20-20 Hindsight: End of the Road for Byrd, Boxing Creeping Back Into the Mainstream and More

One of the first title fights I ever had a chance to attend in person took place six years ago when Chris Byrd met Evander Holyfield for the IBF heavyweight belt at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. As I was just becoming a serious boxing fan at the time, I wasn't that familiar with Byrd, though I knew his reputation as a crafty defensive wizard.

I knew Holyfield was nearing the end of the road, but I was still impressed with Byrd's skills on that December night. He was more than just elusive, he actually had Holyfield swinging at thin air on more than one occasion. And though he didn't have much power, he could throw some crowd-pleasing combinations when he let his hands go. That performance and the fact that Byrd hailed from my mom's birthplace of Flint, Michigan were enough to win me over.

So it was with a little bit of sadness that I watched Byrd get knocked out by Shaun George this past Saturday. Already a strange sight slimmed down to 175 pounds, it was even stranger still to see him without any kind of movement in his upper or lower body. George had him lined up with right hands whenever he chose, and Byrd had nothing in the way of his own offense in most rounds.

My hope now is that Byrd hangs up the gloves. He had a successful and courageous career, campaigning against bigger foes at heavyweight more often than not and capturing two championships. You also can't argue against the competition he faced: both Klitschko brothers (Wladmir twice), Ike Ibeabuchi, David Tua, Holyfield, Fres Oquendo, Andrew Golota, Jameel McCline and Alexander Povetkin. This certainly isn't the greatest era in the heavyweight division, but Byrd fought nearly everyone it had to offer.

As for George, he looked good, but not good enough to think he'll be scaring the bigger names at 175. You got the feeling that he was there to be hit by someone with more weapons in the arsenal than Byrd had. We may get to find out down the road, as beating Byrd may open up some doors for him.

Switching gears for a minute, there was an interesting piece by Eric Raskin over on ESPN.com today. The central argument is that boxing is creeping back into the mainstream consciousness, thanks to fighters like Floyd Mayweather seeking out crossover opportunities and Ricky Hatton appearing on regular cable TV.

I agree that boxing is enjoying a mini-renaissance of sorts, but to continue to move forward, a few more things need to happen:

1. More boxing on free TV and less B.S. pay-per-views - The Hatton fight on Versus is a good start. My brother Spartan117 made a good point this weekend when he asked the bartender to put on Friday Night Fights at a bar in Florida and saw a bunch of people take interest. Casual fans will watch more boxing if they are exposed to it more often. On the PPV front, in a perfect world, only top match-ups between the biggest names would qualify for that treatment. Anything else makes hardcore fans have to decide how to spend their money - unquestionably a bad thing. It also weakens the sport in the eyes of less dedicated viewers when they see crappy fights on pay TV.
2. The heavyweight division needs to get its act together - For whatever reason, the big guys have always been able to capture the imagination of the general public. It's tough to see boxing ever making permanent strides without some real drama and compelling championship fights at heavyweight.
3. More personalities need to emerge - Love him or hate him, Floyd has been able to make a name for himself over the past few years because his flashy, cocky persona makes for good entertainment. It's something he didn't always understand, and he's now reaping the benefits. The next generation of champions will have to learn from his example and start to sell themselves as personalities early on. Hardcore fans will always appreciate the sport on its own merits, but the mainstream needs a little sizzle with its steak.

Some would argue that it doesn't matter if the mainstream latches on to boxing again as long as great fights are put on for those of us who care. But that's a whole different question, one that probably deserves its own column to explore.

Round By Round: Chris Byrd vs. Shaun George

We're just about set for Chris Byrd's return to light heavyweight, taking on Shaun George on the main event of Friday Night Fights. A video package explores the former heavyweight champion's weight loss, as he dropped almost 40 pounds to go down two divisions. The reactions of other boxers upon seeing the slimmed-down Byrd - especially the look he got from Roy Jones - are pretty amusing. At his heaviest, Byrd fought a fight weighing 222 pounds; tonight he comes in at 174.

George comes in riding a three-fight winning streak. The trainers share some thoughts on the boxers' fight plans: Byrd needs to use his speed, George has to let his hands go and throw combinations. Referee Jay Nady gives the instructions and we're good to go.

