Columnist Dean Juipe: Holyfield, Byrd vie for open title

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Dec. 12, 2002 | 8:45 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Evander Holyfield admits he wouldn't be fighting Chris Byrd unless he had to.

But with the vacant International Boxing Federation heavyweight title at stake, he's willing to take a chance on Byrd and his elusive style.

"Why would I fight Byrd if it's not for a title?" Holyfield said during a conference call to promote their Saturday fight in Atlantic City. "I'll box him and try not to get excited."

Byrd's awkward and defensive ways have made many an opponent flinch and/or look bad, and there's no guarantee that his bout with Holyfield will be aesthetically pleasing. Yet Byrd has shown a more offensive front in a couple of major fights, such as when he fought each of the Klitschko brothers.

"He charged the Klitschko boys," Holyfield said, obviously hopeful Byrd will do the same with him. "He fought them quite a bit different."

Holyfield and Byrd are matched for a title that came open when promoter Don King paid reigning champion Lennox Lewis to step aside. King intends to match the Holyfield-Byrd winner against the winner of the March 1 World Boxing Association title fight in Las Vegas between John Ruiz and Roy Jones Jr.

Holyfield, 40, is 38-5-2 with 25 knockouts.

Byrd, 32, is 35-2 with 20 KOs.

Both men have worked their way up to the heavyweight division after starting as light heavies and prospering as cruiserweights. In Holyfield's case, longevity is both a plus and a minus as he has fought professionally since 1984 and has met a litany of great champions.

Among the notable heavyweights he has faced: Riddick Bowe, three times; Ruiz, three times; Lewis, twice; Mike Tyson, twice; Michael Moorer, twice; and George Foreman and Hasim Rahman.

Holyfield may or may not be damaged goods, but he has yet to give up on his dream of reclaiming the undisputed heavyweight championship that he last held in 1992.

"I fight the best fighters," he said. "I'm fighting everybody that lines up that would enable me to be the undisputed champion."

He's not convinced that Byrd can frustrate him, let alone hurt him.

"How quick can he actually be?" Holyfield said. "He throws a lot of fluffy punches.

"I'm a student of the game. (I'm) always making adjustments for different fighters. You have to do what's necessary to win.

"I don't think so much that anyone can make you look bad, other than you getting frustrated for not hitting him with the big shots that you think you should."

Byrd, who recently moved to Las Vegas, is a southpaw who split his fights with the Klitschkos, besting Vitali (when he was injured) but losing in turn to Wladimir.

While Holyfield said he has employed a couple of lefties in training camp to prepare for Byrd, he was unable to give their names.

"I'll make the best of it," he said of the fight, which will be televised by HBO. "Eventually I'll catch up to him."

"Opportunity knocks," McCullough said. "Glasgow won't bother me -- it's only a 15-minute flight from Belfast and I'll get plenty of support."

McCullough, of course, is a native of Ireland. He recently fought there and improved to 26-3, while Harrison is 18-1-1 following an Oct. 19 win in Glasgow over reigning WBO champion Julio Pablo Chacon.

"I saw that fight while I was over there and Harrison strikes me as a good but not great fighter," McCullough said. "I also saw him fight in June, and he looks like a guy who can be hurt to the body."

McCullough is moving up a division and is ranked No. 8 by the WBO.

"He'll probably be a little stronger than most of the guys I've faced, but he doesn't punch any harder," McCullough said. "I fought (Naseem) Hamed and he never hurt me."

He sees a few other advantages at this early date.

"I'm tall enough to fight him," McCullough said, "and it's murder for him to make weight but easy for me.

"I can also throw 1,200 punches in a fight, and he and Chacon combined to throw only 900.

"I'm also a very good body puncher, thanks to working with Eddie Futch and Mike McCallum. I stopped my last two opponents by going to the body."

He thinks Harrison -- whose previous claim to fame was handling aging ex-champions Tracy Patterson and Tom Johnson -- won't even have a "home-court" advantage.

"If I hit him and hurt him enough, the judges will have to give it to me," McCullough said. "Besides, I'm still a bigger draw than he is."

Thomas Hearns, 44, has signed to fight Thomas Reid Jan. 17 in Memphis. Hearns, 59-5-1, last fought in April of 2000 when he was injured and couldn't continue in a fight with Uriah Grant. Reid is 29-10-1. The bout will be at 190 pounds and Hearns is holding out hope for a later fight with WBA champion Jean Marc Mormeck. ... Overlooked result: ex-champ Junior Jones, 50-6, beaten by Ivan Alvarez, 19-12, in a junior lightweight fight on the undercard of Christy Martin's decision win over Mia St. John last Friday in Pontiac, Michigan. ... The next local card is Dec. 27 at the Orleans.