A Discplined Riddick Bowe...

Ruddock gave him all he wanted and he brawled with him.

 

I think he had the potential to be as good as Lennox Lewis wherever you rate him.Bowe was as good inside as I have seen for a big man but lacked the dedication .

 

A few comments:

1. After his first loss, Holyfield added weight, became stronger and a bigger puncher (knocked down Bowe, Mercer & Tyson) and he became a smarter fighter as well.

2. Although Lewis didn't have Holyfield on the canvas, he did hurt him badly and on a fair scorecard, beat him at least as easily as Bowe did the first time.

3. The Bowe-Holyfield rematch was a loss for Bowe. This was a non-sick, post-bulk up Holyfield.

4. The only reason Bowe won the rubber match is because of Holyfield's sickness. He was having his way with the big man until he suddenly couldn't throw punches anymore, from the 4th on. Bowe was completely out on his feet in the 6th, but Evander didn't have anything left and couldn't finish him. Cortez even admitted that he was an inch away from stopping it, but Holyfield did nothing.

So, while Bowe wins the series by 2-1, the victory was more because of Holyfield not being fit to fight rather than because of his ability. Holyfield outboxed Bowe whenever he elected to box... which he rarely did during the first, but often during the second; and won.

Holyfield never beat Lewis, even when Lewis fought Holyfield's fight, on HIS home turf.

 

I think I pretty much pointed out all this in my posts. Some on this forum chose to spin it into something else. My points are spot on, and for the most part true with some of my own opinion mixed in. Its always the passionate Lewis fans that take it to an extreme, most likely, because most of Lewis's legacy, is based on what could have been had he faced so and so in their respective primes. Things most likely would have been different if he didnt get knocked out by Mcall. He simply had a bad string of bad luck. Should Bowe have fought Lewis right after the first Holyfield fight, for the fans probably, but not necessarily for smart buisness. This did turn out to be a black eye on Bowes career, but what champion in the recent history of boxing didnt try and milk the title to make a few extra bucks before taking on another top challenger? Would the fans want to see any other fight besides Bowe and Holy in the rematch based on their first fight at that time? Beside facing Lewis right after Holyfield there was no other fights for Bowe, he didnt duck anyone, the time frame of his whole prime was too short. His career like Tyson's was very short, and like Tyson his lack of discipline as a fighter held him back from achieving his full potential. For Godking to say he had no chance against Lewis at the time the fight would have occured, after beating the best in the division, shows how ignorantly biased he is as well. After winning the title Lewis was almost stopped in his first defense, and was stopped in his third, which was proof positive to not only me but Lewis himself, that he was not as good as he thought, thus the reason for making a change in his corner.
Lewis will always go down in history in my opinion as being fairly dominant over a decent but not great group of contenders, and by no fault of his own facing two all time greats past their respective primes, and missing out on a career defining fight against Bowe, which by the looks of where his skill level was at the time, was lucky for him.

 

Lennox Lewis needs to be heavily favored against Riddick Bowe in head to head matchups. That's all I have to say.

 

This is biased comedy. Now your reaching. He avoided Morrison and Tua? Was Tua even in the top ten before Bowe retired? Morrison??

 

Bowe would have killed Tommy HIV Morrison with the first punch landed. David Tua was nothing more than an Embryo when Bowe Retired...unless you want to accuse the comeback 40 year old bowe of 2007 of ducking Tua. Now I knew Riddick Personally last year, and that old bugger will get in the ring with anyone!

 

Me upset? Who resorted to the flame throwing first? We can make this as personal as you want Magoo. If you want to talk boxing and respect each others opinion, Im all for it, but Im not going to let you talk to me in the language you have been without firing back.

 

Thats a fair asssumption, but don't you think the speed and reflexes and 10 punch combination punching traits he lost, are more valuable things needed to beat a prime lennox lewis?

what round of what fight did he hurt him badly? I will have to retake a look

Yes. but then I could turn around and say the FanMan fiasco saved holyfield, and ruined the momentum Bowe had. Also, this fight was very close I think i had holyfield by only one point. Also we must take into consideration bowe showed up an overweight 246lb for the rematch with flab around his upperbody, what happened to the trim 235lb bowe?

This is a fair arguement to make, and from watching the film, I can't entirely disagree with you, there was defintley something wrong with Evander. He had no energy to finish bowe after he knocked him down, he should have stopped bowe in the 6th.

 

This is a very skewed way of looking at Bowe and Holyfield, and most of it not true.

 

You could also say that bowe came into the second fight in worse shape. The second fight was very close, it was not a slam dunk win for Evander.
By the third fight Bowe was shot and still stopped Evander.

 

Yeah, he was obviously out of shape for that one. And, as I stated, had he performed in the rematch I would put the first one down to slack preparations. But having that much problems with Golota even in the second fight, after coming off one of his best wins, does suggest something.

 

Watch Holyfield-Bowe HBO legenary nights. they show Bowe interviewed in 1992 before First Evander Fight, then they showe Bowe interviewd in 1996 after first Golota fight...and the difference in his voice is sickening. real sickening. In 1992 he sounds very joyful like a kid. in 1996 his voice is that of a old punchy man. His voice to this day is very blurry. Only a 40 year old man. Sad. Even in 3rd Holyfield fight, bowes reflexes and everything looks declined. I dont know when it started, but him killing himself to lose weight all the time probably had something to do with it, or maybe all the punches he took in the first two holyfield fights. But he looked nothing compared to the 1992 Riddick Bowe.

 

Then he declined very quickly. I've only watched Bowe-Holyfield III once and what I chiefly remember from that one is the very nice, well timed left he put Evander away with. He sure didn't look shot, even though he probably was past his best.

Well, who knows. But the truth is that Bowe's lack of top opposition makes him hard to gauge really. Golota was pehaps his second best opponent. If he had performed well earlier against several similar opponents the Golota fights would be easier to excuse, but...

Of course, if his speech had started to detoriate that does count for something.

 

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kN6iU2laKM[/url]

Watch 2:23 onward