Lewis-Bowe. Probably been a few times before. Not seen this one for a while though. Who wins, prime v prime?
Lewis by brutal knock out. Faster, much bigger puncher more and loved jumping on bigger men who were slower with open defenses. Bowe doesn't know what to do against a good jab either which Lewis had, but as soon as Lewis see's an opening he's going after Bowe and what Lewis is unbelievably underrated at is taking out an opponent fast.
I'll take Lewis i suppose. But Bowe could win this i think, at his best i rate him very highly in h2h terms. It is possible that he stops Lewis in a dogfight he initiates.
Lewis is great at starting fast as he showed more than once no doubt. Do you think it is a great idea against Bowe though? Not saying it isn't, as i feel the Lewis starting early aspect is something to be reckoned with myself. Bu then again i don't see it meaning a fast finish against Bowe personally.
In a dogfight I just fancy Lewis's speed, power and athleticism to pay dividends. I see him landing the big shots first. He made a mistake against McCall but I don't see Bowe as been the puncher McCall was and he will likely pay Bowe more respect and not get quite as reckless. To a degree there is a question mark over Bowe's chin, given we never saw him against the bigger punchers in his era, he said Hide was the biggest puncher he faced and Hide didnt really have much meat behind his shots
Hide was a decent hitter though, but not massive i agree at heavy. I see your argument, and of course i picked Lewis as well, but i just don't want to write off an on song Bowe, even against an on song Lewis, which may seem a tall order for anyone. The fact remains in my opinion that Bowe was a skilled fighter, and in my opinion the athleticism isn't too great a factor if we consider the best versions of both. Anyway i still pick Lewis.
The best Bowe was a hell of a fighter and had a terrific chance to defeat Lennox ... I think Bowe was faster, definately hit hard enough to flatten Lennox and was a much better infighter. While Lennox would have to favored Bowe would have been a very live under dog ..
I'm surprised nobody already mentioned that Lewis KO'd Bowe in the Olympics. I think Lewis still wins in a prime vs prime matchup.
At most points in their career, I would pick Lewis. But had Riddick Bowe chosen to fight Lennox in early 1993, rather than throw his belt in the garbage to fight Jesse Ferguson, then I think it would have been a toss up. Lewis's destructive KO over Razor Ruddock made most fans place him as the favorite, but hind site tells us that he was still somewhat unpolished and certainly did not have the experience of going 12 grueling rounds in a battle such as the one that Bowe just had with prime great in Holyfield. I think its possible that Lewis may have beaten Bowe in 1993, especially considering that he had previously beaten him in the olympics and was looking rather destructive against top foes. But, I don't think it's a forgone conclusion. Bowe's chin was fairly sturdy, he was still in great shape and had not let his conditioning decline as he later would against men like Golata. Riddick's defense was terrible, but Lennox's was not that great either, and the McCall loss along with his rough battle with Bruno would leave us with questions to be asked. My thinking is that this would have been a pick 'em fight, but a win for Riddick Bowe was a very real scenario in 1993.
I am finding Bowe over-rated as of late. Sure, he could infight, but I watched him get challenged by Pierre Coetzer until he fouled the latter into submission. I really don't think he has the goods to take out a Lewis, and certainly not a PRIME Lewis. Whole 'nother level of fighter.