Boxing Preview: Chris Byrd – Wladimir Klitschko II

IBF Heavyweight Champion Chris Byrd’s first title defense and fight from under Don King’s promotional thumb will be a rematch in Germany with Wladimir Klitschko, scheduled to take place on April 22 at the SAP Arena in Mannheim.

This is very curious. One has to wonder what is going on within the mind of Chris Byrd, but in all honesty to focus solely on the lawsuit is old hat and in the end to do so will only detract from Byrd’s career and that is an insult to a great boxer. Yes, indeed loyal reader, you heard that right – a great boxer. For those that don’t know enough about Chris Byrd, I urge you to actually watch his work the ring. Despite the opinions of television commentators or those of boxing pundits worldwide, Byrd is a fantastic fighter that has fallen prey to some unfortunate incidents and circumstances.

The most unfortunate circumstance of them all may have come from within his own boxing team, i.e., his promoter. Byrd has only had four fights in the last three years and for a professional prize fighter that is disturbing. One wonders how Byrd finds the means to put food on his table, pay trainers and gym fees, along with putting clothes on his family’s backs.
Although Chris Byrd is not a fan favorite or even a lukewarm commodity, he is and has been the most consistent heavyweight champion of the last five years. To Byrd’s credit, he has fought everyone that has laced up against him and has been on the winning end of the stick against some very durable opponents. In previous years, Byrd has beaten and sometimes humiliated some of the division’s strongest contenders.

To hold a slip of paper proclaiming wins over hard hitting David Tua, the giant Jameel McCline, the real deal Evander Holyfield, Fres Oquendo and the elder Klitschko brother is not a bad record to boast. But in the end, most boxing fans have only ever considered Chris Byrd a paper champion. But even if some of the wins over those names mentioned have been shrouded in controversy, he is still winning.

Many of Byrd’s positive attributes are overlooked and he is quite often underrated. How many boxers can stand toe to toe with the Klitschko’s and trade shot for shot? Not many. The same can be said of Byrd regarding David Tua.

Oddly enough, Byrd has many traits that fans love their favorite fighters for but for some reason Chris Byrd has never attained the star attraction draw or praise of a James Toney, or even a Vitali Klitschko. Byrd’s style, to the casual fan and even the constant boxing devotee, is the equivalent to watching sheep count sheep in their sleep. Really. It’s that bad, but there are those of us that actually value Byrd and his technique.

Granted “we” are few and far between but to watch Byrd work and appreciate him for what he is and what he does when on point is not that hard of a matter to understand. Chris Byrd is a tactician, a counter puncher; he is a boxer in the purest of pure forms. He may not be the heaviest handed pugilist in the game, but he is technically one of the more gifted of the current crop of heavyweights, across the board.

Byrd can slip more punches than most men over 200 pounds can throw. Byrd is a counter puncher and while that is an important aspect to boxing, if you mention that phrase, alongside the name of Chris Byrd, you can stand back and see virtually every casual fan’s stomach turn. Oddly enough, you can bring up the phrase with the name of James Toney and fans pull a one eighty as they turn into a puddle of admiration. Strange.

Again, this writer brings up the name of James Toney. Even though I am not a fan of James Toney the man, one has to recognize James Toney the boxer. While many will disagree with this, Byrd and Toney are pretty much on the same page as far as their styles go. Admittedly, Toney does take a leap as far as his output is concerned, nevertheless they are fairly similar as far as ring generalship goes.

One difference in the two is that Byrd has been rather lackluster of late while Toney seems to be on the upswing of his career at the moment. One has to wonder why? Basically, not making any excuses for Byrd, it might have to do a bit with the partnership with Don King that has been slowly dissolving since late 2003.

Byrd sued King on the grounds that he was promised $2.5 million for each title defence. It’s not hard to understand that once Byrd came to the realization that he was not going to get the agreed upon amount, that he didn’t want to climb through the ropes and battle in the square circle to enrich the bank account of Don King. Who wants to work their knuckles to the bone with no reward in sight?

King then countered Byrd’s arguments with evidence that Chris turned down a potential rematch with Vitali Klitschko that would have netted Byrd his $2.5 million purse just before Vitali retired from injury. After losing the deal for that fight, Byrd turned down another rematch with Wladimir Klitschko that would have apparently padded Byrd’s pocket with the same $2.5 million purse. Again, Byrd turned that nest egg down, this time supposedly due to the fact that the fight would take place in Germany where Byrd might not get a fair shake.

