Byrd and Klitschko to Mix it up again

Just when I’m about to give up on the heavyweight division for good, the big boys go and decide they want to start fighting one another again. Next month James Toney and Hasim Rahman will meet in Atlantic City, and now Chris Byrd 39-2-1 (20) and Wladimir Klitschko 45-3 (40) have agreed to compete on April 22nd in Mannheim, Germany for the vacant IBO title.

Klitschko won a 12 round UD against Byrd back in 2000 to take the WBO title, and he’s gone 10-2 since. He was TKO’d by Corrie Sanders in the 2nd round of a 2003 fight to lose the championship, and Lamon Brewster TKO’d him in 5th the following year. His last bout was a 12 round UD over Sam Peter last year (the last decent top 10 heavyweight fight?) that made him the mandatory challenger.

Byrd was coming off a victory over Wladimir’s brother, Vitaly, when he fought in 2000. He’s been undefeated since the loss, defending his IBF belt– which he took with a decision over Evander Holyfield in 2002, four times. His last win a 12 round UD against DaVarryl Williamson.

There’s a considerable size difference between the two fighters; Klitschko stands at 6′5″ and weighs 250, Byrd is 6′1″ 210. HBO’s got the fight, which will be televised at 4 in the afternoon (CT).

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 9th, 2006 at 7:55 pm and is filed under Heavy -- Middle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.