At any point in history, on a good day, Bowe could have become world champion. On the days that followed, given his nature, he would have engaged in behavior that would have caused him to lose that distinction.
100% true. The WBO was newly formed and not taken seriously. If Bowe had won the title it would of been a "so what" moment because everyone knew who the champion was at the time and the WBO wasn't it. However the only reason I mentioned it is because the question was if he could of won a title. Maybe I'm reading too much into the semantics of what constitutes a world title, but I stand by my earlier post. Bowe could of beaten an out of shape Douglas or possibly beaten Damiani and/or Mercer for the WBO title, as fringe and as insignificant as it was.
I generally agree with what you're saying. In my view, however, the WBO didn't really count back then. Even when Bowe did win the WBO, it wasn't held in especially high esteem.
Yeah, it definitely started gaining steam in the later 90s. It still wasn't quite considered on par with the "big" 3 of that time, but it was considered a step up from everything outside of those.
He was just too green. Bowe was talented, but also flawed. He did not have the style to blaze a trail and win the title shortly after going pro like Tyson, Benitez, etc. He needed time to become the complete package working in his jab, uppercut, overhand right, inside fighting, etc. Fights against veteran guys like Tubbs, Cooper, Coetzee, Thomas etc were learning experiences that really shaped him into the h2h force against Holyfield. He would probably have been too green in 91 and especially 90. He sorely lacked experience and hadn't had enough time to sharpen his skills and go the distance with guys that could challenge him. Tyson was out of the question, still a very dangerous fast handed puncher as seen in how he dispatched Stewart and went to war with Ruddock. I don't think he would have been good enough to beat Holyfield yet. Even Douglas would probably jab his head off. Nope, I don't see him winning a title before 92 if he got a shot at those three.
I'm sure if the young inexperienced Bowe got the Douglas from the Holyfield fight he'd handle him pretty easily.
Oh I see. I've not read the question properly...I thought it was asking me if Bowe could win a title were he magically active throughout the 80's...like so may of our hypothetical threads. Now I understand why people were talking about the wbo - damiani, yes, he'd beat damiani unless he was too young / unseasoned...no it'd have been a bad idea trying to match him with Holyfield sooner or Douglas...those last few fights before a title shot can bring about 25% of a fighter's qualities out, irrespective of age and amateur experience.
Okay then, since I would not push Bowe further forward than about five or six months (edit: looked at his record and not before Coetzer)...when do you think Bowe could have won the title at its earliest. Mark - pick a month / year....I'm curious to know what you think?
Lewis signed with boxing promoter Frank Maloney and his early professional career was filled with knockouts of journeymen, as well as fighters such as Osvaldo Ocasio. After he signed with American promoter Main Events, he won the European heavyweight title in 1990 against Frenchman Jean Maurice Chanet. In his next fight in March 1991, Lewis won the British title against undefeated, world-ranked Gary Mason, could be argued that Mason was better than a faded Thomas and Bert Cooper around 90-91.
