Chris Byrd Former & Samuel Peter Current, Heavyweight Champions Dual Signed Everlast Laced Glove

Price: £80

Chris Cornelius Byrd (born August 15, 1970) in Flint, Michigan where he attended Flint Northwestern High School is a 6 ft. / 182.9 cm. tall southpaw, who was nicknamed "Rapid Fire". He is the former WBO and IBF heavyweight champion

Chris Byrd was the youngest of eight children growing up in Flint, Michigan. He began boxing at age 5, training in his father Joe Sr's, Joe Byrd Boxing Academy. His father continued to train and manage Byrd as a professional

Byrd began competing in the ring at age 10, and compiled an impressive 275 wins in the amateur ranks. He was a three-time U.S. amateur champion (1989, 1991, and 1992). He was on the 1991 U.S. National boxing Team that became the first (and only) U.S. team to score a tie against the heralded Cuban team. Byrd won the silver medal in the 1992 Barcelona summer Olympics as a middleweight, losing to Cuba's Ariel Hernández in the final.

Byrd turned professional on Jan 28, 1993, displaying punching power by knocking out 10 of his first 13 opponents. Byrd moved up to heavyweight three fights into his professional career. Many have deemed Byrd's highly technical style of boxing (jabbing, fast hands, sporadic combination-punching, and evasive body movement) too boring for the heavyweight division. Regardless, Byrd was one of the world's best heavyweights in the late 1990s. Byrd remained undefeated for his first 26 fights, knocking off then-notable opponents like Phil Jackson, Lionel Butler ,cruiser Uriah Grant, Bert Cooper, Craig Peterson, Frankie Swindell, Jimmy Thunder, undefeated Eliecer Castillo and Ross Puritty, none of whom was a contender.
However in 1999, Byrds' undefeated record came to a dead end when he fought undefeated Ike Ibeabuchi who was relatively unknown at that time but turned into a feared contender afterwards in an HBO Boxing Event. With 48 seconds left in the fifth round, a devastating left upper-cut followed with a right sent Byrd who had been leading to the canvass, face first. During the last week of March 2000, Byrd was offered the chance to be the replacement (for Donovan Ruddock) against undefeated champion Vitali Klitschko in Berlin, Germany (Klitschko's adopted home country) for the WBO Heavyweight Title. He therefore had only seven days to prepare for the fight (not the customary 6-12 weeks). Byrd struggled greatly in the fight until the fifth round, when he began to back up his 6-foot-7-inch (200.7 cm.) opponent. Byrd then succeeded in further pressing his opponent and started turning the fight against the champion who had injured himself. Klitschko finished the ninth round, but complained of shoulder pain and was unable to continue. Despite trailing on all three of the judges' scorecards, Byrd walked away with a TKO win and a heavyweight championship. The injury that Klitschko suffered was a torn shoulder rotator cuff, which required major surgery and a 7 month lay-off.

Six months later, Byrd was back in Germany to defend the title against Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali's younger, more agile brother. Twelve rounds later, Byrd had lost a lopsided unanimous decision and the WBO belt after being knocked down twice.
Byrd returned to the U.S., signed with Don King and beat Maurice Harris to win the USBA heavyweight belt in Madison Square Garden. Although it was a minor title, the USBA was associated with the IBF. He was now a top-five contender for the IBF title . After winning his next match (a title defence against New Zealand's top contender David Tua) Byrd eventually received his mandatory shot at the vacant IBF world Heavyweight Championship against shop-worn legend Evander Holyfield in Atlantic City. On Dec. 14, 2002, Byrd won a lopsided unanimous decision and the IBF Title in an impressive performance against one of the biggest names in boxing history.
Byrd has successfully defended the IBF belt against: Fres Oquendo in 2003 (match ended in a controversial win for Byrd in which most people felt Oquendo won) , a draw with "Andrew" Golota and a decision win over friend Jameel McCline in 2004, and DaVarryl Williamson in 2005. Because he was generally recognized as the most talented of the three major world champions (in 2004 & 2005), boxing observers expected much of Byrd. However, his infrequent and un-entertaining title defences have led some boxing writers and fans to heavily criticize his IBF Championship reign. Frequent contract disputes with promoter Don King caused significant tensions as boxing fans awaited a more definitive champion to re-unify the title relinquished by Lennox Lewis.

On April 22, 2006, Byrd lost to Wladimir Klitschko in a fight for the IBF and IBO title. The fight took place at SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany. Byrd was heavily dominated throughout the fight, was down in the fifth, and again in the seventh. Referee Wayne Kelly stopped the fight after the second knockdown when Byrd had an open cut near his eyes. Klitschko won in a TKO. He's going to make a debut at light heavyweight on may 16 against Shaun George (16-2-2, 7 KOs) in Las Vegas.






Samuel Okon Peter (born September 6, 1980 in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria), nicknamed "The Nigerian Nightmare," current WBC heavyweight champion. He is considered by many to be one of the strongest punchers in the heavyweight division.

