How would Prime Riddick Bowe do against Tyson Fury?

Bowe was a very good fighter but you’re exaggerating his abilities. Outside fighting necessitates skills like distance control, lateral movement and being elusive. He never demonstrated an aptitude for any of this. He did have a quick, powerful and accurate jab but it was primarily used as a tool to help him reach his preferred fighting range. He never feinted off his jab, controlled distance with it, changed levels, hooked off it, parried etc.

Your argument that Fury can’t win because Bowe’s era was better is a bit flawed. For starters, Bowe fought very few of the higher ranked contenders within his own era. Holyfield being the only A-level name on his resume. He also never fought anybody remotely like Fury. An opponent who is significantly bigger, stronger, more mobile, and lets face it, smarter.

 

Bowe wouldn't fight Fury. He was lazy and mentally unstable.
he only fought Holy because he was a smaller heavy.

 

This is exactly right. Bowe only fought quality cruisers like Holy and Hide. For big men, he ducked the Lewis types in favor of guys like Jorge Luis Gonzales. No data for how Bowe would do, or even if he would have the balls to take the fight.

 

Who has Fury fought and I doubt he is stronger than Bowe.Holyfield is levels above anyone Fury fought, including the ancient Wlad who he fought in the worse heavyweight championship fight I have ever seen. I also question Fury’s mobility. Any movement looks great when you are in the ring with statues. Fury may be smarter, may be, but we aren’t talking about a physics exam. Bowe is wise enough in the ring to put a whipping on Fury. If the unskilled Wilder can put Fury on the canvas, I have no doubt that Bowe would stop him.

 

Great fight. Could go either way. Depends on who imposes themselves more. I slightly lean Bowe. Need to see more of Fury against a decent boxer. Wilder can’t box. And too many soft touches for Fury. Wlad was old and couldn’t let hands go, that was never an issue with Bowe

 

Fury's mobility is fine, not on Usyk levels but for a man his size he moves very well. But even if it's not as good as I think, it wouldn't need to be against someone like Bowe who quite frankly makes Joshua look like Ali in the ring in terms of movement. Bowe literally has some of the worst movement in an elite heavyweight I have seen.

 

Bowe has some of the best movement in a super-heavyweight I have seen. He didn't look a bit uncoordinated. I don't remember seeing him stumble around when he missed a punch, or stumbling away from a bodyshot.. not at all.. at least not before Holyfield beat on his head and neck for three fights.

I put Bowe and Fury in near the same tier. But you know, if Bowe dropped Fury, he'd really come after him then, even harder. Fury's powers of recuperation would be put to the test like never, ever before.. because Bowe was a super-heavyweight finisher that was not uncoordinated.

 

Fury`s hasn`t been consistent, early in his career he was just a brawler that was really easy to hit.
On 20 February 2013, it was reported that Fury would fight highly ranked American former cruiserweight world champion Steve Cunningham (25–5, 12 KOs) in his United States debut at Madison Square Garden Theater on 20 April. The bout was an IBF title eliminator to determine the number 2 world ranking, with the winner then needing to fight unbeaten Bulgarian heavyweight Kubrat Pulev for the mandatory position for a shot at the long reigning world champion Wladimir Klitschko. Cunningham came into the fight on the rebound from a controversial split decision loss to Tomasz Adamek. At the weigh in, Cunningham was 44 pounds (20 kg) lighter, at 210 pounds (95 kg) to Fury's 254 pounds (115 kg).

Fury fought wildly in the first two rounds of the bout, and was floored heavily by Cunningham in the 2nd round. Cunningham continued to land heavy punches on Fury for the next few rounds, until being worn down by Fury's size advantage and power punches. By round seven, Fury had fully rebounded and handed Cunningham the first knockout defeat of his career with a cuffing right hand against the rope. Earlier, in round five, Fury was docked a point following a headbutt. At the time of the stoppage, Fury was behind on two judges' scorecards 57–55, while the other judge had it 56–56 (even).

 

Bowe could match Fury`s power and was maybe more powerful, his punches were crisper.

 

Balance isn't the same as mobility. Bowe had good balance but he wasn't very agile, any bit of movement gave him problems. He was much more effective when he was allowed to plant his feet and let smaller opponents come to him.

Much like how Tito had good balance but when faced with movement like vs De La Hoya and Hopkins he was unable to cut off the ring effectively. Bowe luckily usually had height and reach on his opponents so he rarely needed to cut off the ring as they came to him. Bowe was a plodder pure and simple. That combined with his porous guard and lack of head movement would see him out boxed against Fury.

 

Bowe would be battered. It's a complete mismatch.

 

Bowe had better fundamentals than Wilder and was better than anybody else Fury beat, Fury looked good out-pointed Wlad but he never battered him.

 

Bowe was plenty agile for man his size. He could dip and slide plenty (especially pre-Holyfield trilogy). He could cover the ring fast too, especially if he had his man hurt. Bowe was considered the most skilled and talented big man to come along, during his time. And it's really not too overblown, either. Even Lewis and Joshua showed some wobbly leg, compared to Bowe.

No, the Gypsy King does not want to go down against Bowe. He would see a different kind of thing then. A super heavyweight, first rate finisher that could move and groove, for the coup de grace'.. Golota was beating his punch drunk ass and still got freaked out about it. End of story for Bowe.

 

Bowe would engage a lot more than W. Klitschko, and he would be battered. He was battered by Golota twice, and the first beating was despite still being a good version of Bowe.

 

I've heard that description of Bowe before, I heard all this hype about him before I actually watched him fight and then I actually saw him fight for the first time against Buster Mathis Jr and I couldn't believe what I was seeing, it was nothing like what you have described.

Yeah offensively Bowe is impressive a tall heavy who could beat smaller heavies on the inside but boxing is more than just offense up close. He had big gaps in his repertoire as a fighter, movement was just one of them. No head movement, couldn't slip a jab to save his life, hence why Biggs couldn't miss him with the jab and was winning on one judges scorecard. His guard was non existent, boxing is more than offence it's about defence too and in that regard he wasn't very skilled at all, hence why he had such a short career he simply took too many punches because he neglected defence.

So I don't agree with the description that he was the most skilled and talented big man to come along at that time, if he was he wouldn't of lost to Lewis at the Olympics. He had an exciting and aesthetic style to watch so I get why he was hyped, especially after the Holyfield win, but Bowe was a flawed fighter, he was far from complete, even Futch his trainer said so and wished Bowe had, had the dedication to stick with it longer and pick up the skills he had yet to teach him, he was to be Futch's greatest heavyweight but he never got the chance to complete Bowe as a fighter, we just got the flawed version we ended up with.