A Discplined Riddick Bowe...

Bowe was inconsistent mainly due to his laziness, but I would suspect a fight with Lewis would have had his attention just like the Gonzalez fight, which turned out to be the last we saw of the "best" Bowe.
You cant compare guys like Briggs, Golota and Grant to a prime Bowe. Like Bowe, Lewis would have never approached a fight with Bowe in the same manner he did those other guys. He almost got knocked out by Briggs for being foolish.
Lewis probably felt he would always be able to beat Bowe, but he would be a fool not to have recognized how he improved in the pro ranks. Golota was a mental case, Grant was inexperienced, and Briggs was nothing special, so Lennox knew he could take it right to them. It would have been a different fight with someone on his level, ie the Holyfield fights. We even saw a cautious Lewis in the Tyson fight. There was no reason for that fight to go 8 rounds.

 

Bowe at his best or worst had no defense could not handle a jab and had poor footwork.

Bowe gets destroyed within 5 against the best Lewis.

A brawl happy HW with no real defense would get slaughtered against Lewis.

Even at his best Bowe had huge holes .

 

:yep:good

 

I am asking agaan what ''intangibility'' did Bowe have a lack of defense ? poor footwork ? inability to handle a jab ?

 

Bowe simply did not have the right style nor the tools needed to beat a fighter like Lennox Lewis. I'm not a big fan of playing connect the dots games, but I think its perfectly valid to use the Tubbs, Golata and Holyfield fights as comparisons. Bowe flat out struggled with men who could utilize the jab and box reasonable well. Now, factor in Lewis's added feature benefits such as size, power, etc, and I'd say you have a pretty nasty cocktail for an often Lazy fighter who wasn't even competitive against Lewis in the olympics....

 

His defense wasn't great, but he made up for it with a cast iron chin and will to fight. Footwork was average, but that is to be expected for a man so large. He handled the jab quite well, and threw an excellent one himself.

 

This is simply not true. He was one of the more exciting big heavyweights. I dont think he was a brawler more than he was a real fighter and went for the kill when he saw his chances, unlike Lewis who chose to take the safest route against the better fighters. At his best, he had one of the best jabs, and used it well to get inside and engage fighters. I wouldnt say he had a lack of defense either. He would equal Lewis at anytime in the jab department, could always fight better on the inside and talk about poor footwork, if Lewis didnt have his way on the outside, and the fight became physical he looked like he was on roller skates in a ice rink.
I will say, he showed a lot of inconsistency and laziness, which was evident primarily after winning the title and going to Africa.
I love how everyone uses the Olympics example. Bowe was soundly beaten by Gonzalez in the Olympics, and beat him senseless in the pros. At that time Gonzalez was undefeated and untested, but Lewis was also not even close to his best at the time their fight was proposed.

 

He definitely had the tools, he was equally as tall both 6'5, had equal power, a better jab and footwork and could fight very well on the inside. Did he struggle against Holyfield? The fights were competitive buth he won two fights and came razor close in the second. Using your selective comparisons you could also say Lewis was susceptible to being knocked out against taller fighters with good power and good chins, he was knocked out by single punches from Mcall and Rahman, staggered by Bruno, and Briggs. :good

 

Okay, I'll give a peak Bowe who fought Holyfield a puncher's chance against the pre-Steward Lewis who fought McCall, but that's about it...

 

Watch Bowe Gonzalez, and than tell me he would only have a punchers chance.

 

It was a good performance, yes. But, I also saw a 40 year old Tim Witherspoon knock Gonzalez from pillar to post, not long after Bowe did it. Gonzalez also took forever trying to put away a shot Renaldo Snipes on the undercard of Bowe vs Holyfield II. Snipes was in trouble all night long in that fight, but Jorge couldn't finish him.

Gonzalez was looking rather menacing on paper, and the fact that he had beaten both Bowe and Lewis in the amateurs rang an even louder bell. The truth however, was that he never materialized as a pro, and in fact retired as more or less a journeyman. I am standing by my statement that I would give Bowe a puncher's chance against an unsuspecting or careless Lewis. But, if Lennox shows up prepared and looking like he did in the Ruddock, Golata, Grant, and Briggs fights, Bowe is hands down losing.....

 

Agreed. This would be Lewis' fight to lose.

 

Bowe had a fantastic defence.
When supposed to fight Lewis, he managed to stop Lewis laying a glove on him.
That was probably the closest he could come to a victory against Lewis and he knew it.

If Bowe was a European fighter, he would be rated somewhat similarly to Frank Bruno.

Bowe is the no 1 pound for pound apologists fighter - Never in the history of boxing has a fighter who has done so little been credited with the potential of being able to do so much..... Most boxers when suffering a Golota type fight are found out, but not Riddick, no, Riddick was past his prime, he still couldof/shouldof/wouldof according to the apologists......Well he well he didn't because he wouldn't because he couldn't!!!

Bowe was what he was and that was all he could become - Starting a thread postulating 'a more disciplined Bowe' would be similer to starting a 'If Lennox Lewis had 3 arms would he have beaten Ali' thread.

Riddick Bowverated

 

You have a point. The two Golota fights came directly after him being the first to KO Holyfield, and all of sudden he is past it when he performs badly in both. I could have given him somewhat of a pass in the first fight (where he was obviously underprepared), but not for the second.

He did look great in the first fight against Holyfield especially, but it's not like has a stacked a resume otherwise. Old version of Thomas, Biggs, Dokes and Tubbs are among the best names, and Tubbs gave him problems.

 

I think the high regard many have for Bowe's potential almost rests as much on Futch's praise of him as of what he actually did in the ring. It is reasonable, though, that Futchs's words carry some weight.