Wlad is going to control the range and tie on the inside. Bowe is not good from the outside. At some point Wlad takes his head off. Funny thing, Vitali is the better H2H fighter, but Bowe would be more competitive against him. Styles make fights.
Depends on which version of Wlad. The later more cautious Wlad wins a decision. The earlier more tenacious Wlad gets into a brawl and MIGHT get knocked out
Bowe was a wonderful outside fighter when he wanted to be, with an excellent jab and the best one-two since perhaps Ali. He was great in short/midrange exchanges. EXCHANGES, which Bowe was much better at than Vlad, with lots of heart and technique. Could you imagine Riddick throwing shots and then clutching onto his opponent like he was drowning? As much as I respect Vlad for his skills, I can never consider him an ATG. Bowe clean KO 8 V Klitschko.
Well judging how easy a solid hitter in Andrew G. Who doesn’t hit in Wlad’s zip code hurt him neither does Bowe. There is a reason why Bowe never faced punchers, think about it.
Both could have won. Bowe didn’t have the best defence, but great confidence and in-fighting skills. Wlad had great power, but he couldn’t fight inside and he didn’t like being pressured. People will look at the Golota fights and would have given Wlad a great chance. Yet you can also look at any fights that’s Wlad was pressured in, and where he was dropped, to believe that Bowe would also have had a great chance. Personally, I would have given Bowe the edge. I also believe that Bowe could have gotten to Wlad mentally in the pre-fight build up. Vitali vs Bowe would have been awesome too.
Bowe would also have been a bad stylistic match up for Wlad. Bowe had a ton of confidence and great in-fighting skills. Wlad couldn’t have tied him up every time. Wlad loved to box. He never loved to fight under pressure. Bowe could absolutely have knocked out a guy who was down 12/13 times in his career, and who was stopped 3 times by non great fighters.
It works both ways doesn’t it. Wlad saw the canvas a dozen times in his career and barely survived Sam Peter.
Bowe, at his best, had an ease about him when launching his offensive, leading to medium-to-short-range assaults. Wlad, on the other hand, had an uneasy reaction to anything resembling this type of 'pressure'. Those two things combined are what give Bowe the edge, in my view. I can envision Wlad, rather quickly, looking like a man who'd accidentally walked into an apiary instead of the shower room. For mine, if Wlad were going to offset Bowe's advantage, he would need to take the initiative early. I am just not that sure the 'safety-first' Wlad would do so.
A young,inexperienced Wlad could definitely get sparked. I see a seasoned Wlad snatching a clear UD not without scares. Wlad would look like a frightened deer holding on but I think he has enough skills to do the usual jab,jab,jab, clinch to beat Bowe. Would not b a fight he can let off the gas tho and Bowe would try to fight out those clinches. BTW, Wlad can at least drop him but I dont see him stopping Bowe honestly. He wouldn't rush in to finish that's just not him. Bowe on the other hand, would b more eager but not guaranteed he would finish a Wlad who've learned from his past Ko losses.
Like I said Bowe didn’t fight many punchers. Peter would be the best Bowe faced. And Wlad beat him. It is a toss up fight and Bowe was a carefully matched fighter. No fights with Tyson ‘Morrison, Ruddock and a dozen other big punchers I could name. Bowe’s prime lasted about a New York minute inbetween the Holyfield fights. He would have been knocked out if he fought some. Andrew Golota dq’d himself. Otherwise Bowe was just about out. I could name many better.
Yes when his opponent punched Wlad shut up shop.Bowe was a natural fighter,Wlad a manufactured one.imo
Wlad operated on the principle of, drip drip drip eventually water erodes stone ,he took no chances and liked his opponent almost helpless before going for the finish.The best version I saw of him was his losing, but gallant effort against Joshua. Bowe also had a better chin ,imo.Hide and Gonzalez were very good punchers ,and Holyfield hit hard enough to drop Mercer, no easy task.
