Chris Byrd: “I love Manny Pacquiao but Algieri is 5’11 and Manny is 5’6. If Algieri uses his height and range, we have a fight!”

I had a chance to speak with former IBF and WBO heavyweight champ, Chris ‘Rapid Fire’ Byrd. Chris had a pro career that spanned sixteen years and saw him face the likes of Evander Holyfield as well as Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko. In part two of my interview with Chris Byrd, we discussed Floyd Mayweather’s current form and the thought of many that he is beginning to slip. Byrd also spoke about a potential Mayweather-Pacquiao match up and if he believes Pacquiao will be able to get past his next opponent, Chris Algieri. Lastly, ‘Rapid Fire’ comments on IBO champ, Gennady Golovkin’s recent run and possible future matches. Here is what Chris Byrd had to say.

Robert Brown: I want to get your thoughts on Floyd Mayweather, there’s talk that he’s slipping a little bit. What are your thoughts on Floyd and do you agree with the assessment that he’s slipping a little?

Chris Byrd: It’s boxing and it’s the body, of course he’s gonna slip a little bit. The style match up, Maidana came with a pressure type style that was throwing in awkward angles, especially for the first fight. Floyd made adjustments for the second fight, even at his age he’s making adjustments and is still pretty slick.

He’s fighting great at a high level and I still look at him as a kid that has so much talent at his age and fighting at the highest level and willing to fight certain young guys. He’s a business man too, he’s not gonna give it to all these young guys, there’s no reason for it.

He’s still fighting really good at thirty seven, that’s still pretty impressive and his reflexes are still really sharp and it looks like his legs are good. That’s one thing I worry about with him, when you get a little older you tend to get a little more flat footed, you stay in the pocket a little longer and get hit.

In the first fight with Maidana it seemed like he was doing that, in the second fight he adjusted — moving, shifting, going back and forth, being smart, picking his shots and just doing beautiful work in the ring. That’s a kid that still has it. Personally, I don’t think he’s slipping. He’s a kid that’s really not a welterweight, he’s like a lightweight when you think about it, or a light welterweight. He’s fighting guys at welterweight and doing well.

Robert Brown: By far the best fight that could be made is the Manny Pacquiao fight, why do you think that hasn’t happened yet and do you think it will ever happen?

Chris Byrd: I hope for the fans it does happen and I personally think he may go out with a bang and hopefully his last fight is Pacquiao-Mayweather, they get it on and they please the fans. I have no idea why the fight hasn’t taken place. One side has issues with certain things so who knows, but I know that’s the biggest fight out there. That’s humongous for the sport of boxing, huge.

Robert Brown: Pacquiao is fighting Chris Algieri. Most people think this is going to be an easy fight for Pacquiao. What are your thoughts on this fight and do you think Algieri’s been given enough credit?

Chris Byrd: He beat Provodnikov so after that he’s champion, I’m happy for him that he got it in such a big fight. When you look at style match ups in this fight, Algieri can slow the pace down, pick up the rhythm of Manny. I love Manny Pacquiao but Algieri is 5’11 and Manny is 5’6.

If Algieri can keep his height and range, slow the fight, make it boring, make his man reach, we have a fight here. The only thing about Algieri is he’s not a puncher where he’s gonna go looking for a knockout, he’s used to going the distance. He’s the kind of guy that if he’s winning and he’s up front, he’ll just continue boxing all the way through, he’s not gonna take any chance, he’s not that kind of boxer. If he’s doing well, I think he just keeps boxing his way to a victory.

With Manny, he’s thirty five years old so you really don’t know. Everybody thinks about the Manny that beat all these guys coming up, from De La Hoya and Cotto, that was a few years back. When you start getting a little bit older in age, you slow down a little bit. Manny hasn’t knocked anybody out in a while but I think everybody thinks about all the punishment he put on guys as he was coming up.

It’s a good match up. On Manny’s side, their people are looking at the fight like, “Why him?” It’s kind of a difficult match up but they must see something that they can exploit and do well with.

Robert Brown: Gennady Golovkin recently destroyed Marco Antonio Rubio and now he is set to fight Martin Murray. What kind of fights do you want to see ‘GGG’ in?

Chris Byrd: The biggest thing is, come on champions, let’s make matches. If you say you’re the best and you say you’re the best middleweight in the world, let’s make the match. That’s how it is. You have Peter Quillin, Cotto and you have ‘GGG’ but nobody is fighting each other.

Let’s make this a tournament, let’s make it Hearns, Hagler, Leonard and Duran all over again. You got great middleweights with great middleweight names and some guys that can make a name for themselves if they go in. Right now ‘GGG’ is the number one middleweight but any other champion at middleweight feels they’re the number one middleweight, let’s make the match. Don’t sit back and be scared to do it.