Agreed. Golata hardly looked like any sort of can't miss prospect going into that Bowe fight, did he? Okay performance in the decision win over Nicholson and the horrible fight with Pouha. But his hands were low in those fights and leaving that big of a window for Lennox Lewis right hands back then was suicide.
if golota is at his "best" he could do better...i mean maybe his knees was hurt, maybe he did have some pain killers in him..maybe it was just a bad night. having said that....golota never showed me anything to suggest he could beat a prime lewis. his best showing was beating up on, but losing, to a 1. really fat out of shape half shot bowe. and 2. really overtrained almost totally shot bowe.
Add the head gear, and the Winning groin protector up to the ribs, and I bet Golota becomes an entirely different animal against any class of fighter. That would be an epic sparring session.
The best of Bowe always beats the best Lennox Lewis. Bowe would have taken Lewis into a brawl and outslugged him in close. Bowe KO5
Magna, you likely know the answer to this, but didn't Lennox knock Golota out in a sparring session sometime before they actually boxed? I can't remember where I heard that but I did hear it somewhere...
I actually feel the exact opposite! I've always felt that Bowe never really fancied fighting Lewis as a pro...but that's another story. In my opinion, picking Bowe over Lewis is always hard to justify because I really believe Lennox had that psycholigical domination over Riddick that sometimes one fighter has over another. It's an opinion I feel very very strongly.
Off topic perhaps, but if this were a match between a pre-steward Lewis vs a pre-Bowe Golata, it might have been an okay fight, but Lennox still wins.
Lewis did not need Golota sparring with him, he had Brewster, who sparked him in sparring. But I know who I would put the mortgage on, in a proper boxing fight... There are a lot of differences between sparring and actually having a pro fight.
Bowe never really showed being psychologically effected in the ring, even when he was in poor condition. Jorge Gonzalez beat him in the amatuers and tried his best to intimidate Bowe as well, and Bowe beat the crap out of him. I think Bowe felt Lewis got help from the ref in their olympic fight and it was a poor stoppage. Its not like Lewis dominated Bowe bell to bell, the fight was reasonably close, and they were kids! Bowe grew into double himself it seemed. Bowe had beaten Evander Holyfield, who beat Douglas who beat Tyson, I really doubt he was scared of Lewis who was unproven as a pro and looked somewhat sloppy and amatuerish coming up the ranks at that time. It was no surprise to Bowe and many when Lewis was laid out by Mcall. Many felt Lewis was sloppy and reckless at that time. Sure he was a big strong puncher, but his technique was no where close to Bowe's at the time, and you needed that as a pro at the top level and it was proven.