Funny enough when I was a kid Holyfield was my favorite, still is among others. I was born in 84 so Prime Tyson was before my time. I started watching boxing in the 90s, so 80s Tyson was the last heavyweight I got into and studied. That sega game greatest heavyweights introduced me to Holmes and dempsey haha. Honestly I always knew Bowe was amazing, but I despised him growing up cause I was such a Holy fan. Man watching bowe holy 3 was something. However coming full circle Bowe, Tyson, and yes Lewis all impress me greatly. But I just think the Tyson fights ruined Ruddock. And a prime focused, Tyson, and Bowe would be too much for Lewis. Bowe and Tyson had iron chins no question. Ive said before, the only fighters I like against Prime Lewis are Ali, Foreman, Tyson, and Bowe. "Reek of an agenda towards Tyson" poorly crafted sir. I am a giants fan so i can deal with that I guess.
If Rock Newman had let Bowe fight Lewis in `93 when it shouldve happened I think Riddick wouldve beat him. Lennox hadnt developed his lefthand yet. His jab was more of a pawing and his balance wasnt that good. He was getting by on natural talent and a huge righthand. Eddie Futch had developed Riddick Bowe into a complete PRO heavyweigth. He was good at distance, midrange and was an exceptional inside fighter for a 6-5 fighter. Their respective peaks were at different times in the 90s. Had they fought by `95 or later I give Lennox Lewis a huge edge.
To take it a step further. IMO when Bowe`s team blantantly avoided Lewis in `93 I believe that sent Riddick into a depression. He had two easy fights with Dokes and Ferguson. Then he went into the Holyfield rematch not in terrible shape but not as trim as he needed to be. When your own manager doesnt believe in you thats gotta sting. I think the same thing mightve happened to Gerry Cooney. It cant help your confidence.
Are you shitting me? :rofl The man went 19 with arguably the greatest puncher in division history, you silly bloke. Tyson was outweighed by 22 lbs in this fight.
This! Wow, it was exactly what I was thinking but this person is brighter and able to articulate it better than I am.
These two wins with the advantage of hindsight must now be put into context. We must remamber how highly holyfeild was regarded at the moments of both wins. First time evander was the man. A real undisputed champion but the jury was still out on him as a heavyweight. After the fight it was a case of “bowe looks like he could be the next big thing but is it just because he got to holyfeild before lewis or rudduck did" Holyfeild was not regarded as anything like a great fighter at that time …. all that came much later. Second time Bowe beat Hoilyfeild evender was old news. It was prior to the 3 year win streak where everyone decided that "after all" evander had been a great fighter. Holyfeild was another contender, just 3-2 in his last 5 and was not seen as a future champion, there were a lot of contenders regarded higher at that time. So yes like lewis, Bowe beat the second best heavyweight of the era but riddick did not KO anyone else who was CONSIDERED champion material.where as briggs, ruddock, grant and golota all were when Lewis took them on.
Well I mean the Ruddock wins for Tyson and Lewis are both overrated in my views. When looking at Ruddock's career he didn't exactly do that much apart from do well against Tyson. Sure them two fights would have taken a lot out of him, but had they not happened was it really gonna change the fact that Ruddock just couldn't quite cut it at the elite level of HW's? In my eyes no, however I can understand why you would think otherwise. Well that's certainly debatable. Top 5 of course, in fact probably a shoe-in for 3 but I don't see him being a greater puncher than Foreman or Shavers (although he only had ATG power in his right) :-( I have no love for one opponent outweighing the over. It's like the Greb-Tunney fights. If Greb went up to 175 a long with Tunney the fight would have probably been no different and Greb knew his best weight was around 165ish and gaining them 8 pounds would have drastically effected his performance. If Tyson gained them extra 22 pounds would he be better of fighting Ruddock? Of course not so why make that point.