Round 1

George comes out firing while Byrd is a little more cautious. Byrd paws with the right hand and George throws quick counters. Body and head combos by George. Now a nice counter left from Byrd. Sharp right upstairs wobbles Byrd. He gathers himself but looks pretty clueless at this point. A right hand to the body sends Byrd to the canvas, and though he hops up quickly, the announcers think he looks hurt.

Franchise: 10-8 George
Spartan117: 10-8 George

Round 2

Guest announcer Shannon Briggs says he's already worried about Byrd. He looks a little more aggressive but George is ready to return fire with multiple right hands. A hook starts off another combo for George. Byrd switches to a conventional stance but still has few answers. George looks like he can land the right any time he wants. Byrd tries to find the range with left hands before the bell but that was George's round all the way.

Franchise: 10-9 George
Spartan117: 10-9 George

Round 3

Byrd follows George around but can't land anything of consequence. Now Byrd gets off a combo and George is quick to respond. Briggs says George has the whole package but sometimes loses focus. Byrd ducks away from a few punches and tries to establish the jab. Left from Byrd; George scores with several rights. George looks too quick and too strong.

Franchise: 10-9 George
Spartan117: 10-9 Byrd

Round 4

Both men reaching with jabs. Byrd shakes his head and he looks a little more bouncy in this round. His biggest problem is an inability to land any power shots. Quick right-hand counters from George. Left to the body and right to the head by Byrd. George fighting more in spurts now; tough to tell if he's tiring or just staying cautious. Closer round.

Franchise: 10-9 George
Spartan117: 10-9 Byrd

Round 5

Brian Kenny touts Burd's willingness to fight the best at heavyweight but wonders about the harm it did him. Tarver is impressed with George but thinks he needs to close the show. George stays mobile and lands a right upstairs. Byrd finaly lets his hands go inside to the delight of the crowd. Byrd scoring with light punches while George looks for the big shots. Shaun finds the mark with more right hands; it would be nice to see something else with them. Byrd continuing to come forward but not throwing enough, and as Briggs points out, his jab is completely absent.

Franchise: 10-9 George
Spartan117: 10-9 George

Round 6

Now George uses a jab and throws the right behind it. Left uppercut and some more rights. Byrd lands some lefts but they look weak. A nice exchange in the center of the ring sees both men land. Byrd finally unleashes a combo along the ropes. He's also jabbing more. George may have lost that round by inactivity over the final two minutes.

Franchise: 10-9 Byrd
Spartan117: 10-9 Byrd

Round 7

Byrd told the announcers between rounds that he looks like crap. George shows a little more fire in the early going. Byrd's defense looking a little better as he picks off some shots with his gloves. He lands a right-left combo upstairs. Now he covers as George throws more rights. Not a real impressive round for either man.

Franchise: 10-9 George
Spartan117: 10-9 George

Round 8

George scores to the head with a right. Another one makes Byrd grimace. Nice left and right by Byrd and George tries to respond to the body. Joe Byrd Sr. thinks his son is getting old. Quick jab by George helps keep Byrd at bay. George's head looks like it's there to be hit but Byrd can't take advantage.

Franchise: 10-9 George
Spartan117: 10-9 George

Round 9

George tries to say he was hit low, but the ref says fight on. He doesn't look hurt too badly. George's trainer thinks his man should be doing more to get Byrd out of there. This round is being fought more in the center of the ring, and Briggs thinks a right hand hurt Byrd. He's still coming forward though. Nice left uppercut followed by a straight right and Byrd goes down again. Crushing lefts and rights put Byrd down a third time in the corner, and Nady calls a stop to it. George calling out Tarver and others as he yells into the camera.

The winner, by TKO at 2:45 of the ninth round, Shaun George. At the time of the stoppage, Franchise had it 79-72 for George, Spartan117 had it 77-74 for George.

Tarver says George has inserted himself as a major player in the light heavyweight division and that he expected this. He likes George's movement and the way he was able to land counter shots. The Magic Man doesn't think Byrd's fate was due to his weight loss as much as his long, punishing career at heavyweight.

