Riddick Bowe vs. George Foreman -fight in 1993 when both were ranked.

I don't recall Foreman ever stating that he wanted nothing to do with Bowe or Tyson.

He did, on several occasions, state that he wanted nothing to do with Lennox Lewis. This was, however, at ringside for HBO. Foreman seemed to exaggerate a bit to illustrate his points. I do remember him saying that he would announce his comeback if Vitali were successful against Lewis.

 

WAs he fifty against Stewart ? Or do you think the never was Cooney was a quality opponent ? Who the **** did he beat in his comeback other than one hit wonder Moorer ? Did he go after Bruno, McCall ,or Ruddock , Tua or even a old Holmes ? LOL, good ol' Crawford C was much more worthy and dangerous.......

As for the comment that he would chase VK or WK if a 40 year old Foreman would be around today...........never in a million years would he push for a fight with those guys...........lol, he got the beating from a mediocre puncher in Holyfield who Bowe DECISIVELY even in dismal form sent packing twice out of three , hell a argument can be made 3 out of 3 would there be no fanman

 

Come on mate, let's not get ridiculous.

 

I second this post. Foreman would have fought Kimbo Slice just as long as he had the world title around his waste. His initial comeback campaign was aimed at Tyson, that is, until he lost. Foreman then stated that he wanted to fight the winner of Holyfield Douglas. Upon Evander losing his crown, George continued to stick around and looked for a title shot against Bowe, but when the opportunity finally came around it was against Moorer.

 

This doesn't contradict much of what i said. Foreman may have called out Tyson (who didn't, everyone wants a payday), but he only stepped up from complete tomato cans to washed up name fighters in 1990, when Tyson was knocked out by Douglas.

 

Sure, he didn't "wait" until Holyfield became champion, but you know just as well as i do that Holyfield was seen as a temporary HW champion until Tyson was back... a blown up cruiserweight who worked hard but lacked a punch. Of course he beat Foreman rather easily and a lot of people underestimated the bald warrior, most particular Riddick Bowe who thought he could make an easy title defence...

But you can be sure that the moment Foreman saw Holyfield become champion, he knew that this was his time. He talks a lot of ****, but under that is a very smart business man who knows how the sport works. Why do you think he went for Morrison, who crumbled against a fighter similar to the comeback version of himself and with a dodgy chin, and dito about Moorer? Plus, he never made it a secret, he's openly admitted that he wanted no part of Bowe and Lewis. He knew his number of opportunities was very limited (it's a miracle that he got 3 chances while never being a ranked opponent in the first place).

 

A Bowe/Foreman fight was indeed in the preliminary stages of being made in early 1993. Supposedly Bowe and his manager Rock Newman gave George Foreman a "verbal agreement" in regards to getting a shot at Big Daddy. However, the fight fell apart when Foreman demanded half the purse money and equal billing alongside Bowe. Right after Foreman knocked out Pierre Cotezer, he was interviewed by Larry Merchant in the ring and railed against Bowe and his manager for breaking their verbal agreement. George made it sound like Bowe and his manager were afraid of him and just jerking him around, when in reality it seemed to be a case of George's greediness sabotaging the fight. Even Jim Lampley, who was interviewing Riddick Bowe via satelite during the same telecast, reiterated, with somewhat disgust, that Foreman had indeed asked for equal billing and half the purse money. Riddick Bowe even commented that Foreman was acting like he was the champion, and not Bowe!

Anyways, I don't see how Foreman could have beaten Bowe. Bowe was bigger than Foreman, faster, had a great left hand, and was pretty mobile for a big guy. This would have been a painful fight for George.

 

That is the truth. :yep

A prime Bowe could hurt an Old Foreman badly. I don't think George could find an answer to the punch output Bowe can unleash. Bowe isn't exactly Willie Pep but would Foreman have enough opportunities to be on the attack and score often ?

Can Foreman outfight Bowe ? His usual size, reach and strenght advantage is virtually nullified here. Bowe is faster and sharper at this stage too and his chin isn't made of glass either. He could absord the sporadic Foreman charges before busting him up.

Bowe's combinations should get him the fight within 8. That being said, I'm a huge Foreman fan...

 

Against the '93 version of big george i'd go with bowe by UD. against the '74 version of george i've gotta go with foreman by KO within 3 rounds.

