Klitschko TKOs Byrd in seventh round

By Scott Shaffer

22/04/2006

Klitschko TKOs Byrd in seventh round

Wladimir Klitschko dominated Chris Byrd for seven rounds in Mannheim, Germany on Saturday, knocking Byrd down twice and opening up a bad cut over Byrd's eye that resulted in a technical knockout immediately after the second knockdown. "I can be very honest," said Byrd afterwards, "I was never in the fight." Klitschko, who had a six inch height and 30-pound weight advantage, is now the IBF heavyweight champion. Boxingtalk had already recognized him as the #1 heavyweight in the world in the wake of Lamon Brewster's recent loss.  That the undersized Byrd, now 39-3-1, has been able to accomplish so much in the heavyweight division has been nothing short of a miracle.  In the early rounds, Klitschko had his way with an increasingly frustrated Byrd, landing stiff jabs on the outside and clutching Byrd whenever he was able to get inside. In the fifth round, Klitschko bloodied Byrd's nose and knocked him flat on his back with a single punch. Byrd gamely got up and absorbed more punishment with American referee Wayne Kelly seemingly on the verge of stopping the bout. In round six, the action was more measured, but Klitschko was still landing his jab regularly. In the seventh round, a right hand put Byrd down again. He popped right back up, but his face was a bloody mess as the right hand opened a large cut over Byrd's eye. Kelly took a quick look at the blood and immediately stopped the fight. The win means that three of the four heavyweight titles are in the hands of Eastern Europeans: the Ukrainian Klitschko holds the IBF title, Nicolay Valuev of Russia holds the WBA belt and Sergei Lyakhovich of Belarus holds the WBO version. Hasim Rahman, the WBC titlist, is the lone American claimant to a title over which Americans historically had a stranglehold. Klitschko is now 46-3.