With Hindsight...Vitali Klitschko's Decision To Quit Vs Byrd Was The Right One.

It is amazing how things change. Almost 10 years ago, this is the drivel and tripe that was being written about Vitali Klitschko

http://www.boxing-monthly.co.uk/content/0005/two.htm

[FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman][SIZE=+3]OOOPS!
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman][SIZE=+1]Talk about a spanner in the works. Vitali Litschko {sic} was an unbeaten KO king on the verge of a US TV deal. Then came Chris Byrd. GLYN LEACH reports on a suprising event, even by heavyweight standards[/SIZE][/FONT].
[FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman]Oh dear. On the verge of a major US TV deal, Vitali Klitschko was an undefeated Unkrainian super man who had cruised to the WBO heavyweight title on a spotless stream of KOs. But late sub challenger Chris Byrd threw a spanner in the works and transformed his own career. GLYN LEACH on a tale of two fighters whose worlds have been turned upside down.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman]I never imagined that, even at my most tangental, I would one day end up quoting Bjork in a fight report but "This wasn’t supposed to happen".[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman]The love affair between the White Hope brigade and Vitali Klitschko may well be over following the massive Ukrainian’s retirement loss to "blown-up super middleweight" Chris Byrd in Berlin on April Fool’s Day. And Byrd certainly made a mug of Klitschko in front of his adopted German public, frustrating the 6ft 8ins giant to the point that Klitschko retired on his stool after nine rounds claiming an injury to his right shoulder.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman]Without wishing to make light of the pain that a torn rotator cuff, which since has undergone surgery, must have caused Klitschko, there is very little doubt in my mind that this was not the only reason for his amazing withdrawal and subsequent loss of the World Boxing Organisation heavyweight championship.
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[FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman] I believe that Klitschko bailed out because he suspected that the final three rounds held nothing but bad for him.[/FONT] [FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman]Byrd was 61/2ins the shorter man and, at 15st (210lbs), he was 34lbs lighter than the defending champion who entered the ring with a spotless 27-0, 27 KOs record. But the 1992 Olympic middleweight silver medal winner from Flint, Michigan, had proved himself to be no respecter of reputations by the time Klitschko’s retirement was announced, prompting a chorus of boos from the German crowd. The fight had reached a point where Byrd fancied the job and Klitschko did not.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman]Having drawn Klitschko’s sting in the early rounds, Byrd was coming on a bundle and had landed three particularly effective looking body shots in the ninth. These appeared to be crucially demoralising for the massive Ukrainian, who had been showing signs of tiring for a couple of rounds prior.
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[FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman]But those body shots that Byrd dug in during the ninth were his key to victory. At the end of the round, Klitschko was backing up on the ropes, confused and discombobulated. But still it came as a shock when it was announced that he would not be coming out for Round 10.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman]Where Klitschko goes from here is open to debate at this stage. He has already had surgery to repair the damage to his rotator cuff and he claims that he will return and regain his championship. But the manner of this defeat will have been a massive blow to his confidence.[/FONT]


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[FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman]Not content with actually writing this shite, the very same magazine {Boxing Monthly} then came along a 6 years later and published the following article. Note how the author accuses the AMERICAN sports-media of having attacked Klitschko when it was very much his own magazine which lead the charge back in 2000. Perhaps they needed to see people like Diego Corrales quit, to see people like Mike Tyson quit, to see people like ODLH quit before they were more sympathetic to Klitschko. Of course, not content with recognizing their mistake, they added a little barb at the end by basically saying "Vitali is brave but others are braver".
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WHAT IS COURAGE?


http://www.boxing-monthly.co.uk/content/0608/three.htm





Vitali Klitschko saw both sides of the coin. Branded a coward for retiring from the Byrd fight with injury, he was heralded for his willingness to fight on despite serious facial wounds vs Lewis.
ANT EVANS investigates what constitutes bravery in the boxing ring





......And former, then future, WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko was absolutely savaged when he quit against Chris Byrd in April 2000. Klitschko had dominated the WBO title fight — it was mathematically impossible for him to lose on points — but he nevertheless withdrew with a shoulder injury in the ninth round.


