Wikipedia

Chris Byrd vs. Wladimir Klitschko II

Chris Byrd vs. Wladimir Klitschko II, billed as "Revenge Is The Name Of The Game", was a professional boxing match contested on 22 April 2006 for the IBF and vacant IBO heavyweight championship.[2]

Revenge Is The Name Of The Game
Date22 April 2006
VenueSAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany
Title(s) on the lineIBF/IBO Heavyweight Championship
Tale of the tape
Boxer United States Chris Byrd Ukraine Wladimir Klitschko
Nickname "Rapid Fire" "Dr. Steelhammer"
Hometown Flint, Michigan, US Kyiv, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine
Pre-fight record 39–2–1 (20 KO) 45–3 (40 KO)
Age 35 years, 8 months 30 years
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) 6 ft 6 in (198 cm)
Weight 213+1⁄2 lb (97 kg) 241 lb (109 kg)
Style Southpaw Orthodox
Recognition IBF
Heavyweight Champion
The Ring
No. 1 Ranked Heavyweight[1]		 IBF
No. 1 Ranked Heavyweight
The Ring
No. 8 Ranked Heavyweight
Result
Klitschko defeated Byrd by 7th round TKO

Background

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After beating Evander Holyfield in 2002 to win the IBF title, Byrd has successfully defended the IBF belt four times against Fres Oquendo, Andrew Golota, Jameel McCline, and DaVarryl Williamson. At the time he was ranked as the best Heavyweight in the world by Ring magazine (Wladimir Klitschko was 8th).[3]

Klitschko had won four fights in his comeback from his shock defeat to Lamon Brewster while trying to regain the WBO title he had lost to Corrie Sanders in 2003.[4]

The two men had fought six years earlier with Wladimir winning via a unanimous decision.

The fight

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The fight was a one sided affair with Klitschko dominating Byrd before Klitschko's right hook finished off the American 41 seconds into round 7, the second time Byrd was floored in the fight.

Aftermath

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Byrd had originally planned to fight then reigning WBA champion Nicolai Valuev;[5] he would instead go on to lose to Alexander Povetkin before briefly returning to the light heavyweight division and ultimately retiring in 2010 with the record of 41–5–1.[6]

Klitschko held the IBF title for a record-breaking 3,507 days before his defeat at the hands of Tyson Fury in November 2015.

This fight would mark the fourth time trainer Emanuel Steward guided a fighter to a Heavyweight title, after Evander Holyfield, Oliver McCall and Lennox Lewis.

Undercard

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Confirmed bouts:[7]

Winner Loser Weight division/title belt(s) disputed Result
  Sebastian Sylvester   Steven Bendall EBU Middleweight Title 3rd round TKO.
  Oleg Platov   Colin Kenna Heavyweight (8 rounds) 5th round TKO.
  Alexander Abraham   Mazen Girke Super Welterweight (8 rounds) Unanimous decision.
  Timo Hoffmann   Abraham Okine Heavyweight (8 rounds) Unanimous decision.
  Rene Dettweiler   Ondřej Pála Heavyweight (8 rounds) Unanimous decision.
  Alexander Povetkin   Friday Ahunanya Heavyweight (6 rounds) Unanimous decision.
  Andy Lee   Wassim Khalil Middleweight (6 rounds) 5th round TKO.

Broadcasting

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Country Broadcaster
  Germany Das Erste
  United States HBO

References

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  1. ^ "Ratings: For Period Ended April 17, 2006". thering-online.com. The Ring. Archived from the original on 21 April 2006. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Chris Byrd vs. Wladimir Klitschko (2nd meeting) - BoxRec". boxrec.com.
  3. ^ "The Ring Magazine's Annual Ratings: 2005 - BoxRec". boxrec.com.
  4. ^ "Chris Byrd vs Wladimir Klitschko II – Fight Analysis". boxing247.com. 31 March 2006.
  5. ^ Michael J Jones (18 April 2016). "Former two time heavyweight champion Chris Byrd talks career, Klitschko bros and AJ potential". livefight.com. Live Fight. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Long read: Invisible while standing still: Chris Byrd interview". boxingmonthly.com.
  7. ^ "BoxRec - event".
Preceded by Chris Byrd's bouts
22 April 2006 		Succeeded by
Paul Marinaccio
Preceded by Wladimir Klitschko's bouts
22 April 2006 		Succeeded by
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