Most champs move up in weight in todays world. Some for money, some for challenge. Regardless of why they moved up, who are some fighters that truly should have stayed at a lighter weight? Tommy Hearns comes to mind for me.
Another is James Toney ... Actually now that I think about it , we can probably make 100 pages on fighters who should have stayed lighter ...
Chris Byrd... If he had REMAINED Relatively CLOSE to his Olympic Weight(165 or So),Boxing Fans would have ALOT more RESPECT for Byrd than they Do Now... He'd have more KO's,More Titles & More NAMES on his Resume... REED
Napoles Vinny Paz Cyz Thobela Tapia Pastrana Larios Penalosa P. Ayala Goyo Vargas Alejandro Gonzalez Hatton Camaco Sr. Camacho Jr.
:nono: I doubt he could've remained a middleweight, he'd have surely ended up around Lightheavyweight / Cruiserweight anyway.
Not Necessarily... If Byrd had Spent just HALF of his Career @ Lower Weights,THEN Moved Up,his "Name" would have Been Worth ALOT More than it ever was...He would've Made that Money on the BACK End... Obviously,we KNOW Byrd could COMPETE @ Heavy,so that's a GIVEN...REED's Point is,Byrd should've Spent 3-5 Years @ a LOWER Weight(Supermiddle,Lightheavy or Crusier) to Garner APPEAL... As it Was,Byrd was a Complete TURN-OFF to Boxing Fans,Fighting Heavy EXCLUSIVELY... REED
I don't think so ... His boxing skills & speed were up when facing Heavies but , I don't think his skills would have been all that against the top fighters in the lower weight classes ..
He COULDN'T have Fought @ Middle,Given that he was 165 as an Ammy AND 6'2... But Byrd COULD have Remained N the Lightheavy/Crusier Range for a FEW Years,to BUILD his Name... Granted,REED is Posting Under the ASSumption that Byrd WOULDN'T have Been a "Stinker" @ Lower Weights as he was @ Heavy... REED
I agree. I admire guys who move up for a challege, but hate when they do it to the point that they're putting themselves at a disadvantage. I felt Tito never really did that when he moved up because his height, power, and weight seemed ready made for the move up. Here's a few I felt shouldn't have moved up. Mosley - I never liked the move to 154, he just didn't have the height for it and it put him at an unnecessary disadvantage. Zab Judah - He never should have left lw and really at his height should have made attempts to be fighting at jrlw. Had he done that, he might have been able to go alot farther off of just natural talent like he tried to do at 140 & 147. Floyd - I admire attempts at challenges, and I understand when you're going after the dough, but for christ sakes get your win then go back down to a more comfortable weight. If Floyd moving up in weight means the rest of his fights are going to look like the Baldomir and ODLH fiasco's then he may as well stay retired because I won't be missing much.
Yet U HATE on Roy Jones,who BEGAN his Career @ 154 & Won Titles @ 160,168,175 AND Heavy???:dunno: ... What's Funny is,Roy WANTED to Fight Terry Norris by his 8th Pro Fight,yet his Father OVERRULED it...So Roy COULD have had a Title @ 154,as Well... Roy had ENTERTAINING Fights @ EVERY Weight he Fought @,Dog... REED
I wasn't aware money was part of this discussion. Obviously he's made the big money fights, but he's also sacrificed his chance at becoming a true great, IMO. I'm not impressed by the flash.
