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I was Oscar De La Hoya's Olympic colleague. I was beaten twice by Wladimir Klitschko. But nobody hit me harder than the fighter they call 'Touch of Sleep'
Chris Byrd was a mainstay of the heavyweight division during the late 1990s and well into the new millennium.
The former world heavyweight champion was a middleweight when he won Olympic silver in 1992, the same games that Oscar De La Hoya collected gold, but his run in the professional code is best remembered for his lengthy spell at heavyweight where he faced plenty of major names.
At the peak of his powers, Byrd would often concede size but his advantages in speed and skill were enough to allow him to compete with giants like both Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir.
Byrd was the first man to beat Vitali when the massive Ukrainian was forced to pull out in the corner after sustaining a shoulder injury against the Michigan man which meant Byrd would become WBO champion. A title he would lose to Wladimir in his first defence in 2000.
Two years later, Byrd would prove to be too good for a faded Evander Holyfield as he claimed the vacant IBF title, and although he would reign for over three years, he would also relinquish that crown to Wladimir when he was stopped in round six.
Byrd would walk away from boxing in 2009, but in his 47-fight career, it is not Klitschko who hit him the hardest. That honour would go to DaVarryl ‘Touch of Sleep’ Williamson, who Byrd outpointed in 200
“People are gonna say, ‘Why DaVarryl?’ He had a ‘Touch of Sleep’, he had Deontay Wilder-type power,” said Byrd when speaking to The Ring.
“If he had been 6ft 7ins, he’d have been running things like Wilder. To the media, he’s very underrated, but to the boxers, everybody knows if you get in the ring with him and he touches you, you’re going to sleep.
“With me, if you hit me right, I’m a middleweight, you’re supposed to knock me out. I really, really tried to avoid everything from him.”
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