14.07.05 – By Bradford Scott: Toney, Byrd and Vitali Klitschko all need each other. They all have something to prove, and here’s why: James Toney has recently started to make believers out of past non-believers, like myself.
I was thankful when he did a job on Ruiz. I wanted to personally send him a card for ridding us of that horrible horrible excuse for a champion. Then he had to go and test positive for Nandrolone. It seems like someone’s gonna have to knock Ruiz out again to get rid of him for good.
Chris Byrd is extremely puzzling. After winning a fight with Oquendo that should have been a blowout in the other direction, and after drawing with Golota in what should have been a Golota decision, Byrd barely got by McCline. Yes, Byrd beat Vitali, but everyone with eyes knows Byrd was losing that fight bad before Vitali retired on his stool. Chris Byrd is definitely on the decline. He’s getting him more and more and even hit the canvas against McCline.
And then there’s Vitali Klitschko, who for some reason isn’t fighting at all, and when he does fight, it’s only fighters of the moment. Looks like you have to beat Tyson or Wlad now to get a shot at Vitali. Why isn’t Vitali avenging his only loss besides Lewis? If I were him I’d be at Don King’s doorstep every day until I got a fight with Chris Byrd.
I say it’s time they all fought each other.
According to reports, Toney recently had an opportunity to fight Vitali, but wanted some ridiculous amount of the purse. Was this a bad move on Toney’s part, or was he just pricing himself out of the fight?
So, is Toney/Vitali out of the question? There are reports now that Vitali is going to fight Calvin Brock, but nothing has been signed as far as this report being written.
Toney/Byrd? For a few days there were also rumors of this fight which would be interesting.
I just don’t think we’ll ever see a rematch between Chris Byrd and Vitali Klitschko, or a fight between any of these three guys. As much as you and I both want this to happen, I just don’t see it happening.
Bradford Scott can be reached at hirebrad@hotmail.com