Reno, NV (Betting Express) - Chris Byrd retained his IBF heavyweight title on Saturday night with a unanimous decision against DaVarryl Williamson at the Reno Events Center.
Byrd improved to 39-2-1 in his first fight in nearly a year. Williamson, meanwhile, fell to 22-4 in his first career title fight.
Judge Glenn Trowbridge scored the fight 115-113, while judges Pat Russell and Doug Tucker had it 116-112.
The fight was less than spectacular. Some might argue that the most contact came when the fighters touched gloves to start the fight and again to begin the 12th and final round.
The crowd booed for most of the early rounds and as the fight went on, the crowd appeared to lose interest and stopped booing altogether.
"Style wise he fought a good game plan," said Byrd, who used to spar with Williamson. "I need to be active. I've been off for 11 months and this is what happens."
The first three rounds went by with very little action. It got so bad at one point that referee Vic Drakulich stepped in during the second round and told both fighters to pick up the action.
Byrd did late in the fourth round, hitting Williamson with a flurry of punches to the head with 30 seconds remaining. That was the most action through the opening four rounds.
Williamson landed his best, and maybe his first real punch, in the early stages of the fifth round, hitting Byrd with a straight right.
In the sixth round, the crowd began chanting "fight, fight, fight."
The seventh round saw the action pick up a little bit. Williamson started throwing some jabs that were landing and Byrd began initiating some contact.
Then, at the end of the eighth round, Byrd hit Williamson with a left-right combination, backing up his opponent right before the final bell. Byrd also came on at the end of the next two rounds, trying to steal points in rounds that could have gone either way.
Williamson came out strong in the 11th round, but didn't appear to do any damage. Byrd had a counter for every Williamson combination and came on strong again at the end.
"This wasn't my best performance," said Williamson. "This was a huge opportunity that I let slip through my fingertips."
This was Byrd's fourth defense of the belt since winning it in a unanimous decision over Evander Holyfield in December of 2002. Byrd's previous two fights had been shaky though, as he fought to a draw with Andrew Golota in April of 2004 and then picked up a split decision win over Jameel McCline, despite being knocked down in the second round.
Later in the night, James "Lights Out" Toney earned a convincing win over Dominick Guinn.
Toney, 37, returned to the ring for the first time since being suspended for a positive steroid test following his win over John Ruiz for the WBA title in April. That bout was later ruled a no-decision and Toney was stripped of the belt.
Toney, who improved to 69-4-2, had little trouble with Guinn. The three judges scored the fight 117-111, 119-109 and 119-109.
This fight started much better than the Byrd-Williamson bout that took place earlier in the night.
"I fell asleep," said Toney when asked if he watched the first fight of the night.
Toney and Guinn were very active through the first five rounds, with each landing their share of punches.
The sixth round continued to see both fighters stay close and on the ropes for most of the action. The first sign of blood in the bout came from the mouth of Toney in the round, although he never appeared hurt.
Action remained on the inside for the remainder of the fight, playing to Toney's strength. A number of times Toney would land a punch and play to the crowd and judges.
"I loved it," said Toney of Guinn keeping the fight on the inside. "I like to get down and dirty."
Toney gained total control of the fight by the 10th round, as he was landing big right hands at will.
The highlight of the late rounds came in the 12th and final round when both fighters continued to slug away at each other well after the final bell went off. The bell operator had to ring the bell again to get the fighters to stop.
Guinn fell to 25-3-1.