So, after all the mess of the court battles and missed chances at a superfight, Byrd finally lands a chance to jump through the ropes once again. To the disgust of almost everyone watching, Byrd went on to plod through 12 rounds against former sparring partner DaVarryl Williamson and then another near loss to close friend, Jameel McCline. Both fights were for rather embarrassing sums of money, once again further widening the gap between boxer and promoter. A reported three hundred thousand dollars is a far cry from $2.5 million a fight.

The puzzle only gets more jumbled as time goes on. King and Byrd gave up and called it quits. The split was reached amicably and Chris has now secured a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko in, of all places…you guessed it…Germany. To say that most were shocked upon hearing this news would be an understatement.

Most boxing fanatics have seen the first fight between Byrd and Wlad Klitschko which took place back in 2000, just six months after Byrd had stopped Wlad’s elder brother Vitali in Germany. While Byrd had put up a fairly competitive fight for the first four or five rounds, he was dropped in the ninth and eleventh rounds and decisively beaten. To say that Wlad out boxed Byrd is hard to believe, but it’s the truth. It was amazing that Byrd actually came out for the final round. It was truly a showing by both fighters, but the better man won and you have to question why Byrd would risk the title that he has so desperately clung to since 2002 by going to Germany again.

Quite often, when searching most boxing sites today, you will read the statement “the horrible state of the heavyweight division”. Actually, any article that is in regard to a heavyweight match since Lennox Lewis left the game is riddled with that phrase. I’ve been guilty of using the very phrase myself, but are the heavyweights really that bad? Apparently so if we are actually seeing this bout materialize. Three or four years ago, the idea of a rematch between Byrd and the younger Klitschko brother was laughable. After being so clearly overmatched one would have to wonder once again…why Byrd would risk the title that he so desperately holds and why take a chance at another beating of the first battle’s magnitude?

And will the fans care about this fight? Does Wlad Klitschko deserve another run at the title after getting destroyed by journeyman and semipro golfer Corrie Sanders? Not to mention blowing his shot at the WBA International title with an embarrassing knockout loss to Lamon Brewster. Of late the prospects of the once future but twice removed heir to Lewis’s throne have been rather bleak and the skepticism surrounding his place in the division seem to be clouding every move that the former WBO Champion makes.

One would have to think that the statement “the horrible state of the heavyweight division” just garnered some merit off of this bout, but then again, things are not as cut and dry as they always seem. The winner of Byrd – W. Klitschko 2 is surely going to be on track to face WBC Champion Hasim Rahman, thus unifying two of the major alphabet belts and bringing more clarity to the division.

A showdown with James Toney is also most likely around the corner and that very well could be the shot in the arm that the division rightfully needs. Fans are clamoring to see Toney match his counterpunching skills against Wladimir, if only to see if the former middleweight can take the Ukrainian’s “steelhammer” power punches. On the flip side of that coin, many are also holding their breath for a thinking man’s fight…the battle of the two little big men from Michigan, Byrd vs. Toney.

With this sixth defense of his IBF heavyweight title, it’s quite possible that Chris Byrd is staring the opportunity of a lifetime right in the face. Byrd has everything to gain and everything to lose, just as Wladimir Klitschko does. Then again, Chris Byrd may see something in Wlad that a few others do as well. Is it such an impossibility that Byrd might win? It’s highly likely that Byrd believes Wlad is not the same man that he used to be and defeating the younger of the two Klitschko brothers is more a reality than a dream.

If Byrd were to defeat Wladimir in Germany, one could argue that the skies are the limit for the rapid firing Michigan Southpaw. Then again, maybe Byrd is so disenchanted with boxing that he sees this as his last chance to make that big payday, one that he will make nowhere else. The worst case scenario is that Byrd loses his title and makes a cool million or two in the meantime. It’s not hard to see that the loser of this fight will drift off into a sea of heavyweight obscurity.

One thing is for sure…all questions will be answered on April 22, 2006 in the ring of the SAP Arena, of Mannheim, Germany. May the best man win.