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MAY 2000
Each month we bring you a selection of articles from the current and past issues of BOXING MONTHLY. To buy the magazine, see our subscription or back issues pages, or use our world distribution map to find a news-stand copy. Why not use our Interactive Forum to express your own boxing comments and opinions!
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OOOPS!
Talk about a spanner in the works. Vitali Litschko was an unbeaten KO king on the verge of a US TV deal. Then came Chris Byrd. GLYN LEACH reports on a suprising event, even by heavyweight standards |
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BROTHERLY CONCERN: next up for Byrd could be the other Klitschko, Wladimir (right)
- Get Big Pic Oh dear. On the verge of a major US TV deal, Vitali Klitschko was an
undefeated Unkrainian super man who had cruised to the WBO heavyweight title on
a spotless stream of KOs. But late sub challenger Chris Byrd threw a spanner in
the works and transformed his own career. GLYN LEACH on a tale of two fighters
whose worlds have been turned upside down. I never imagined that, even at my most tangental, I would one day end up
quoting Bjork in a fight report but "This wasn’t supposed to
happen". The love affair between the White Hope brigade and Vitali Klitschko may well
be over following the massive Ukrainian’s retirement loss to "blown-up
super middleweight" Chris Byrd in Berlin on April Fool’s Day. And Byrd
certainly made a mug of Klitschko in front of his adopted German public,
frustrating the 6ft 8ins giant to the point that Klitschko retired on his stool
after nine rounds claiming an injury to his right shoulder. Without wishing to make light of the pain that a torn rotator cuff, which
since has undergone surgery, must have caused Klitschko, there is very little
doubt in my mind that this was not the only reason for his amazing withdrawal
and subsequent loss of the World Boxing Organisation heavyweight championship. Klitschko led on the judges’ scorecards by 88-83 (twice) and 89-82. He need
only have stood up against "non puncher" Byrd in order to retain his
title by decision. But after watching a tape of HBO’s broadcast of the fight
(kindly supplied by Dominic Foley), I believe that Klitschko bailed out because
he suspected that the final three rounds held nothing but bad for him. Byrd was 61/2ins the shorter man and, at 15st (210lbs), he was 34lbs lighter
than the defending champion who entered the ring with a spotless 27-0, 27 KOs
record. But the 1992 Olympic middleweight silver medal winner from Flint,
Michigan, had proved himself to be no respecter of reputations by the time
Klitschko’s retirement was announced, prompting a chorus of boos from the
German crowd. The fight had reached a point where Byrd fancied the job and
Klitschko did not. Having drawn Klitschko’s sting in the early rounds, Byrd was coming on a
bundle and had landed three particularly effective looking body shots in the
ninth. These appeared to be crucially demoralising for the massive Ukrainian,
who had been showing signs of tiring for a couple of rounds prior. Klitschko faced a difficult choice. He could fight on and risk the
unthinkable — possibly being knocked out by Byrd — or bring to a close his
own unbeaten record by pulling out. He chose the latter and faced derision for
so doing. "He doesn’t have the mentality of a champion," said the veteran
HBO commentator Larry Merchant. "I can hardly believe what I just
saw." "It’s almost indescribable what’s taking place here," added
Merchant’s commentary partner, Jim Lampley. The indignation expressed by the American commentary team was understandable.
HBO had, after all, reached the advanced stages of negotiating a long-term
coverage deal with Klitschko’s promoters, Universum Box-Promotion. Had the
"I"s been dotted and "T"s crossed, Merchant and Lampley
would have found themselves presiding over the demise of their new signing in
the very first fight of their contract. Sighs of relief punctuated the
exclamations of disbelief. Until 10 days prior to the fight, HBO had been expecting Klitschko’s
network debut to be against Razor Ruddock. But the former contender withdrew
with hepatitis, although it has been reported that Ruddock had actually been
laid up by the after effects of a reverse-vasectomy operation that went
"wrong". Whatever, HBO found themselves with a new main event and it is debatable as
to which of the fighters, champion or challenger, was most adversely affected by
the emergency matchmaking. But Byrd’s attorney and adviser, John Hornewer, has no doubts. Speaking
from Chicago, he said: "Who was at a disadvantage? Here’s a guy who was
training for Ruddock and he gets Chris Byrd . . . "We accepted the offer immediately. It had already been offered to a
couple of other American heavyweights but they turned it down. Again, Chris Byrd
was not the first choice, probably he was the last choice, but we were the ones
who accepted the fight. The biggest problem for Chris was that his passport was
out of date and we needed to sort that out. Chris was already in training for a
fight with Lawrence Clay-Bey on the same night. When Clay-Bey pulled out, it was
all long faces. But when we got the call from Germany it was smiles all
around." Hornewer, in particular, had reason to be cheerful. Not only had Byrd avenged
the loss to Klitschko of another heavyweight represented by the Chicago attorney
— Herbie Hide, against whom Klitschko won the WBO title by second-round KO
last June in London — but, at the relatively young age of 40, Hornewer can now
boast involvement with three heavyweight champions. (Hornewer was instrumental
for most of Lennox Lewis’s career.) But the real triumph belongs to Byrd, the southpaw who was all-but written
off following his loss in five rounds to Ike Ibeabuchi. That defeat, one year
before Berlin, had seemed to spell the end of Byrd as a contender. The loss to
the erratic Nigerian may be Byrd’s only reverse in 32 fights, but the American’s
style of fighting — he’s been accurately described as a heavyweight Pernell
Whitaker — had proved unpopular with HBO’s commentary team, Larry Merchant
in particular, and one got the feeling that they were glad to see the back of
him. But Hornewer now says: "With hindsight, the Ibeabuchi fight was the best
thing that could ever have happened to Chris. Fighting that ‘daring’ style,
asking guys to hit him, it actually did Chris good to get whomped by a big guy.
