But he lost against the best fighters he fought (Haye and old Holyfield). He wasn't close to HW champion. At least not in classic definition of his word. He didn't beat Klitschko brothers and he missedany other contenders.
Look, I thought he was crap,but that's not the point he got a title shot solely on his novelty value and he won it because he was a giant. He would not have smelt a top ten ranking had he been a normal sized heavyweight because he was rubbish,he got there purely on his SIZE. I brought Valuev into the discussion because of this statement by Lachbuster "Weight stops mattering the higher it goes. This has been proven time and time again in boxing" And I proved it to be false, weight is always an important factor, otherwise their would be no need for weigh ins, or indeed weight divisions!
If anything it shows that size has its limit. The biggest guys who did anything in HW division are Carnera and Valuev. Both of them are laughed and called frauds (which is not respectfull, but that's not the point) and none of them was among the best fighters of their eras (well, maybe Carnera was but he wasn't top 5 of the 1930s in my opinion). It just shows that at some point, size can be a disadvantage. Only Klitschkos are giant all-time greats and neither was 260 lbs at their bests. Bowe is not ATG a
Bowe was not an ATG, but he had the potential to be one ,his lack of dedication stopped him.His status as an ATG ,or otherwise is irrelevant to this match up anyway.Whether he was or wasn't is immaterial ,what he was is 240bs 6'5", a very good puncher, and boxer ,with an excellent chin .This is just too much for a slowfooted tiny swarmer without great defense to overcome.It doesn't mean Marciano wasn't great,just that he is absolutely outmanned here.Joshua is as big as Carnera and Willard,whom you didn't mention,, Parker came in at 241 1/5lbs last night, both held titles and may do again. Bowe wasn't a fraud like Carnera built up on set -ups,or a punchless robot like Valuev he was a very good boxer with excellent hitting power. He thrashes Marciano .
Joshua never weighed over 260 lbs from what I know. Neither did Parker and Parker isn't even large. Willard wasn't as heavy either.
Parker is 6'4" 241+lbs for his last fight ,that isn't large? How many champions have been bigger or even as big? This is going in an entirely different direction ,so I'm calling time on it.
He had the potential I'm certain .As Rainer points out ,he had a lot of attributes going for him .In this particular matchup I'm 99percent certain he'd win . I've got him at around 30 in my heavyweight s list ,a few in the top 20 I can see him beating . Just to short a career to be judged an ATG for me , but that's more due to health reasons ,him suffering possible brain damage against Golota .If he'd have been more healthy and gone on to fight as long as Lewis then who knows what would happen ?!
Bowe would bounce Marciano off the canvas several times until the fight is stopped. Rocky wouldn't quit but would be overwhelmed by Bowe's size and power.
Neither Valuev nor Haye were ever hwt champion of the world. Bowe had a short prime and although exhibited a good skill set and power punching he really wasted what could have been a great career by inactivity and coming into bouts way undertrained. He was emphatically not an ATG. He does not rate anywhere close to Marciano regardless as to how one believes a hypothetical bout between these two would turn out.
This thread ain’t about which of them had the greater career achievements or who would be ranked higher in a ATG ranking list. This is what the OP is all about. It’s really not that hard to follow is it? Who wins, the Bowe who beat Holyfield or Marciano?
