Bowe was way past it against Golota. Watch the guy who beat Holyfield I, then watch the Golota fight. Not the same fighter.
Well he struggled against their style but i wouldn't say Bowe has a bad chin. Although its hard to exactly pin point how good chin is, with the lack of notable punches on his resume, i would say his chin is above average though. With the beatings he took against Golota whilst past his prime, and the 3 wars vs Holyfield. Again you make good points and i agree with you to an extent, but i think Bowe would be able to overcome the early trouble vs Wladimir, and would be to get to his suspect chin sometime after 6th round.
Bowe did struggle vs Tubbs and Biggs in his prime aswell though, Bowe had issues with fighters who fought him on the outside. And whilst im picking Bowe but not confidently BTW, Bowe would have tremendous difficutly with Wladimir's range and jab early on.
It was very weird seeing him have as much trouble with those fighters as he did. That said, it's far from rare that even the most promising up and coming fighters struggle with guys they shouldn't have, witness Tyson against Tillis and (hmmm, not sure whether to pick Green or Ribalta or both).
I see this the complete opposite way. I think Wlad would struggle to clinch Bowe consistently. I agree that Bowe would get out snipped in an outside fight, but I believe Bowe had the toughness to close the distance towards Wlad and land his power shots on the inside, where Bowe is the superior fighter. I am not saying that Wladimir couldn't win, being an elite boxer-puncher with an ATG jab would certainly cause Bowe a lot of trouble. Vitali on the other hand would be better suited to defend against Bowe's attacks in the short-mid range, and should Bowe connect Vitali has the toughness to take his punches, also Vitali's awkward high volume offense would carve Bowe to pieces.
No disrespect to anyone here but Tubbs was considerably better than Wlad in a number of key areas - particularly when confronted with an offensive fighter like Bowe. One of these was his ability to fight off the back foot. Tubbs also had great upper-body movement, which greatly contributed to his defense and his ability to cope with close range exchanges, where he also exhibited superior hand-speed. I don't look at Bowe/Tubbs and wonder why Bowe struggled a little against someone like Tubbs. I look at that fight and think - that guy Tubbs was actually pretty darn good.
Good points but you could say Tubbs had seen better days, and also what about Biggs aswell ? He rocked Bowe a few times. And Bowe did have some difficulty with his jab and range. One glaring thing that i did miss when thinking of about this match up, is if Wladimir goes into clinch Bowe. I think Bowe's uppercut would come into play and be troublesome for Wladimir.
Bowe never met a burger or a jab that he didn't eat. Wlad will have a field day feeding him. There's a reason why Bowe avoided punchers, and Golota showed why. Bowe had heart but no chin. Fact is, Wlad was begging for the Lewis fight and Bowe dropped his belt in the garbage rather that fight Lennox. Wlad dominated heavyweight for a decade. The only thing Bowe dominated for a decade was the local Burger King.
He had - but good quality fighters can often crank out a surprise showing, in the twilight phase of their careers. If you watched Bowe/Tubbs without knowing who Tubbs was, would you think he'd seen better days? Well - again - Biggs could fight on the back foot and his jab was exceptionally sharp, even when he was at his lowest ebb. I'd also suggest that Biggs appeared to be really up for it that night and looked better than he had for some time. Moreover, Biggs had always been competitive in the early-to-mid going of his losing contests. But, as I recall it, despite the guts shown by Biggs, Bowe was breaking through repeatedly, with Biggs shipping a ton-load of leather, before running out of fight. And, as for Bowe getting rocked, Biggs did land some decent shots, for sure, which gave Bowe some food for thought. But the only time I remember Bowe looking in trouble, is after he got caught, when clowning. Other than that, it was all Bowe. Biggs just wasn't a straightforwardly easy guy to shift, and this was a great workout and learning fight for Bowe. I would guess that Futch was reasonably happy with the way the bout went. Agreed. As mentioned in a previous post, I can't imagine Wlad not getting clipped on the way in, which could well be a determinant factor.
More athletic? He gassed completely out against Puritty and had to limit his punch out-put for the rest of his career to avoid gassing out again. Bowe could sustain a good pace and throw a lot of punches for 12 rounds straight. Thats athleticism that matter in this fight. . Wlad needs to take rests by holding , Bowe would not. Stronger is debatable. He got thoroughly manhadled by Fury and pushed back by Sam Peters.
Bowe does have better stamina, yes. When I mean athleticism I'm talking about handspeed, footspeed, reflexes etc. Bowe was quick but he wasn't as explosive as Wlad. Fury is a extremely strong HW, probably one of the strongest ever. There was a training video leading up to Wilder II where he was warming up with 200kg deadlift and 140 kg bench like it was a paper weight. Peter was really strong too, can't think of anyone who was able to shrug Wlad off the way he did in their 1st fight. Bowe wasn't particularly strong for his size, no opponents, trainer or sparring partners ever talked about his strength in a positive way as far as I am aware of. I remember Manny Steward saying he had small bones and was weak for his size in the Rummy interview. Wlad is a stronger, more robust athlete compared to Riddick Bowe.
Agree. Eddie Futch was no longer with him either. And Goleta’s constant hitting below the belt didn’t help either. I’m sure it weakened Bowe as the fights went on