Now he employs a lot more discretion when he uses that style. And that’s what
the last four fights following Ibeabuchi have been all about. Rather than just
sitting back on the ropes, Chris has been going to the centre of the ring,
biding his time and then taking people out." Byrd did have problems of his own, such as his training kit not arriving in
Germany, plus a debilitating attack of diarrhoea. But as an experienced former
amateur international he has travelled the world, been there, seen and done it,
so to speak. There is little out there that can come as a surprise to him. Still it was alarming to see Byrd willingly go to the ropes and get backed
into corners in the early part of the Klitschko fight. True, he was making the
defending champion miss, ducking, blocking and slipping shots with a huge degree
of defensive mastery. But it was a risky strategy against one with Klitschko’s
record for taking out opponents. But Byrd had a gameplan and, unlike Hide who abandoned his and attacked like
a kamikaze, he stuck to it. "Tony Tubbs [then employed as trainer] advised the same strategy for
Herbie against Klitschko – take him to the right and let him tire himself
out," said Hornewer. "A big guy like that can’t fight going
backwards. It feels bad, it’s like: ‘What am I doing?’ It must be so
disconcerting for a big guy to be pushed back by a little guy. But you can’t
take the credit away from Chris Byrd. "The crowd actually laughed when Chris came into the ring. But after
about the third or fourth round, people were turning to me and saying: ‘Klitschko’s
in trouble.’" And so he was. Byrd progressively became more proactive in his attempts to
tire Klitschko, mixing fast, stinging attacks with his defensive duties. And
while Byrd is not a heavy puncher by the standards of the division, the southpaw
lefts he had been digging to the big Ukrainian’s body since the opening round
must have had a cumulative effect. This certainly appeared to be the case. From the fifth round onwards, Byrd
became more and more able to place himself in the centre of the ring and counter
Klitschko’s increasingly cumbersome blows. This, in itself, would appear to
lend credence to Klitschko’s claim that his shoulder became damaged as a
result of a Byrd punch in round three. Whatever, the complexion of the fight was
changing, as was the mood of the 6,000 crowd, who began to show appreciation of
the American’s work. Klitschko might have earned a degree in sports science, but the only science
on display on this evening came from Byrd. It must, however, be stated that Klitschko kept trying until, in his own
mind, his cause became futile and lost. He continued to throw the right, even
though it often missed by embarrassing distances as the slippery southpaw
effortlessly shifted his position. But those body shots that Byrd dug in during the ninth were his key to
victory. At the end of the round, Klitschko was backing up on the ropes,
confused and discombobulated. But still it came as a shock when it was announced
that he would not be coming out for Round 10. Where Klitschko goes from here is open to debate at this stage. He has
already had surgery to repair the damage to his rotator cuff and he claims that
he will return and regain his championship. But the manner of this defeat will
have been a massive blow to his confidence. "I think that this was a massive psychological blow for Klitschko,"
said Hornewer. "He’s damned in a boxing sense because he’s a smart guy,
he’s able to reflect on what happened to him in this fight. And he will have
big question marks inside his head as a result of the way Chris beat him. The
interesting thing is how much effect this will have on his brother, because
Wladimir — who has already been beaten by Ross Puritty, remember — now knows
Chris Byrd is one difficult guy to beat. "Wladimir wasn’t fooled when Chris came in as a late substitute
opponent. When people said it would be an easy fight for Vitali, he told them:
‘No, no. My brother will win but it will not be easy.’"And it seems
likely that it will be the younger Klitschko brother whom Byrd meets next. The
Klitschkos’ promoters, upwardly mobile Universum, have options on the American
and are likely to try and get the WBO title back at the earliest opportunity. But as he wept tears of joy after the fight, Byrd made it clear that there is
no opposition in the world that bothers him. He may not be a banger in the
manner of traditional heavyweight heroes, but he has the style to beat almost
anyone. And he couldn’t help but have a dig at his tormentor, Larry Merchant, in
