Boxing Perspective: Chris Byrd – A Heavy Decision

The salmon can only leap over the bear so many times before it is finally caught. Before those great big teeth chomp down and devour.

Once upon a time, not so terribly long ago, a courageous fighter by the name of Chris Byrd glided effortlessly over some of the grouchiest grizzlies in the land just like one of his namesakes in the sky. A ghost in boxing trunks. Jackpots at a Las Vegas casino are easier to hit than he was.

For a long while, catching him was like trying to catch Moby Dick.

In April, though, the little big man from Flint, Michigan was at last seized in mid-flight. Captured by a beast just too big to get past and savagely consumed over seven nightmarish rounds. Against the towering Wladimir Klitscko, he never stood a chance.

Pro boxing, more so than any other sport, imitates nature. Its terms are almost exclusively dictated by a clearly structured food chain. You know, where the big, sharp-toothed animals hunt, terrorize and inevitably eat the smaller ones. Size and strength are all important in this game. Hence why we have weight divisions.

Standing at a squat six-foot and weighing little more than 200 pounds soaking wet, Byrd, 34, was simply reminded that he is quite some way down the pecking order. A gentle whisper followed by a concussive right cross. He got the message.

As you would expect, an obligatory period of re-evaluation has ensued. The former IBF heavyweight champion, who represented his country at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics as a skinny middleweight, is now considering a move down to the cruiserweight division.

But in order to keep us guessing, he has also intimated on several occasions that his future may just as easily lie in the heavyweight division. There is no rush, however. For now, he is perfectly content to sit back and survey the landscape from a safe distance. Weigh up his options. Embrace the right opportunity.

However, after coming away from his last fight looking more alien than human, there are those who desperately wish that he would just come to his senses and give up trying to punch above his weight – and they mean that literally.

Byrd, though, has always refused to march to the beat of anyone else’s drum. And at the moment, he appears to be as torn as a weary traveller standing at a crossroad with no map, slowly alternating his gaze from one direction to the other. But instead of choosing east or west, his options are north or south. Up or down. Stay put or pack up and leave.

Ask him, and he will swear blind that the crushing loss he suffered at the hands of Klitschko was nothing more than a self-inflicted wound. A result that should not be viewed as a reflection of his ability but rather as a case of temporary insanity.

To hear the slick southpaw tell it, he was an unfortunate casualty of his own hard-headedness. A mere victim of a semi-delusional belief that he could actually bully and out-punch a mountain of a man who outweighed him by some 30 pounds.

And he is right, of course. Although ill-advised, his impersonation of an undersized matador trying unsuccessfully to turn the tables on a rippling bull was if nothing else extremely accurate. Especially the parts when he was sent crashing to the floor on his back. You’d expect nothing less.

Having employed what were essentially suicidal tactics, it would have in fact been immeasurably more surprising had he somehow made it through the fight without being flattened.

But, even now, there seems to be no doubt in his mind that he can still compete with the big boys. By simply reverting back to what he does best – waging cerebral war, outthinking his opponents and making them miss – he doesn’t see any reason why he can’t capture another world title at the weight. Why he can’t carry on making at least some noise.

Especially in view of recent developments in the division – notably Oleg Maskaev’s title winning effort over Hasim Rahman a couple of weeks back. After all, many would surely favour him to outbox and outfox the plodding Russian should a match between them ever be made.

And you don’t need too much of an imagination to envisage him pecking and poking his way to victory against current WBO champion Sergei Liakhovich, either. So, potentially at least, there is a lot to stay for.

However, Byrd is intelligent enough to realize that, should he decide to carry on competing as a heavyweight, the enormous physical disadvantages that he has always faced are only going to get more pronounced. He is no longer a spring chicken, and those reflexes are clearly not quite what they used to be.

It could get very dangerous for him very soon.

Moving down to his natural weight, therefore, would appear not only to be the logical move but the wise one as well. Is that the direction his heart will take him, though?

“I’m really excited,” enthused Byrd in a recent interview. “Looking at the heavyweight division, I don’t see myself getting right back in the mix because guys still don’t want to fight me.

“It’s just my style and a lot of guys know that I fought out of the norm against Klitscko. I fought stupid and I lost.

“I feel that O’Neil Bell is the best cruiserweight out there, he’s the unified champion. I’m already at the (weight) limit. He’s probably walking around bigger than me right now. But I think it would be great to move down and fight him.

“My heart is still at heavyweight. I want to fight and I fight to win. I would love to challenge one of the heavyweight champions with the cruiserweight belt.”

Sounds like a man with a plan.

Courtesy www.frankmaloney.com