Speaking from Germany, the retired champ told me: “I tore my ligaments in maybe the third, fourth round and the pain was very bad. It was a huge pain, something I’ve never felt before. Even though I tried not to use that arm and was winning the fight, the pain was getting more and more worse.”


Klitschko underwent surgery the next day and was told that he could have lost the full use of his arm. However, in America, the same sportswriters who deem men heroic who strap on 40lbs of protective gear merely to play American football characterised Klitschko’s actions as pure yellow-bellied cowardice.


Klitschko admits: “That was more painful than even the injury. I was called a coward but it wasn’t true. I always gave my very best in every fight.”
The label Quitschko stuck until he lost the gruelling 2003 fight against Lennox Lewis, where Klitschko absorbed some huge bombs and angrily refused to accept the doctor’s decision to halt the fight, even though he had horrific cuts to his eyes.


“People could see my injuries to my eyes because obviously the cuts were on the outside [of my body]. But people couldn’t see the damage to my shoulder in the Byrd fight, which was much worse than the injury to my eyes against Lewis. Against Lewis, I was ready to continue. It hurt but I could see. Against Byrd, it also hurt but I could not fight with one arm.”
That may have been very revealing. The cuts sustained against Lewis, no matter how horrifically raw they appeared, did not impair Klitschko’s ability to compete, whereas in the Byrd fight his ability to both attack and defend had been substantially compromised.


A PhD himself, Klitschko may have weighed up the situation in the manner a chess player or war general — in a careful, logical fashion before reaching the conclusion that he wasn’t going to risk losing the use of his arm in order to keep a WBO title.


Klitschko, be certain, has courage beyond normal men. But I believe men like Williams, Corrales, Ali (fighting with a broken jaw against Ken Norton), Archie Moore (demanding the referee give him his right to get knocked out by Marciano rather than suffer the indignity of getting stopped on his stool) and the others are brave beyond the telling of it.


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[FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman]Clearly, Vitali did the smart thing. He is now a 3 time heavyweight Champion with 5 defences of his WBC title to his name and will probably make the HOF at some stage. Had he done what the likes of Lou DiBella demanded he do, his career would have ended that night in Berlin and he would have won fuck all since.[/FONT]


[FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman]Young Ortiz made the very same decision recently......quit, regroup, try again.[/FONT]


[FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman]And Max Kellerman destroyed him for it. But Max is up in that studio, picking the u cooties out of his yarmulke, he is not down in the ring having his face kicked in.[/FONT]


[FONT=arial, helvetica, times new roman]Any money you like, Ortiz will win a World Title at some stage....but if he had stayed in there shipping big rights vs Maidana, his career might already be over, his eyesight ruined, etc.
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Vitali should have kept going to the end,.. he may have lost the full function of his arm for the rest of his life, and his boxing career could have been over,.. but it would have been worth it,.. he woulda won da fight.

 

Your man-crush on the Klits is bordering on Roy Jones-esque. :shit:

 

Okay, forget me....have a look at the two articles...tell me what you see??

 

agREED. Enough already, we get it...Irish loves the Klits!!

 

Irish hates journo cunts who make it up as they go along, and you should too.....

 

I see the white European male being discriminated against, once again.

It's tragic. :boohoo:


Now bring on Zuri Lawrence's stepson!!!

ray:

 

It appears the Black hope is not...well....Black::::

 

yeah right, Vitaly claimed his shoulder was injured early, and he wasn't showing it at all. Then, as soon as Byrd start landing just a little bit, his shoulder suddenly is too injured for him to continue. Claiming his career could have ended had he continue is pure klitshko lover propaganda bullshit. It was a pretty shamefull display, he could have very well just fight with one arm like a lot of great fighters did and still win. It's his health so I don't blame him for quitting, but let's not make look like he made the right choice

 

:dunno: What's wrong with making the right choice because of his health?

 

Didn't he tear his rotator cuff?
If so, he definately did the right thing.

 

Real fighters never quit. If you were to ask a pro fighter, and get a quote or something to put in your sig, you would realize that even if you know you're physically maimed you have to keep going.