Originally, Peter's preferred sport was soccer. In 1992, some boxers came to Peter's school to train. The curious young 11-year-old stopped by and asked if he could train along with them. He was put up against an experienced amateur and knocked him out. This marked the beginning of a successful amateur career for Peter.
Samuel Peter won the Nigerian amateur heavyweight championship and the Africa Zone 3 Heavyweight championship while compiling an amateur record of 18 wins and only 2 losses. He faced stiff competition as an amateur (including a knockout victory over 2000 Silver Medallist Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov of Kazakhstan). However, he prevailed and was given the opportunity to represent Nigeria at the 2000 Sydney, Australia Summer Olympics.Peter lost in the quarterfinals to Italian Paolo Vidoz by decision. However, his performance was noted for being very impressive from such a young pugilist and hence more excitement was generated for him than the eventual Gold Medallist, Audley Harrison, to whom Peter had lost a very close decision just a few months before the Olympics.

Immediately after the Olympics, Ivaylo Gotzev signed on as Samuel Peter's manager, and Andy "Pops" Anderson became Peter's coach. They were then able to land a promotional deal with Dino Duva of Duva Boxing. As of March 2008, Peter's professional ring record stands at 30-1 (with 23 knockouts). Though Peter posted a string of 1st-round knockouts at the beginning of his career, he fought to 2 consecutive decisions against Charles Shufford and Jovo Pudar in 2004. Some critics asked if Peter could exhibit the one-punch knockout power he had exhibited in his early days against stronger opposition.

Peter won a victory against Jeremy Williams on December 4, 2004 by knockout 27 seconds into the second round, to win the vacant NABF Heavyweight title. He then defeated Yanqui Diaz on January 22, 2005 to win the vacant USBA Heavyweight title. Peter then went on to defeat NABA Heavyweight champion Taurus Sykes in Reno, NV on July 2, 2005 trained by Andy "Pops" Anderson in a unification match. On September 24, 2005 Peter faced Wladimir Klitschko in an elimination match in Atlantic City for the IBF and WBO world titles, in which Peter's NABF title was also on the line. Klitschko won a unanimous decision. On December 15, 2005, Peter faced Robert Hawkins and won a 10 round decision.

Peter regained the NABF title (vacated by Klitschko after his victory) on April 28, 2006, by defeating Julius Long. Peter's next bout was a fight with Heavyweight contender James Toney on September 2, 2006 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California for the right to challenge WBC Heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev. Peter would win by split decision; however, the WBC would find adequate cause to order a rematch. (This move generated just as much controversy as the decision itself, as it is uncommon to require a second fight without significant evidence that a match has been mishandled.)
On January 6, 2007, Peter defeated Toney in the rematch by unanimous decision, erasing any doubts as to the validity of the first fight. The official judges scorecards read 119-108, 118-110, 118-110.

After defeating Toney, Peter earned the right to fight the WBC World Heavyweight champion. A match against Oleg Maskaev was scheduled for October 6, 2007. However, Maskaev pulled out of the fight due to a back injury. This led WBC to proclaim Peter interim Heavyweight Champion of the World. Jameel McCline was scheduled to fight Vitali Klitschko on September 22 for a title elimination. However, the fight was canceled because Klitschko had suffered a back injury in training. Under these conditions, a fight was arranged between Peter and McCline. Peter stepped into the ring as the champion trying to defend his title. Much controversy preceded the match since McCline had been accused of use illegal substances in 2005 and 2006, but the organizers decided to let the fight happen despite of this. Lab analysis would be available about 5 days after the fight. On October 6, at 10 p.m, in Madison Square Garden, Peter was knocked down 3 times in the 2nd and 3rd round by McCline, who had a height advantage of almost 6 inches. Peter managed to get up and eventually won the remaining rounds to win the match with a unanimous decision and retain his title as the WBC Interim Heavyweight Champion of the World.

As interim champion, Peter was a mandatory challenger for the WBC belt held by Oleg Maskaev, who was inactive since December 2006 due to injury. This long-anticipated fight took place on March 8, 2008, at the principal bullfighting venue in Cancun, Mexico. Peter won by TKO, with the referee stopping the fight with only a few seconds remaining in the 6th round.
Some controversy arose over the legitimacy of the referee's stoppage, as the fight had hardly been lopsided to that point, and so little time remained before the bell. However, Maskaev was clearly staggered and had taken several unanswered heavy shots, and appeared unable to defend himself as he was knocked against the ropes. Some of the controversy was muted when Maskaev opined that the referee did the right thing in stopping the fight. Peter was ahead on all three judges' scorecards at the time of the stoppage.

Following his victory over Maskaev, Peter publicly challenged IBF and WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko to a unification bout, which would be Klitschko's second such fight, as well as his second matchup with Peter (the first ending with a fairly close unanimous decision victory for Klitschko). Such a fight would unify three of the four major titles, the closest the division has been to an entirely unified title since Lennox Lewis relinquished the WBA title (one of the three he then held) by court order on April 29, 2000. Klitschko indicated he might fight Peter, but suggested that Peter should fight his brother Vitali first, who retired as WBC champion in November 2005, and is considered the WBC's champion emeritus, giving him the right to a mandatory challenge under the rules of that organization should he elect to fight again. Despite this speculation, no title defence has yet been actually scheduled for Peter to date.

Samuel Peter is a devout Christian man who neither drinks nor smokes. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Peter, who is managed by Ivalio Gotsev, is a stablemate to former WBO Heavyweight champion Sergei Liakhovich. Peter is now promoted by Duva Boxing and is trained by Andy "Pops" Anderson as well as former champion Boza Edwards.