Bowe v witherspoon, lewis, tyson and bonecrusher that bruno fought?

True,

Frankly , I think it was more ROCK NEWMAN'S doing that prevented that fight from never coming off as opposed to Riddick's.... You can't tell me that it was actually Bowe's idea to publicly throw a belt in the trash in front of the media.

 

If true, where was Bowe's pride. He should have demonstrated the desire to exact revenge on Lewis - ESPECIALLY after promising to make him pay, face to face, after leaving the ring in the moments after he won the title in 1992.

Sorry, Bowe not having a hand doesn't wash with me.

 

I agree, and Im not defending Bowe, he robbed the fight fans and himself of a great legacy making fight. Looking back it was stupid from a legacy stand point, but given Bowes lazy ways, Im sure Newman was hoping and thinking the fight would eventually be made down the line after they took a few easy paydays. Personally I would have done the same, it doesnt take a rocket scientist to make a smart business move, take a six fight deal or a one fight deal with Lewis? Boxers are often a lifetime in the making, you have to maximize your earning years as best as you can when you get the chance, and a potential Lewis fight down the road wasnt being smashed, because of Bowe's HBO deal because Lewis was not tied to any network.

 

I agree Bowe never showed any fear of Lewis when they were face to face and did agree to fight him a few years later only for McCall to scupper the fight.

It all came down to Newman protecting Bowe and keeping him champion and making the most money possible. While Lewis was feared it was by promoters and managers rather than actual fighters.

 

If fighters call all the shots, then what do you think that managers and promotors do? Now, in an ideal world, it would certainly be fun and interesting if every fight, conflict or challenge were handled with two men merely saying " Let's throw down *****!!!!"... But, in the real world where business is concerned, it's not always that simple....

 

At the time it didn't seem to hurt Bowe's standing with the vast majority of fans, commentators and writers.

Lewis was being shafted out of his shot at Bowe for the time being because of boxing politics and the power-play of the controlling parties (ie. managers, promoters, sanctioning bodies). It was neither unexpected or particularly damaging, once everyone accepted that the fight wasn't coming off right away. Lewis didn't exactly suffer, since he got himself the WBC title without having to beat the champion and he garnered himself a lot of attention and the moral highground. But only a few people were really thinking this impacted Bowe's worth as a fighter. Most people saw Bowe as a good champion at least or even a great champion-in-the-making, and Lewis as possibly his nagging rival.

It's only in retrospect that the thing has somehow become extremely weighted to Lewis's favour and to Bowe's detriment. Possibly because Lewis went on to prove himself over the next ten years against other top fighters, whereas Bowe still only has that win over Holyfield as his highest peak in his career - with the rest being somewhat of an anti-climax.
So it's been twisted out of context a bit, IMO.

You talk about Bowe's lack of pride, but at the time he could afford to be the one denying the challenger an immediate shot because he was still hot **** and it was all politics anyway. It wasn't as if Bowe had a crystal ball that would show that Lewis was going to outshine him, or that the majority of fans would someday make this momentary incident of ducking a PIVOTAL event in his career. In reality, the boxing mags and TV commentators were more likely to be talking about how he can be the next Joe Louis or building him up to fight the incarcerated Mike Tyson 5 years down the line.

 

Some very good points here. Had Lewis's career ended with his devastating loss to Oliver McCall, I don't think quite as much would be made of this.. Although Holmes still gets a lot of flack for night fighting Greg Page, who's career amounted to the finest pile of dog **** ever layed on this side of the Mississippi.:smoke

 

Good points as usual Unforgiven. I dont really understand why there is so much hate for Bowe, he was one of the more exciting heavyweights to watch certainly more exciting than Lewis.

 

Yeah, true, Holmes still gets flak for not fighting Page but not many people would seriously think Holmes was afraid of Page.
Holmes ducked Page for easy money fights.
I think Bowe did the same thing with Lewis.
The only real difference is that Holmes was definitely the decision-maker in his case, whereas Bowe was probably deferring to his manager in all such matters. And Holmes was older and proven, whereas Bowe was a new champion.

 

Bull**** bull**** bull****.

Bowe was a coward, Lewis called him out for years.

I'm sure Bowe was screaming at his management for the fight to happen. :rofl

 

:good

I dont understand the animosity either.
Watching his fights with Golota the man went way beyond the call of duty in his service to the boxing fans, and laid everything on the line. There was not an ounce of quit in the man and he took more punishment in those fights than any fighter should, and he kept coming. This is on top of the trilogy with Holyfield, one of the best in boxing history.
He's certainly a strange target for the contempt and disdain coming from people who purport to be fans of the sport.

 

Once again I agree,

Climbing back into the ring with Golata after that dreadful beating he took the first time, is probably more than a lot of fighters would have done.. Most guys would have been content with the DQ win and called it a day.. Jorge Luis Gonzalez had beaten both Bowe and Lewis in the amatuers and was looking rather menacing in the pros when Bowe faced him... Herbie Hide had stopped 25 of his 26 opponents and had just hospitalized Bent... Then there's the Holy trilogy as you've already mentioned..... These things don't exactly amount to cowardice in my definition of the term....

 

Would have loved to have seen Bowe/Tyson. Would have been on par with the ugly Ruddock brawls if not more competitive since Riddick. Two tough guys not backing down and eating shots. If he's in good shape, Bowe would have a decent chance at scoring a late KO I think. He was probably the sturdier of the two and would be landing the most leather overall.

 

He stepped into the ring with Golota and Hide therefore he isn't a coward, **** I'm going to **** myself laughing.

He was a coward from one man, Lennox Lewis.

When a fighter calls another guy out for years, yet never fights him what does that tell you?

Lewis practically begged Bowe from 93-96, yet it never happened.

I'm not giving Bowe any props, look at his record in that time span ffs!!
Mathis Jr, Donald, Hide, Gonzales and Golota who 1 year after getting the better out of Bowe gets sparked tfo by Lewis in 1.

Of course he was happy to fight Holy, Holy isn't a ko artist like Lewis.

Anyman who dumps a legit title in a trash bin rather than face the toughest comp out there is a coward, why don't you guys get it?

 

Somehow the picture of Lewis has mysteriously disappeared from you avatar. Just kidding we know your a big Lewis fan, but the fight was on the table at a couple points, and was derailed as both lost. They were definitely going to fight after the Golota fight and that was just a tuneup for Lewis.