Even if you are leaving behind a wife and 2 children, one of whom is sick, and that means they will now have no reliable method of supporting themselves or paying hospital bills, you don't think twice! Because a true warrior is someone that never quits, even if it means causing irreparable harm to themselves and those they love. Do you think that infant would rather live with a QUITTER daddy? No way. It's better to have no daddy or a vegetable daddy than a quitter daddy. Just because you could quit and get medical help to fight again another day, come back even stronger and more prepared, you don't because a true warrior doesn't think like that! A true warrior knows that nothing in the universe is bigger than himself.

Forget the fact that suffering permanent damage or dying in the ring unnecessarily is actually needlessly ending your career early and is... well.. sort of like quitting, isn't it? So then you don't ever have to come back and face the challenge of being even better.

Anyway, just ask a pro fighter about being ready to die, they will tell you this. Well, the ones who are still alive, anyway. And the ones who can still talk and everything, not just stare at you and drool. Warriors!

 

:::::bears: perfect

 

that's why Klithsko groupies are annoying.
let's get real, Vitaly health wasn't in danger, his career wasn't in danger, he just couldn't cope with the pain combine with Byrd increasing success. The only way his health was in danger was via Byrd pitty pat punches ( yeah right ) but that's about as minim as a risk that any boxer face. I doubt there's even one occurrence of a boxer career ending because he continued fighting with a broken limb or dislocated joint, and if there's some, I saw so many boxers suceffuly continuing their career after they would not quit because of an injurie in a fight to know that it would be statistically insignifiant.

 

Just to make myself clear, I have no problem with fighters quitting when they are taking a beating. Freitas quit job vs Corrales, for example, was legit imo, he was done and would only get punished had he continue. But in Vitaly case, it wasn't the case, he was winning the fight even if he was injured ( in fact, it didn't seem he was injured at all watching it as he was unsing both arms ) and wasn't taking a beating at all, he just couldn't cope with the pain and Byrd moderate success

 

:::::: Ah, that's the stuff, I rather enjoyed that Outlander. I did rather enjoy that.

 

I'd have thought, the medical professionals who examined him, would have needed to have been 'a little' well educated on the extent of his shoulder injury, particularly having to operate on it. That's got to account for something?

 

MTF :laughing:

 

Feebles, what do you make of the BoxingMonthly turnaround?

It seems that Azazel and Glyn Leach might be the same person viz. the stated belief that being hit by Byrd caused Vitali to think twice.

A rather stupid assertion. But one which fitted in nicely with the stereotype of the day.....big, dumb, white,can't fight....

 

:laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

Food for thought:

Harry Greb, easily one of the most famously voracious fighters of all time, certainly a man who's name would frequently be first mention in a discussion of warrior mentality, suffered one of his only two stoppage defeats as a result of having to retire due to a broken arm

 

Yes, but Gene Fullmer fought with a broken collarbone.....so by 1950's standards.....Greb is a pussy, though he was rehabilitated once Liston quit.

 

If Chris Byrd were a PHYSICAL Fighter, if the Fight was even REMOTELY Close or if the Stoppage Occured EARLY in the Fight, REED Could See the Point in this Thread...UNfuckingFORTUNATELY, Chris Byrd is 1 of THE LEAST Harmful Heavyweights EVER, Vitali was Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay AHEAD on the Cards & he Tapped Out in the 9th or 10th Round of a 12 Round Bout...

All this "Risking Permanent Damage" Talk is BULLSHIT KLIT LICKING Nonsense...It was CHRISfuckingBYRD he was Fighting that Night, NOT Some Monster...To his Credit, Vitali OVERCAME the "Quitter" Lable, but that DOESN'T Detract from THE FACT that he CAPITULATED in the LATTER Rounds of a Fight he was WELL on his Way to WINNING....



REED:mj:

 

Thanks, Doc.:shit:

 

De Nada, Klit Licker...


REED:boohoo:

 

:bears::bears:

 

:bears:

 

Come on....212lb fighter...not physical enough......:doh: