How does he do against 71-74 Ali Foreman Frazier Lyle Norton Shavers Bugner Quarry I'd favor him vs most top fighters of the Golden era, of course if we're talking about peak Bowe from 92-93. Anyway, who of the top fighters would be the hardest opponent for Big Daddy? And who would be the easiest?
Ali would be the hardest with his movement, Frazier plays in to his hands. Seeing him against Foreman would be war. He beats the other contenders handily.
Would be a lot of fun to see... I'd have to pick Bowe to beat all the contenders but I wouldn't say it would be out of the question for him to drop a fight while on the come up to a Quarry, Norton, Young or Lyle. I would at least expect him to have some tough fights on his way to the top like he had in the early 90's. Him and Lyle would be a great match up and no easy fight for an up and coming Bowe. Quarry on a good night with his slick boxing skills could pose a challenge a lot like what Tony Tubbs presented to Bowe. Shavers would be another tough test, Bowe would have to get to him before Shavers is able to get to him. Overall though I would expect Bowe to rise up the ranks and make his way to a title shot pretty much in any era and the 70s are no different. Now against the champs it would be a very interesting to see. I'd expect that just like in the 90's Bowe would bring his A game for whoever he faced for a title. With that being said I'd give him a shot against any of the champs of the 70's including Ali. In fact I think Foreman would be most difficult for Bowe because he'd be right there for big George to club on and would have to out fight Big George likely on the inside. I give him with a Holyfield like performance a solid shot against Frazier but it would be one hell of a war, no way I see Bowe being able to blow out Frazier the way Foreman did. Ali would be another difficult task for Bowe and if he was to beat Ali I think Ali would have to bring something less then his A game. Norton wouldn't be easy for Bowe either I see them having a very hard fight to the finish. Overall I think Bowe would have a decent shot at capturing a title in the 70's as he would in any era with what he brought but quite possibly could end up just being a contender like a lot of good fighters from that era. Especially if once rising through the ranks if he was to be defeated either on his way to a title shot or in a title fight it would be interesting to see if Bowe would be able to come back. We saw in the 90's how Bowe declined especially after being defeated by Holyfield and one can only wonder if the same result would occur in the 70s perhaps at a different stage in his career.....
Obviously, his lifestyle and habits out of the ring would badly impact his longevity as they did in real life, so I'm assuming that he'd be ripe for the taking after a few years at the top. If we're talking strictly about 1v1, all fighters at their best, then it's a different story all together. It's hard to say how well he would do against Ali. Bowe has all the tools to beat a 70s version of Ali, but ring IQ was his one weak area, and Alis strong one. 50/50. Bowe at his best was a bigger and meaner version of Frazier. Same fierceness and relentless attack, great stamina and toughness from both as well, but Bowe has 30 pounds on him. Foreman-Bowe would be a magnificent slugfest and I see Foreman just barely coming out on top.
I think a on form , fit motivated bowe could do well in this era, as could the top names of the 90 s. But bowe of course, had his bad days at the office and taking on the top of the tree in the 70s would involve Ali, foreman and frazier so he has to be at his best. I see him working his way up beating Jerry, bugner, lyle and Norton in good solid performance s. I believe he would defeat frazier but in a war with both men hurt. Bowe by unanimous. Foreman could be dangerous and can see foreman been hurt but coming back to stop bowe. Ali would out point bowe but would be a hard fight for him and disputed.
Interesting thoughts so far. I forgot to mention Jimmy Young in the 1st post, and I think he would be hard opponent for Bowe like was for Ali, Foreman, Lyle, Norton and Shavers at that time I'm sure that Bowe would have had few 'fights of the year' vs some of these opponents (just imagine Bowe vs Frazier of Foreman).
I'd sure take Bowe over most of those. Peak , he beats Foreman. Foreman cant blow Big Daddy away, he was so durable. When Foreman gasses, Bowe has lots of mileage left.
BOWE WOULD LOOSE TO ALI BY DEC /FRAZIER TKO IN 10 / AND DESTROYED IN 4 RDS BY FOREMAN / LYLE WOULD GIVE BOWE FITS BUT EVENTUALLY BOWE GETS HIM
AGREED ....did u see how horrid bowe looked against bert cooper in the 1st rd ? picture joe frazier in there
did you see how much riddick bowe got hit by lite punching pierre coetzer ? and evender holyfield ? bowe got hit way to much .....not a good thing against george foreman bro = foreman knocks out riddick bowe butthen again rock newman would never let bowe fite foreman ...he would let bowe fight terry daniels instead ...
LOL, I take your point, but i think you are being a little harsh. I think Foreman is overrated based on his flattening of Frazier and Norton. Whilst ive always thought the best version of Bowe is underrated. I figure Bowe is better than Lyle and Lyle came within a whisker of beating prime Foreman. We wont mention Jimmy Young (or Zaire).
A primed and focused Bowe would beat Quarry,Shavers,Lyle and Bugner. Norton - 50/50 Frazier - I give the edge to Joe providing he survives the first five rounds or so Foreman - After an up/down sluglfest,George prevails within six rounds. Ali - Muhammad takes clear but competive decision.
Fergy you took the words right out of my mouth Your a jedi master in boxing iq. I dig reading your posts.