HBO’s post-fight interview. When asked whether he thought it was Klitschko’s
injury that had brought him a version of the world title, the affable Byrd
replied: "I fought Ike [Ibeabuchi] with separated ribs and you criticised
me, you know, you called me less than a man . . ." Nicely said. But his
gloating did not last long and Byrd continued in reference to Klitschko:
"If it was me, if it was the other way around, I’m fighting
injured." He then threw out a challenge to the division that has declared him president
of the "Who Needs Him? Club". "This [Klitschko] was a 6ft 8ins boxing guy," said the triumphant
Byrd. "Guys like Lennox Lewis, Michael Grant, I’ll make them miss all
day. I frustrate a big man, that’s why he [Klitschko] got on his toes. I’m
210lbs and I walk him down — what kind of stuff is that? He’s 235lbs
[actually 244lbs], 6ft 8ins — that’s crazy! "Like I always said, I’ll fight any heavyweight in the world, any
time. "Look at me: I’m in Berlin, I’ve lost 8lbs since I’ve been here.
I’m a 210lbs, blown-up super middleweight and they don’t want to fight me.
Bring ’em!" Asked to project Byrd’s future, Hornewer said: "We’ve been
approached by Denmark for a fight with Brian Neilsen, and we’ve also been
offered fights with David Izon and Alex Zolkin. Not amazing opponents, but the
point is that fighters who didn’t want to know about Chris before are now
willing to fight him because he has something. "Of course, our priority is the No. 1 contender, Mr Tyson. But I don’t
think Mr Tyson’s heart’s in it anymore. Boxing used to be his life, now it’s
just his job. It’s almost like Roberto Duran fighting on and on just because
he’s Roberto Duran and people want to see him. It’s a question of perceived
quality over quality." With this win, Byrd has proved himself, with some considerable personal
satisfaction, to be a fighter of genuine quality. And he said he will not sport the shaven-skull look that he did for the fight with Winky Wright. "My hair is back — I was like Samson [shorn
version] without it," he said. But while there is no mistaking the upbeat mood coming from Vargas, the Quartey camp is no less sure of victory. Quartey is a man of few words, but he said from training camp in Florida: "I don’t think it will be a long fight if he comes to fight,
but I’m ready for anything that happens, whether he comes to box or comes to fight. Anything goes." He said he is unconcerned about his inactivity, saying: "The layoff won’t affect me because before I fought Oscar I laid off for 16 months
and I won that fight. But I know I have to win convincingly, to make sure. I’ll win the fight, knockout or decision." His adviser, Godwin Asifo, said: "Ike is very, very talented and we see a lot of things in Vargas that we can take advantage of, but we’ll
keep them to ourselves." It does seem, from the general tone of the Quartey camp’s comments, that they feel that Vargas is stepping out of his league here, that this
will be one of those man-against-boy fights. But will it? Vargas showed quickness and sharp hitting when he dominated Yory Boy Campas to become the youngest junior middleweight champ in history at 21
years and five days. He outclassed Raul Marquez, a former champ, in 11 rounds last July. But Campas and Marquez were made for him: slower And although Vargas showed a champion’s heart to grit out the win over Winky Wright at a time when the champion was in emotional turmoil, it
has to be said that Winky is not a heavy-fisted hitter in the manner of Quartey. Although Quartey is moving up a half-stone (7lbs), I see him as the puncher in this fight. But Vargas has speed, zest and burning ambition. Quartey may land the bigger punches, but Vargas can build up points
with quick combinations. The fact that Quartey was down twice against De La Hoya and got tired against Jose Luis Lopez might suggest that Vargas
can begin to hurt him and slow him down from the middle rounds. But Vargas has to be smart, looking to move around Quartey — giving him
angles, as they say. He must not, one would think, stay in one spot and get into exchanges — especially not in the early rounds, when Quartey is
likely to be at his deadliest. This is the latest in a recent run of classic Las Vegas fights in which, outside the respective camps, few can feel terribly certain about
the result. But I believe that Vargas will find a way to win, boxing when he has to box, fighting when he has to fight. It will not be quick
and it certainly will not be easy, but my strong impression is that Vargas is not going to be denied. |
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