I fought Evander Holyfield and heavyweight with granite chin, but boxer who Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson paid NOT to spar was incredible
Chris Byrd battled with both Klitschko brothers and Evander Holyfield during the early 2000s.
The American Olympian won a silver medal at the 1992 games as a middleweight, then remarkably decided to bulk all the way up to heavyweight for his professional career.
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Byrd was 26-0 before suffering his first defeat to Ike Ibeabuchi in 1999.
He bounced back well from this loss and challenged Vitali Klitschko for his WBO belt the following year as a late replacement opponent.
In a major upset, Byrd handed Vitali one of only two losses he suffered in his legendary career, as the Ukrainian ended the fight in his corner due to a torn shoulder rotator cuff injury.
With Vitali out of action due to injury, Wladimir stepped in to face Byrd next and claimed that belt for the Klitschko family by outpointing him six months later.
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When they rematched in 2006, it was another Wladimir victory, this time by seventh-round knockout.
When asked who the best fighter he faced in his career was, Byrd told : "I’ve got to go with Wladimir Klitschko with my style, he’s the best.
"He fought me in a way where he didn’t care about the style. He stayed tall, used the jab. He beat me up and outboxed me for 12 rounds or stopped me."
When on the comeback trail in 2001 after the first defeat to Wladimir, Byrd won points decisions over Maurice Harris and David Tua.
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Remarkably, Byrd named the little-known Harris (who retired with a record of 26–22–3) as his most skilful ever opponent.
Byrd said: "Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson were paying him not to spar because they knew he was that good."
It was rumoured that before Lewis knocked out Tyson in 2002, Lewis' team paid Harris $5,000 a week to be in his camp and not spar, purely because they didn't want Tyson to have the advantage of sparring with him.
"He could match me in skills and he could punch pretty good. You can ask almost any heavyweight of that era and he’ll tell you, ‘That’s one guy we’re not gonna fight.’
"He had that much talent, but he couldn’t put it together in certain fights."
And Byrd said Tua had the greatest chin of anyone he fought: "His chin, man, I hit him with a headshot and it didn’t do anything, he barely flinched.
"I’m going to have to go with David. The level of opposition David took it from, he took it from everybody and was never fazed."
In the end though, Byrd's greatest triumph came when he beat Evander Holyfield to win the IBF heavyweight world title in 2002.
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And Byrd confirmed Holyfield was the smartest fighter he faced: "He tried to put you in traps.
"I’m not stupid in the ring, but he tried to trap me in the corner. It was a cat and mouse game.
"He would take steps both ways to try to trap me. I had to go in my bag of tricks.
"He used his head at certain times. It was smart stuff and it breaks a guy down in the course of the fight.";
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