Former IBFworld heavyweight champion Chris Byrd (40-4) will make his debut in the light heavyweight division on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights tomorrow. After competing in the heavyweight division for nearly his entire career, Byrd is moving down to 175 and will fight Shaun George (16-2-2).

I am looking forward to seeing this. Byrd was always a small heavyweight, but to skip the cruiserweight (200 lbs.) division and jump all the way down to light heavy is something for a 38 year old.

George is ranked #44 by BoxRec.com and should be a good first test for Byrd.

He should bring new attention and life to this division and give these young bucks a test. I hear he is calling out Roy Jones, I think Chris would be a bad fight for Jones. Bird should be able to get a Title at lightheavy if he stays injury free.

I don't know about Byrd winning a world title. I don't think he could beat Joe Calzaghe, the world champ at 175.

Chad Dawson (WBC), Antonio Tarver (IBF), and Zsolt Erdei (WBO) each have an alphabet title belt around their waist.

As for bringing attention to the light heavy division, I think Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins have done plenty to take care of that. Add Roy Jones, Glen Johnson, Clinton Woods, & Adrian Diacanu to the list of top fighters who do not have a "title" around their waist and it looks to be solid.

I could see him battling Tarver for a strap. Erdei probably wouldn't fight him unless he went to Germany and it would be tough to win a decision there.

Dawson is too young and athletic for most of these older fighters and I think will one day be the world champion.

Shaun George just stopped Chris Byrd at 2:45 of the ninth round.

George dominated the entire fight, knocking Byrd down in the first and then twice again in the ninth before the referee stopped the bout. Very impressive performance by George. After the stoppage George called out Tarver and Diacanu, Johnson, & Erdei. Hopefully one of those fighters will agree to a fight. The light heavyweight division looks alive and extremely interesting.

Byrd looked a bit slow and took alot of right hands to the head. I hope he considers retirement now. Nothing else left to prove and at age 37 can live the rest of his life comfortably.

painful to watch......Division is still a little shallow, Johnson & Tarver are well past 35 and there are no big KO or stand out fighters. Dawson needs to step up his game, he won but did not impress against Johnson.

George did look good, fast kid, good hands andsome nice combos.

- quoted from sdl on 17 May 2008, 06:38:41
Shaun George just stopped Chris Byrd at 2:45 of the ninth round.

George dominated the entire fight, knocking Byrd down in the first and then twice again in the ninth before the referee stopped the bout. Very impressive performance by George. After the stoppage George called out Tarver and Diacanu, Johnson, & Erdei. Hopefully one of those fighters will agree to a fight. The light heavyweight division looks alive and extremely interesting.

Byrd looked a bit slow and took alot of right hands to the head. I hope he considers retirement now. Nothing else left to prove and at age 37 can live the rest of his life comfortably.

I disagree a bit on the state of the light heavyweight division. I think there is a good mix of veterans and some fighters in their prime.

From The Ring magazine:

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 175 pounds

This week	Last Week	Weeks in Ratings	Fighter	Record
C	C	4	JOE CALZAGHE (age 36)	45-0 (32)
1	1	101	BERNARD HOPKINS (age 43)	48-5-1 (32)
2	2	504	ANTONIO TARVER (age 39)	27-4 (19)
3	3	102	CHAD DAWSON (age 25)	26-0 (17)
4	4	257	GLEN JOHNSON (age 39)	47-12-2 (32)
5	5	221	ZSOLT ERDEI (age 33)	29-0 (17)
6	6	17	ROY JONES JR. (age 39)	52-4 (38)
7	7	247	CLINTON WOODS (age 36)	41-4-1 (24)
8	8	53	ADRIAN DIACONU (age 29)	25-0 (15)
9	9	8	CHRIS HENRY (age 27)	21-1 (17)
10	10	3	JUERGEN BRAEHMER (age 29)	31-1 (25)

Byrd is going to lose, too much of a weight drop and bypassing cruiserweight maybe a mistake.

I thought this was an upcoming fight, I didn't realize that they fought last night.

Man I hated to watch that fight. I don't know when these fighters are going to learn. Dropping that much weight changes your body in more than one way. Sluggish movement.Look at how bad Jones looked once he came back down. If Tarver would have pressed that action in thier first fight he would have beat Jones. But Tarver also proved something in that first fight with Jones. He is more mouth than action . I agree with the other guy that Byrd should retire or at least take a year off to give himself and his body a chance to adapt to the weight loss.

It looks nice on paper with Calzaghe &Hopkins but they are only looking for big time fights with big names, leaving the young hungry guys to picking up scraps. (Calzaghe gets props for Kessler)
Johnson is a good gate keeper but he is taking too many shots with his style that is going to come back to haunt him.

Erdei & Braehmer are German fighters who need to spread there wings over here to the US to help with the Lt heavy buzz. Braehmer last ten foes have unimpressive numbers and both their records look padded with every fight in Germany.

Diaconu did just beat Chris Henry and Hoye looks good on his resume' he seems like the real deal but he has mainly fought in Canada and his numbers looked padded as well.

We need more exposer from these guys on US soil where they can be seen and not just heard of, to bring the life back. the last Lt. Heavy card with Tarver Vs. Woods / Dawson Vs. Johnson was a start but we need more of that with these new faces.

The mix is good they just need to start mixing it up in the ring.

- quoted from sdl on 17 May 2008, 11:01:46
I disagree a bit on the state of the light heavyweight division. I think there is a good mix of veterans and some fighters in their prime.

From The Ring magazine:

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 175 pounds

This week	Last Week	Weeks in Ratings	Fighter	Record
C	C	4	JOE CALZAGHE (age 36)	45-0 (32)
1	1	101	BERNARD HOPKINS (age 43)	48-5-1 (32)
2	2	504	ANTONIO TARVER (age 39)	27-4 (19)
3	3	102	CHAD DAWSON (age 25)	26-0 (17)
4	4	257	GLEN JOHNSON (age 39)	47-12-2 (32)
5	5	221	ZSOLT ERDEI (age 33)	29-0 (17)
6	6	17	ROY JONES JR. (age 39)	52-4 (38)
7	7	247	CLINTON WOODS (age 36)	41-4-1 (24)
8	8	53	ADRIAN DIACONU (age 29)	25-0 (15)
9	9	8	CHRIS HENRY (age 27)	21-1 (17)
10	10	3	JUERGEN BRAEHMER (age 29)	31-1 (25)