Byrd in a fight for opponents

By Ron Borges, Globe Staff, 9/20/2003

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Not only do people in boxing not want to pay Chris Byrd, they don't even want to fight him.

The International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion defends his title tonight at Mohegan Sun Arena from the challenge of Fres Oquendo and will earn $1 million for his trouble. For a heavyweight champion, that's a lightweight purse, but that's how it goes these days for Byrd, who since winning the championship last March from Evander Holyfield has seldom heard his name mentioned in the discussions of big fights for the sport's biggest men.

"Not one time did anybody mention Chris Byrd to fight Lennox Lewis or Roy Jones or the Klitschkos," Byrd (36-2, 20 KOs) said. "I won the title but I was the isolated guy. I was the guy with leprosy. [James] Toney talked all the trash in the world but as soon as we called he changed his number.

"Boxers all know who can fight. They all say I'm too small and I can't punch, but they don't want to fight me because they know I'll clown you for 12 rounds. They'd rather get knocked out."

What Byrd means is that he is such a slick boxer it's difficult to look good against him even if you win, which most of the time you do not. Only Wladimir Klitschko and Ike Ibeabuchi have taken his measure, the latter knocking Byrd cold when he made the mistake of laying on the ropes for too long against a powerful puncher. He got himself knocked stiff that night but few other opponents have even been able to find him, let alone hurt him.

Byrd's style is slick as Wesson oil and his southpaw stance only compounds his opponents' problems. He is hard to hit and impossible to look good against, which is why even with the IBF belt around his waist, finding someone to fight has become a chore. Coupled with the fact he is not a big drawing card, Byrd has spent as much time chasing down opponents outside the ring as they have chasing him inside one.

The night he won the title he did to Holyfield what he has done to so many others. He frustrated and embarrassed him, slipping here, potshotting Holyfield from over there, never where you would expect him to be when the leather started flying.

In an odd way the performance that brought him a third of the heavyweight title probably reinforced what so many heavyweights feel about him. Stay away if you can. Fight him only if you have no other options.

That's why Oquendo will be in the ring tonight. Although 24-1 (with 15 KOs), he too is a light puncher and more of a boxer than a banger. In his biggest moment, he was outpointing David Tua when he got nailed with a left hook as Tua came off the ropes in the ninth round, and Oquendo was out before he hit the floor. Since then he has struggled to get himself back into title contention, a position he reached when he knocked out Maurice Harris on the Byrd-Holyfield undercard to become the No. 2 contender on the IBF's often suspect list.

After months of trying to lure Lewis or Jones into a unification fight, Byrd and promoter Don King realized what they needed to do was what Byrd seems to do so often in the ring -- take the line of least resistance. That was Oquendo, so here they are.

"Nobody wanted to step up to the plate," Byrd lamented. "They all say I'm too small and I can't punch, so why don't they come forward and get rid of me? They keep dissing me in public but I don't care anymore. It doesn't matter. I'm not trying to chase anybody. As long as I'm champion, somebody's going to have to fight me.

"I don't care how much they make. Just don't say you're the best if you won't fight the guy with one of the belts. None of them even mention my name because they know I'll fight anybody. They mention my name and they know their cellphone is going off."

Tonight, on an HBO card that will also include a replay of the Shane Mosley-Oscar De La Hoya fight of a week ago, Byrd will fight the one guy who did call his name. He will fight a kid named Fres Oquendo and hope to clown him. When he's through he doesn't expect anyone to be laughing but him.

"The big-name guys won't fight me," the 211-pound Byrd said. "[Mike] Tyson won't fight me. He'd be the last guy who'd fight me. He's one of the guys I would stop just on hand speed alone. He'd get frustrated and he'd probably quit. If Toney beats Holyfield [next month] I'd fight him in Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor [Toney's hometown] in the winter time. But he ain't coming this way.

"They all know I don't care about size. I don't care about power. I'm not scared to match my skills against anybody. The No. 1 question I get is, `When are you going to fight Roy Jones?' Roy has skills.

"He's the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. Everybody knows it, but I'd fight him. The ball's in Roy's court."

Maybe, but so far Roy Jones, like every other big name in heavyweight boxing, isn't playing with it. Not when Chris Byrd is on the court.