Where does Riddick Bowe rank?

When I think about prime Bowe against guys like Holmes, Tyson, pre-Steward Lewis, Marciano...I think he'd do pretty damn good, probably beating Tyson and that era of Lewis. It's just that he wasn't THAT good long enough.

Certainly he proved he was championship material against Gonzalez, Hide and Holyfield III. But it wasn't the same.

Bowe showed the heart skill and resiliency of a great, great champion in that first Holy fight. We never saw that level from him again. A great loss to boxing imo.

 

Bowe had all the ability in the world, and if he could've stayed focused, I believe he defeats every heavy of his era ( That includes Lewis, with all respects to what Steward said Futch said) Bowe was so much more fluid than Lewis, offensively and defensively.
Bowe matches up well against any heavy in history . It doesn't mean he defeats them, but his skill set, height, weight, and toughness would make him a very dangerous opponent to all but a select few .
But what we at least I don't judge on "potential " but on what the fighter actually accomplished. Outside of Holyfield who did he beat? And Holyfield, he was at his absolute best at lightheavy/cruiserweight. He had success at heavyweight, but it wasn't his best weight.
So how do we judge Bowe?
Bowe past the eye test, and when you watch him its plainly evident he possessed all the tools for greatness. In my opinion he looked better than Lewis, who turned out to be the best Heavy of the last 30 yrs. But he didn't have Lewis's consistency. All excuse aside, Lewis proved much more.
Bowe should've been at least top 10 on the ATG list. But he isn't. He's more top 20-25. He may have beaten a Patterson or Marciano, but did he prove more? No he didn't.
Looking great for a while dosen't make a fighter ATG. Bowe had moments of brilliance. But like Hector Camacho, he never showed consistency . It drops him, as it should. 20-30 in history seems about right to me.

 

Good post. I have him at 15, but I tend to count his wins against Gonzalez and Hide pretty highly. Hide at the time was no joke as a fighter, he was simply too small for guys like Bowe.

And I find Stewart's claim of Futch a bit dubious. Watch the too-early stoppage of the Lewis-Bowe Olympics and then watch Bowe's eyes confronting Lewis after beating Holyfield I. No fear, not hurt. I don't give pre-Steward Lewis 7 rounds against prime Bowe, he was a far more skilled fighter than McCall and Rahman...who knocked him out.

 

19th.

 

Solid.

 

I can believe it. Listening to him speak at the last Hall of Fame he told some real candid stories like this one, even pissed off a few boxers and trainers. They were visibly annoyed LOL!

 

The Olympics were under amateur rules which are FAR less lenient than pro rules regarding stoppage.

Lewis was also a far better fighter than Golota who was handling Bowe and then some in both fights before being DQ'd.

 

But, and please understand I have tons of respect for your input, @JohnThomas1, look at who knocked Lewis out. Bowe was twice the fighter, and Bowe hit harder overall.

And I still think that Olympic stoppage was a farce, the announcers themselves exclaimed at how bad that ref was.

 

And look at who didn't knock him out when he was improved and prepared. He was dangerous but sloppy pre Steward and it's well documented and proven his preparation was woeful against Rahman. The dates of travel show beyond a doubt he didn't acclimatise and he was on set of Ocean's 11 whatever number it was. He got what he deserved. If it was that simple Rahman would have axed him again.

This is why i brought up a Bowe who also wasn't at his best (which is correctly accepted imo) even tho he'd beat Holyfield not long before.

 

Bowe had to low blow Pierre Coetzer into submission in order to take that bout.

Bowe is overrated by a certain segment that seems dazzled by his supposed potential. But he was undisciplined both in and out the ring and apparently not very durable.

 

One of his glaring Achilles' heels was his apparent nonchalance at getting hit. Victories against Holy would have quite a bit easier if he'd just incorporated more (ANY) head movement. Iron Mike in comparison was Sugar Ray Robinson in that dept.

He took so many hard shots, which is why I sympathize with those who feel Lewis would have caught him. I have no doubt in my mind Lennox would have knocked the crap out of him post-Holy III. Before that, not really.

But that's just me, some fine members here have posted above, and I respect them all.

 

Really ? Throws that situation into a different light. I wonder if Larry;s decision to base himself in Britain affected his chances.

 

Excellent post (for perhaps Batman's greatest enemy). I think Bowe had Moorer and Lewis pre-Steward beat all day.

To be blunt, I think the Bowe who beat Holy would have beat even prime Tyson.

Past Holyfield III though, Bowe was done. All three of those guys would have beaten him (well, Moorer is questionable).

Herbie Hide would have been a better heavyweight back in the 50s. Great skill and punch, but heavies got too big for him.

 

I really believe that Riddick Big Daddy Bowe threw his boxing career away. He had those classic matches against Evander The Real Deal Holyfield, that could have eventually lead to big fights against Lennox Lewis or a post prison Mike Tyson, instead of Bruce Seldon. If he needed help, he should have sought it earlier. He did several strange things that pointed to a desperate need of help. He had tremendous ability that could have put him as one of the all time greats. Too bad we will never know.

 

Silly talk he fought himself his whole career.