That was before we saw the matches on TV which were shown on tape delay in the United States. We take back everything we said. Print results can be deceiving. To our eyes Djakhon Kurbanov didn’t dominate Abbos Atoev at all. The fight looked very close to us. In fact we might have even thought Atoev landed more clean punches than the boxer who supposedly beat him 11-3. Sometimes amateur boxing ridiculous scoring system can be very frustrating.

In the other fight were amending our judgment to Croatian Marijo Sivolija-Jelica didn’t just defeat Tavui by a bland referee stoppage. In fact Sivolija-Jelica destroyed Tavui with a clean right hook to the temple. The ref stopped the action and the Samoan stumbled around for an excruciatingly long time around the ring before collapsing to the ground getting up and collapsing again. Tavui was carried out of the ring on a stretcher but the announcers insisted that the gurney was used only for precautionary reasons. Sivolija-Jelica won by a devastating knockout and we apologize for not giving him his just due.

Post from: EveryJoe

Olympic Print Boxing Results Can Be Deceiving

Byrd’s most recent fight was last October when he was TKO’d in the 11th against 2004 Athens Super Heavyweight Olympic gold medalist Aleksandr Povetkin. Povetkin weighed in at 226 1/4, Byrd at 211 1/4. It was a far cry from Byrd’s own Olympic medaling weight: a svelte 165.

After winning the middleweight silver medal in Barcelona 1992 Byrd immediately placed himself on the heavyweight trajectory. “Guys I knew I could beat (at heavyweight) were making money,” he explained to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “(so) I started eating and didn’t stop.”

In the midst of his eating Byrd won a few heavyweight titles and faced the best the weight class has to offer in its present-day pathetic state. Namely the Klitschko brothers, losing to Wlad twice and defeating Vitali. After losing to Povetkin, Byrd thought “What else do I have to prove?” So instead of slogging for purses by traveling to Germany and facing more eastern Europeans heavys Byrd decided to drop a few weight classes and make his living fighting in Vegas.

Byrd’s dramatic weight loss – as seen when comparing the two accompanying photos – has been well documented by Tim Smith in both the New York Daily News and on ESPN.com. The, er, skinny: 37 pounds lost since his last fight. Las Vegan yes. Vegan no. Meats and animal products OK, just in small portions. His real secret? Seven miles of running a day and hard training.

His physique as seen in the ESPN.com video is astounding. He is so fit and so quick that he is hardly recognizable. Byrd’s fighting style tonight could be just as perplexing.

Will the southpaw revert to his early career technical style which wowed boxing purists and put everyone else to sleep, will he stay stationary and bully his smaller, less experienced opponent, or will a newer, quicker Chris Byrd emerge?

Byrd is one of the sport’s most intelligent and savvy competitors, some have even argued that his advanced boxing acumen and mathematical style may have been too complex for the average fight fan and soured his heavyweight commercial success.

He won’t need to rely on his smarts as much against fighters his own size and that should make for a veritable rising phoenix. We’re excited to see the 175-pound Byrd fight and eager for what we think will be a pleasant surprise. Our hunch is that Byrd might want to rethink his stated year-end retirement because there are a lot of big money light heavy bouts out there and tonight’s fight could solidify his place high in the pecking order. Watch closely Joe Calzaghe. Watch closely.

For more on tonight’s fight also check:
Las Vegas Review-Journal’s profile of Shaun George and the Fightwriter.com’s preview.

Photo Source: Newscom.com

Post from: EveryJoe

Chris Byrd, 37 Pounds Lighter Than Last Time