I must admit Holyfield is probably one if my favourite fighters period, let alone just heavyweights. it was pretty late last night so I was probably just being my grumpy, sleep derived self and jumped to conclusions. I personally think Lewis beats most. Ali is slightly favoured in my eyes, but there are quite a few 50-50s (Tyson, Foreman, Holmes) then fights where I favour Lewis but accept the fact That the other guy has a good chance (Holyfield, Bowe, Louis) don't actually support the giants but I've got mad love for Coughlin, Eli and their defence. Picked em to beat the Pats in 07 and 2012, but being a Colts fan and having Peyton leaving has really tested my love for American football, but at the end of the day I can watch any team and enjoy it.
I'll leave the trolling out I know that looking back, a lot of people feel that the early 90's Bowe will beat the early 90's Lewis. but also remember that Lewis was suppose to fight Bowe after the Ruddock Elimination fight. Lennox actually regressed after that fight up until the Mccall Loss. He started progressing again under Steward. Who knows why Lewis showed regression after Ruddock, but if Bowe fought Lewis right after the Ruddock fight, it would have honestly been a genuine 50 50, with the highs Lennox and Bowe were both coming off of. Also Riddick Bowe was famous for not getting in shape. He was in the best shape of his life, and probably the only time he looked full potential against Holyfield. The odds of Riddick Bowe getting in prime shape BACK TO BACK is probably close to zero. Rock Newman said that other then the Holyfield Fight he had to drag Bowe back to camp at least a dozen times, because when the going got too tough Bowe will announce his 'retirement' from boxing. Bowe was a real lazy ****, I refuse to believe he could have gotten into the same kind of Holyfield Shape right after the Holyfield FIght going into the Lewis one. So overall the duck was a great idea. Riddick Bowe, the biggest waste of talent in HW History. Even more so then Tyson
No doubt, Razor was a fairly limited fighter. He had tremendous size, power and toughness working in his favor which is sometimes enough to get by. His claim to fame at that point was holding brutal KOs over former long tenured titlists and contenders; his only defeat due to a previously undetected respiratory illness. I guess the wins will always be good for Tyson just due to the fact that apart from Holyfield, there was not a higher rated fighter in the division he could've possibly fought in 1991 and seen as a legitimate threat, know what I mean Webbi? I for one, don't see why making not one, but two 'Title Eliminator Bouts' was even necessary. Tyson reigned in dominant fashion from '86-'89 like few before him. He's probably entitled to a title shot at earliest convenience without being bothered, but King was on a ego trip to prove he could bring in more money even without control of the title and guess who got whored out? Certainly. When I reference puncher though, I'm not just considering power but also other facets such as hand speed, form, accuracy, combinations, use of angles, body attack? I see Tyson as being far greater in all of these aspects compared to Foreman/Shavers and rivaled only by Joe Louis. I can respect this. The answer is probably No. it's just a matter of they're being naturally smaller guys at their respective bests and the theory that good big usually beats good little. There probably aren't many instances in the lower divisions where we'd expect even great fighters to take out top rated contenders 20 lbs north. What type of shot would Aaron Pryor of had with John Mugabi? Of course, Tyson is never given any type of literal 'pound for pound' credit by anybody. No Heavyweight is. All bets are always off above 200 lbs and it's suddenly irrelevant. But an 7-8 lb difference below is cream-your-pants worthy.
I enjoyed watching Bowe more. Really liked his game style, never taking a backward step, big power, nonstop offense, great condition for a big man. HOWEVER, one should not use entertainment value as a standard for making a pick in a matchup. The truth is that Lewis posed a very bad matchup for Bowe. Lewis was as tall, as long in the reach, but was faster and rangier, with superior footwork, hence less easy to be hit, and more likely to hit the stationary Bowe, and Lennox had enough power that he could and would hurt Bowe, and very badly at that. I think Bowe could have stunned Lennox, but Lennox knew how to move and cover and grab and pull on the head, so he'd get himself out of trouble. Lennox would have fought him with more respect than he showed McCall in that first bout, and would have had enough respect for him to train properly, unlike the first Rahman fight. At the end of the day, I think Lennox's long range right is the beginning of the end for Bowe in any era. Lennox showed that in 88, and so did the much more limited but tall and powerful Golota many years later. Recall how Lennox got Golota out in 1 round. Neither Bowe nor Golota had much footwork.
