they came to fight that night. excellent shape, both of them. allowed them to absorb and dish out punishment at such a high pace for 12 rds.
Its a shame we never got Bowe-Lewis in the pros. That said he was really good, very fluent with his punches and had good speed for a big man. Hed give any heavyweight in history a run for their money.
Prime Riddick Bowe is an illusion. I don’t like to rate him because to be fair his prime lasted exactly 1 fight. I get it he definitely had the potential to be a GREAT champion but he’s more on the Buster Douglas/Andy Ruiz side of things.
Nah. He was just a big guy who did not know how to use his size, but matched up well against Evan Fields. He ran from Lewis, and failed to fight Tyson, Mercer, Morrison, Moorer, McCall, Ruddock, Holmes, and Foreman, virtually completely missing the greatest heavyweight era ever. Sure not all those guys would have fought him, but a lot of them would have.
Holyfield hit him with so many right hands. ****ed his brain up, sadly. Fan man saved Bowe from getting KOed.
You can't deny Bowe had alot of ability, but him running scared from Lewis, and not fighting the guys you mentioned (careful match making) definitely affects how he's remembered. Plus being a fat ass in between fights only further hurt his career.
Thank you. I standby my Andy Ruiz and Buster Douglas analysis . The 90s is the consensus 1st or 2nd best HW era and he hasn’t fought none of the others except for Mr. Fields. Coulda, shoulda, woulda doesn’t exist.
I would say Bowe was already on the slide by the time he met Holyfield for the third time, due in no small part to his love of food / blowing up in weight when not in camp, and lack of discipline in general.
Bowe was a very good fighter and very exciting to watch but he was far from the complete fighter or monster he was made out to be at the time. Yes offensively impressive, good inside, solid jab, nice combinations but he was far too easy to hit and he wasn't very mobile so could be out boxed. But people focus on the flashy, exciting skills and forget to notice things like defence and footwork so overrated Bowe at the time. As for him facing Lewis at the time. I think Lewis always had Bowe's number even the pre-Steward version. Bowe had a punchers chance but Lewis would have likely beaten him just like in the Olympics. But we'll never know because Bowe and Rock Newman ran from Lewis.