad plenty to think about as he knows Klitschko isn't the fighter that gave him a beating last time out.

Interesting points. Byrd at his best would have a chance against this version of Wlad, however Byrd is long past his best AND inactive. I dont think he has a hope in hell.