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Friday, May 16 2008

Ex-heavy champ punished in lightheavy bout
By Andreas Hale at ringside

After dropping 40 pounds, former heavyweight champion Chris Byrd (40-5-1, 21 KOs) looked drained and slow as he was brutally kayoed in round nine by Shaun George (17-2-2, 8 KOs) in a light heavyweight bout on Friday night at the Cox Pavilion, which is connected to the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Coming into the fight at 174 lbs., Byrd was dropped by George in round one and rocked again in round two. It was a sign of things to come as George pretty much hammered Byrd with his right hand at will, finally flooring Byrd twice in the ninth. Byrd beat the count after the first knockdown, but was then battered down again and the bout was waved off by referee Jay Nady at 2:45. At the time of the stoppage, George was ahead 79-72 on all cards. The result was a bitter disappointment for Byrd, who had hoped to make some noise in the 175lb division. The 37-year-old has now lost three of his last four. He left the ring without commenting on the possibility of retirement.



Sad. Maybe Cruiser would have been a better option.

It proves in hindsight how looking brilliant doesn't always translate as fighting brilliant in a boxing ring.

Cruiserweight may be an option but are the money fights there for Byrd to carry on? Byrd probably thought he could earn money fighting Calzaghe, Jones, Tarver etc?

Sometimes it is better to fight at a heavier weight and be faster than your opponent.

chris needs to call it a day, he is a lovely guy, a proud man and has been a great champ. enjoy your retirement with enough dosh in the bank to live comfortably.

rhino222 wrote:chris needs to call it a day, he is a lovely guy, a proud man and has been a great champ. enjoy your retirement with enough dosh in the bank to live comfortably.

no he hasn't.

good fighter.

very good.

but no great.

Fancy skipping cruiserweight just because his friend Cunningham fights there. I've never heard anything so stupid.

hitman_hatton1 wrote:

rhino222 wrote:chris needs to call it a day, he is a lovely guy, a proud man and has been a great champ. enjoy your retirement with enough dosh in the bank to live comfortably.

no he hasn't.

good fighter.

very good.

but no great.

Better than Hatton!

Gutted for Byrd and can only echo Rhinos post......

Being a great champion doesnt mean looking at just the record, it means the whole picture, fighting the top guys, fighting away from home, showing balls and courage, coming back from defeat... Byrd ticks all those boxes for me.

knockout wrote:Gutted for Byrd and can only echo Rhinos post......

Being a great champion doesnt mean looking at just the record, it means the whole picture, fighting the top guys, fighting away from home, showing balls and courage, coming back from defeat... Byrd ticks all those boxes for me.

Absolutely. A small man, by hw standards, who would happily fight the biggest and best available, and be effective (even if not looking good) against them. Massive balls for him to do that....

Gutted for him, but I think the best thing is for him to retire. He must be financially secure, and seems a nice, intelligent, articulate guy so could probably get into media work if he wanted, or even stay in the game training etc.

Fwank will be giving him a call to see if he fancies Enzo.

Shame it didn't work out for him, must have worked hard to get down to light-heavyweight.He seems a real nice guy, so I just hope he retires now.

fightnews reporting that Byrd passed out in the dressing room after receiving treatment for a dislocated shoulder.
Also his wife is not happy with him fighting on...

http://www.fightnews.com/fightnews_2/he ... iqDEa.html