George joins Brian Kenny and Briggs, and he says he had more motivation for this fight and trained harder than ever before. He was not surprised that he could hurt Byrd early, and though he says he's willing to fight anyone, he really wants Glen Johnson or the winner of Tarver-Chad Dawson.

Byrd's shoulder is injured, quite possibly when he landed awkwardly during the second knockdown.

Friday Night Fights Report - 5/16/08 - Chris Byrd, Antonio Tarver in Studio and More

We've got quite an intriguing episode of Friday Night Fights on tap tonight. Former heavyweight champion Chris Byrd makes his return to light heavyweight against Shaun George after dropping two weight classes and almost 40 pounds. Always outspoken Antonio Tarver is scheduled to be the guest, and with Teddy Atlas off for the week, Shannon Briggs is helping out on commentary.

The first fight from Las Vegas features undefeated prospect Rulslan Provodnikov taking on Brian Gordon. Briggs says Provodnikov reminds him of Kostya Tszyu, at least in appearance and demeanor. Gordon has turned pro after two tours of duty in Iraq.

Provodnikov is the aggressor in the first round. Both men eat some hard shots but the Russian starts to find the range more often toward the end of the frame. Back in the studio, Tarver says he'd be surprised if we don't see the old Chris Byrd tonight.

The second round sees Provodnikov start to land some punishing body shots. He's definitely eating some shots in return but Gordon looks like he's coming out of the bad end of most exchanges. Briggs says he'd like to see Provodnikov jab his way in more instead of just walking forward. Gordon winces from several right hands as the second round winds down.

Gordon is definitely game, and he even opens up a cut on his opponent in the third round. But Provodnikov is throwing bombs to the body with both hands and mixing in some shots upstairs. The Russian goes down in the fourth but it is an obvious slip and is scored accordingly. Briggs gives all of the first four rounds to Provodnikov, though he admits they are tough rounds. He scores an even fifth round.

Gordon snaps Provodnikov's head back with a stiff right early in the sixth and final round. "He is Army tough, for real," quips Briggs. Both guys continue to trade until the final bell and we're going to head to the scorecards. Scores are 59-55, 58-56 and 60-54, all for the winner, Provodnikov.

Back to the studio for more with Tarver. They go over the Magic Man's resume, showing a clip from Rocky Balboa that gets him smiling. Tarver says he'd like to do more acting, but he's focused right now on his boxing career, with the specific goal of unifying the light heavyweight titles. They discuss his poor showing against Bernard Hopkins and his two victories in 2007.

Tarver is asked about his war of words with Clinton Woods leading up to their fight earlier this year, and he laughs, saying people thought he was acting. The clips are classic Tarver, and he says Woods came down with a case of "Post-Tarver Syndrome" after losing to the Magic Man.

Tonight's second fight matches Koba Gogoladze and Ji-hoon Kim in another six-rounder. Kim comes out aggressively but gets hammered by left hands from Gogoladze. But surprise, it's Kim who catches Gogoladze with a left hook and sends him down. Koba answers the count, but Kim strikes again with a sharp left and right to the head and it's all over. Kim is only 21 and he scores a nice win in his first fight in the U.S.

In the studio, Tarver weighs in on tonight's main event. He says Byrd used to have outstanding foot movement but hasn't been showing that in his last several fights after taking a pounding campaigning at heavyweight. Tarver thinks if Byrd can recapture some of his old mobility, George will have a lot of trouble with him.

Some Boxing Thoughts

Roy Jones was on Friday Night Fights.
He says he still wants to fight Anderson Silva, the MMA fighter, in a straight boxing match, but the UFC President, Dana White, will not allow it. That would be an interesting event. HBO and Spike could Countdown the heck out of that story line.

Chris Byrd was on too and is ridiculously skinny. He looks like a totally different person. He says he can make 168! Here's to hoping Byrd has a serious run at one of the lighter than heavy divisions.

Kevin Johnson won in the main event. To say that he is ultra-confident is an understatement.

O'Neill Bell suprisingly retired during his fight with Tomasz Adamek, which Uatu caught live on ESPN Classic. Completely one-sided affair.