Chris Byrd vs. The Elite at Lightheavy

[quest]

First of all i am curious to see what he has left. I would love to see him in with Tarver, Glen Johnson, Bernard, and Chad Dawson, and ROY Jones......How does he fare against these guys?

[aceshigh]

No way to really tell untill we see him at that weight, since it is a big change.

Should be interesting though!

[J_Roth]

I have no idea. I've been kicking the idea around because I've liked Chris since his early days. I really have no idea. I'd like to think his defensive skill and speed would be nice at the weight. If he can hold those advantages and maybe gain some extra pop at the lower weight he might be a force. His chin was pretty solid at hw. If his reflexes are still intact he might makes some noise. The real interesting part would be if he did this 10 years ago. Might have been RJJ vs CB prime for prime. Fast hands

[IntentionalButt]

I'd love to see Byrd-Johnson. :thumbsup

[J_Roth]

I'd love to see Byrd-Johnson. :thumbsupHell yeah. Johnson is one of my favorites. The guy is all class and will fight from start to finish. I'm not Mr. Best I'm the guy looking for Mr.Best. :lol:

[Heavyrighthand]

First of all i am curious to see what he has left. I would love to see him in with Tarver, Glen Johnson, Bernard, and Chad Dawson, and ROY Jones......How does he fare against these guys?

I am also really looking forward to seeing what Byrd can do at LH. :good

I think he'll do well.

[kirk]

i honestly cant wait for some of these matchups... for real. Im excited for byrd, i hope this maybe can add a whole new chapter to his fighting life.

[41fever]

Can't wait to see how he does on his scheduled LHW debut, MAY 16th!!!! Until then I can't make an honest assessment. However, when he fought @MW, SMW he had POWER in his shots. Imagine good speed and power with his technique...if he can do it @175...[Only registered and activated users can see links]!!!

[PolishPummler]

Too early to call.

Strange move going down 2 weight classes.Going to Cruiser would have been more logical.

[nervousxtian]

Who knows except for Byrd how he's going to do. This is a bigtime wait and see.

[Florida boy]

i guess if nothing else, i dont see anyone hurting him at this weight.

[quest]

Because of Tarvers tendency to fight in spurts and be too reluctant at times I think Byrd would beat Tarver. Roy would be a toss up for the same reasons, but i'd love to see the fight. B-hop would be a very interesting fight as well. B-hop, and Chad Dawson could give him his toughest fights, unless Byrd carries more pop at lightheavy then its nighty night for Dawson, who i think would get KTFO'd by Tarver

[Flatlander]

Who is Shaun George?

[uptown_110]

The question I have is how can he lose this weight and not have it effect him like Roy and Tarver? It took Roy almost 2 years to get some semblance of the old Roy back. Which I still say is questionable because he's been fighting a bunch of smaller fighters. Tarver beat an Aww inspired Clinton Woods and has looked like crap since his weight drop too. So anyway, what's gonna make CB so different that he won't look horrible?

[K0NPHL1C7]

He's gonna look sooooo funny.

[Vantage_West]

well byrd is fightign a guy who fights at cruiser.

i think this might mean that he is going to be about 185 this fight then 174 after....maybe testign if he can go a bit further down in wieght or go to cruiser.

[Galileo Galilei]

Way too many factors playing in to tell how Byrds gonna do.

It looked like he was on his way out the door over his past couple fights.

Cruiser would seem like a more logical move but this could turn out to be a wise decision....by his wife :lol: .

Very interesting to see how this plays out, I'm looking foward to it.

And when was the last time anyone looked foward to a Chris Byrd fight?

[BigBone]

At his best, Byrd was a great and especially quick techician in the HWs. But his speed advantage isn't an advantage at all at LHW, just look at the handspeed of the 39 years old Jones, the very quick Erdei, the lightning fast Calzaghe and the not as fast but HOF in timing Hopkins. And don't forget about Dawson's handspeed.

The speed Byrd showed vs. Povetkin was poor compared to his best days and pretty awful compared any of the names I've mentioned.

But who knows, maybe Byrd can gain some speed at 175 but I doubt... for the first time (not counting his first two, non-HW pro fights) he's gonna have to make weight and deal with weight-drain which is probably the worst thing for an aging fighter.

[MasterFlo]

Well he was bulking up to fight before and now he's cutting weight to fight, so I'd have to see him fight first. One thin is for sure, no one could knock this man out at 175. Those shots he took from Ibeabuchi and Klitschko look like they would have killed any other fighter but the mad man that he is he got right back up.

[Vantage_West]

Way too many factors playing in to tell how Byrds gonna do.

It looked like he was on his way out the door over his past couple fights.

Cruiser would seem like a more logical move but this could turn out to be a wise decision....by his wife :lol: .

Very interesting to see how this plays out, I'm looking foward to it.

And when was the last time anyone looked foward to a Chris Byrd fight?tua-byrd:think

i was bare young but i remember thinking that tua was going to pound him through the canvas.....

then byrd totally otusmarted him and hurt him to the body almost every round from the 6th round and on

[uptown_110]

Well he was bulking up to fight before and now he's cutting weight to fight, so I'd have to see him fight first. One thin is for sure, no one could knock this man out at 175. Those shots he took from Ibeabuchi and Klitschko look like they would have killed any other fighter but the mad man that he is he got right back up.

Dropping the weight will effect his chin a little. Look at Cotto...he used to have to cut weight and got hurt quite a few times at 140 against people like chop chop and other feather hitters...now he's taking shots from Zab and Sugar Shane and staying up...granted he was hurt by each of them at points in those fights but he wasn't in serious danger of being out like he was at 140.

[Fedor Em]

We will see soon. I can't believe the guy can still cut down to 175. He is getting older, and may be weight drained of course but if he is not then look out. He might even have a little bit of power at Lt. Heavy.

[Imperial1]

I prsonally wish Byrd retired ..He will be twice as boring at lt heavy ..Imagine a fight between Byrd and Tarver zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz sorry fell asleep just thinking about it ..

[Axe]

Wight drained Byrd may not fare very well at 175.

Wait and see.

[EpsilonAxis]

He might be able to KO some guys...seriously...Byrd i always thought had underrated power at HW...the only guy to ever hurt David Tua...stunned Golota and McCline...

[Primadonna Kool]

Chris Byrd was orginally a Super Middle Weight in the amateurs.

[elTerrible]

damn hes 37 years old now.

I wish he would have tried this sooner, maybe he could have been exciting and a top notch 175lber

It will be interesting to see what happens

[WelshintheUS]

Chris Byrd was orginally a Super Middle Weight in the amateurs.

and Calzaghe beat him

[Musashi]

I don't think he will be weight drained. Chris originally planned to drop to cruiser, but he realized he was dropping the weight so easily, he might as well keep going. Fighting at 210 or so, he was kind of bulky. There should be a noticeable improvement in handspeed and overall energy from Byrd with the weight reduction. I think he's gonna be really comfortable at 175. That's not far from what he walks around at. It's rare to have a top heavyweight that has to gain weight to fight.

[Cruiser1]

Byrd's whole game was being slippery and elusive against bigger (and less coordinated) fighters so that's pretty much out of the question here. Byrd's been on the downslide for a few years now and should have moved down earlier but you can't change the past.

Byrd's a savvy veteran and his chin will always buy him 12 rounds so if he has anything left in the tank he should be able to do something at light heavy. Time is the problem. If he wants to fight for a title he's gonna have to fight a couple times in a rather short amount of time to earn a shot.