 

Not true,

While the timing may have worked out to where Foreman began fighting Fringe guys and ex-named opponents inadvertantly to when Tyson was beaten, George had been trying for the better part of a year to get matches with better foes. The problem was the public had not yet begun to take him seriously. I was in my teens during Foreman's early comeback years and I can remember how most fans thought he was insane for launching a return to the ring. It wasn't until the highly hyped Foreman vs Cooney match that eye brows began to raise and Foreman's stock went up. Not long after, he was in the ring with the WBC's #9 contender Adilson Rodriguez.

I will also say ( as I have numerous times before, ) that Foreman is a tad unduely criticised for his comp selection. The suffers a terrible loss to Jimmy Young and has an out of body experience in the locker room where he feels like he's near death. He then spends the next 10 years carrying a bible around the state of Texas. At the age of 39, and with a deconditioned physique that looks like something out of a science fiction movie, decides to put the gloves back on. Who in the hell do you expect him to get in the ring with right away, Tim WItherspoon? Some of you guys act like he should have picked up where he left off 10 years earlier fighting Frazier, Young, Lyle and Norton calibur opponents.

Foreman needed to start off like any prospect turning pro for the first time. In fact, he was actually at a greater disadvantage than many of his younger contemporaries coming out of the amatuers in the late 80's, ie. Bowe, Lewis, Mercer, Morrison, Seldon, etc. At least those guys had the youthfullness of being in their 20's, along with being in good shape, coming off of very active amateur careers as opposed to a decade of inactivity and a general public who took them seriously.. The comp that Foreman took on was no worse than what many of them were fighting, with the exception of possibly Ray Mercer who fought Damiani, Morrison, and Cooper within his first 18 bouts. The others were padding their records. Foreman's opponents were hardly a stellar lineup, but let's not pretend that he fought 23 strait guys who were all 0-14. Most of the men he fought fell into the category of journeyman who had winning records, and not so much tomato cans. Some of them including a faded ex-cruiserchamp, fringe contender, or seasoned trial hoarse.

It also wasn't like he struggled with most of the men he fought pre-holyfield either.. He utterly destroyed nearly all of them.....

 

I wouldn't favor George over Bowe in 1993 either, but I wouldn't be surprised to see an upset, or if nothing else a hard nights work for Bowe.

Riddick had problems blocking the strait jab throughout his whole career. In fact, it was what Golata primarily used to beat him up with for most of their two fights. Foreman's punches during his comeback years were a lot straiter and he was incorporating the jab more and more. Needless to say, those punches had plenty of kick behind them as well. In addition, George's crossarmed stance made it difficult for a lot of fighters to penetrate his defense. Its not like Bowe would just sit there and pick his shots out all night long. When they locked together, Foreman would be giving him those infamous gut checks that he always gave in the clinches, and as the fight went on that would wear Riddick down some. Bowe also performed like **** when he underestimated an opponent, and given that he'd be fighting a man who one of his victoms ( Holyfield ), had already beaten, I think he might do just that...

 

He hyped a Tyson fight every bit as much as a Holyfield fight. He wasn't to know Mike would soon be looking for his gumshield on the canvas or that the crown would soon be fragmented again. He wanted the big money but he wanted the title also.

 

I'm not sure that Foreman would have employed his cross-armed defense against a fight with Bowe. Foreman seemed to abandon that defensive posture after the loss to Holyfield; most of his post-Holyfield fights were fought with a traditional gloves-up defense. But Foreman, no matter which defense he employed, would just be so slow. He had a heavy, sledgehammer jab, but he didn't pump it out like Holyfield or Bowe. And Golota was a lot faster than Foreman and nearly as big; so he was able to score on and reach Riddick Bowe a lot easier than Foreman would. And Foreman struggled to finish fragile-chinned Stewart, he failed to dent Morrison, and he never seriously hurt Holyfield. I doubt Foreman's punches, the few that he would probably land, would cause Bowe much of a concern. I see Foreman getting busted up like he did with Stewart and possibly even stopped. Bowe too big, too skilled, too powerful, and just too good.

 

if foreman thought moores jab was hurting him ..he'd be in big trouble against bowes jab

 

lets not forget this foreman was limited and lost to tommy morrison