Well, it was worth a try. Chris Byrd's attempt at rejuvenating his career by dropping two weight classes met with failure Friday night in Las Vegas. Shaun George proved to be too steep a challenge for the former two-time heavyweight titlist. The 37 year-old Byrd had never been a natural heavyweight, and figured that by dropping closer to his natural bodyweight, he could turn back the clock. However, against George, he merely looked old and tired in being pounded to a ninth-round TKO loss.

Part of the idea of dropping to light heavy was that Byrd's new opponents wouldn't land with the same type of force that heavyweights like Tua, Klitschko, and Povetkin have. This may indeed be true. Shaun George obviously does not punch like Wladimir Klitschko or Ike Ibeabuchi. Having said that, Chris Byrd clearly didn't bring his heavyweight chin with him down to 175. Shaun George hit plenty hard enough to repeatedly rattle a surprisingly fragile Byrd.

Chris Byrd's legs seemed gone as early as the first round. George (17-2-2, 8KOs) was able to land the right cross several times in the opening minutes, as Byrd (40-5-1, 21KOs) leaned into the punches, magnifying the damage. Chris was eventually dropped after being visibly rocked by multiple counters. That rough first round set the stage for the rest of the fight. Byrd would find himself stalking George and repeatedly walking into counter right hands. Byrd seemed to struggle to let his hands go, as he appeared uncomfortable in the role of aggressor. Byrd was occasionally able to land a jab, but was unable to faze an increasingly confident Shaun George. The pattern of the fight continued in each round as George would calmly walk away from Byrd, then pivot and land hard rights as Byrd followed him. Byrd never seemed able to solve George's Jersey Joe Walcott impression.

The second was similar to the first, as Chris was tagged with multiple hard crosses and pawing jabs. Before the round, Byrd's father and trainer Joe Byrd implored his son to let his hands go more often. His attempts at carrying out those wishes were met with strong counters. Byrd was wobbled again, but managed to avoid the knockdown of the first.

In the first minute of round three, Chris threw a quick combo as Shaun did his walking-away routine, but didn't follow up while Mr. George retreated. As in the first two rounds, Byrd continued to follow the retreating George around the ring. He ate punches in return and none of his infrequent attacks caused

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