George KO's Byrd in 9
Posted by Ramon Aranda on 05.17.2008
Full results from ESPN2 Friday Night Fights.
Photo by Ed Mulholland / FightWireImages.com
Former two time champ at heavyweight, Chris Byrd (40-5-1, 21 KOs) looked slow and uncomfortable in his first bout at light heavyweight as Shaun George (17-2-2, 8 KOs) put a pounding on him en route to a 9th round TKO. From the opening round it was clear that Byrd didn't have the reflexes we were used to seeing out of him in his prime and he lacked any kind of zip in his punches even though he was coming down from heavyweight. George snapped crisp and accurate punches, highlighted by booming right hands that dropped Byrd in the 1st round. Byrd recovered but he just didn't have much fight in him and it was easy to see that he would have an uphill battle. George continuously attacked and never let up, giving Byrd all sorts of trouble. In the 9th, George landed a quick left uppercut followed by a right cross that sent Byrd down for the second time in the fight. Byrd landed akwardly possibly injuring his left shoulder as he fell sideways to the canvas. Byrd arose but was on shaky legs and George finished him off with a barrage of punches that send him down to the bottom ropes before referee Jay Nady called it off. It was a coming out party of sorts for George who now looks for bigger and better things while leaving Byrd in a precarious state. This may be the end for the once quick handed slickster who has now lost three straight via KO.
Earlier in the evening, junior lightweight Ji-hoon Kim (14-5, 11 KOs) overcame a shaky first round to knockout former contender Koba Gogoladze (20-3, 8 KOs) after a sneaky left hook caught Gogoladze coming in. Koba beat th count but was pounded along the ropes giving Kim a mild upset and a TKO in round 1.
In the opening bout, Ruslan Provodnikov (8-0, 6 KOs) put on a slow but impressive beating on Brian Gordon (4-1, 4 KOs). It was a fight that remained competitive throughout as they both gave each other all they had but Provodnikov had the upper hand in most of the rounds.
