12.04.04 – By Daniel Bagley – Wladimir Klitschko is done. I don’t want to hear excuses, thesis, psychobabble or anything else. He can’t compete at or near the top. Sorry, you’re a fine specimen of an athlete just not a top heavyweight. So now we turn our attention to the next big heavyweight showdown, Byrd vs Golota. Again, the alphabet involved isn’t important but the fight is. I know there’s been a lot of talk of how Andrew isn’t deserving of a title shot but this isn’t what this is. This is a twelve round heavyweight contest sanctioned by the IBF and an intriguing one at that. I think Golota’s achievements prior to his lay off more than qualify him for a shot at Chris Byrd.
Love him or hate him Chris Byrd is a fine boxer on his day. He’s handled some “big” men in his time and was unfortunate not to get a chance to go in with Lennox although I believe he would have lost. Chris is desperate to prove himself against the best and despite a fairly poor performance in his last fight he is still one of the front-runners in the division. When it comes to making big heavyweight fights I’m afraid there has to be an attraction otherwise people switch off. Which is why a Byrd Ruiz fight is a non-starter. Who wants to see that?
In this case Andrew is the attraction. His crazy antics are on a par with Tyson’s misdemeanors but he has been shown to be a good fighter when he wants to be and really made his name off what he did to Riddick Bowe (not the low blows!). He knows this is his last chance to do anything in boxing and I think he’ll be up for this. Whether he can keep himself from doing anything silly whilst trading blows with one of the most frustrating boxers in the game is another matter.
This is a pretty even match up and could go either way. I think if Byrd is sharp, unfazed and fit then he should win this on points. But if Byrd goes in there worrying about what Golota might or might not do (which you wouldn’t blame him) then Golota may wear him down to a late stoppage. The winner of this fight I think could earn his right to be the first challenger to the real heavyweight championship, which is contested the week after this fight.