{"id":681883,"date":"2026-07-09T07:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T07:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/681883\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T07:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T07:27:11","slug":"chris-byrd-55-the-latest-to-succumb-in-an-ill-advised-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/681883\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Byrd, 55, the latest to succumb in an ill-advised comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former IBF and WBO heavyweight champion Chris Byrd, 55, could not resist the lure of the ring, succumbing to its drug-like pulling power a little over a week ago.<\/p>\n

After a layoff of 17 years, Byrd became the latest ex-boxer to return and lose badly after fooling himself into believing he could still compete.<\/p>\n

Byrd should not be judged too harshly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Simply, enough time had passed from the end of Byrd\u2019s illustrious career to make him forget the truth of why he decided to retire in the first place. The pain of consecutive stoppage defeats to Alexander Povetkin and Shaun George long since healed, Byrd returned to the gym, cut weight, and felt great.<\/p>\n

He first teased the concept of a comeback in 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to show people that it\u2019s never too late to accomplish your goals and live out your dreams,\u201d he said back then.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy reflexes are razor-sharp; my strength is phenomenal\u2026 What am I known for? Slickness, speed, and reflexes. It\u2019s still there, I\u2019m telling you.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t there in 2007 when Povetkin dished out a one-sided beatdown. Nor was it there in 2008 when he looked weak and vulnerable before losing in nine rounds to George. On June 27 this year, it was glaringly absent again as he was stopped in one round by the unheralded novice Anthony Welsh in a super middleweight bout in Zambia.<\/p>\n

The rigours of time were briefly disguised by Byrd\u2019s impressively svelte physique, but that illusion was exposed inside a minute, the erosion of his slickness, speed, and reflexes all too apparent. It wasn\u2019t long before he was sliding down the ropes, unable to stop himself, his balance shot to bits. He would beat the count but his battle with Father Time had long since been lost.<\/p>\n

The bout cannot be found on BoxRec<\/a>. The sanctioning of the contest, therefore, should be regarded as questionable at best.<\/p>\n

And therein lies the problem: Byrd expressing a wish to fight again is perfectly natural for someone whose life is defined by the exchange of punches but that doesn\u2019t mean those wishes should be granted. In fact, it\u2019s exactly why they shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

In 1999, Byrd lost for the first time in his career when Ike Ibeabuchi halted him in five thrilling rounds. Ibeabuchi last year came back after a 25-year absence, aged 53 and a shadow of the beast he once was.<\/p>\n

Byrd\u2019s best win likely came against Evander Holyfield, who in 2021 was socked around like a 58-year-old rag doll in an ugly match with Vitor Belfort.<\/p>\n

Twelve months ago, when 60 years old, Oliver McCall huffed and puffed his way to a six-round draw with 7-17-2 Carlos Reyes in Nashville. <\/p>\n

Mike Tyson, of course, was allowed back at the age of 58 to take a steady licking at the hands of Jake Paul in arguably the most unbecoming piece of television that Netflix has ever produced.<\/p>\n

Boxers will always want to come back. Particularly after many years out of the limelight with hopes to recapture a youth that continues to tease them but will always remain out of reach.<\/p>\n

Former British junior middleweight champion Jimmy Batten, now 70, said 15 years ago he would do anything to fight one last time. His brain was already damaged by then, wars with the likes of Roberto Duran had left their mark. <\/p>\n

Last month he was consigned to a home, the fits of rage and confusion had become too much for his family to bear. <\/p>\n

That last fight is now upon him, after all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former IBF and WBO heavyweight champion Chris Byrd, 55, could not resist the lure of the ring, succumbing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,6102,10078,45020,35978,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-681883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-news","tag-boxingscene","tag-chris-byrd","tag-comeback","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=681883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}