Where does Riddick Bowe rank?

his potential is 15-20, but his actually career was not. He could have fought tougher guys. His legacy is the 3 Holyfield fights and the Gonzales fight and Golota

 

He has a paper thin resume. Beat the hold and cold Holy but other than that beat near noone. I have him top 80 for the division.

 

Are you taking the **** a bit amigo? Top 80? I mean say what you will about him but he was a legitimate lineal champion who took the title from an unbeaten great fighter in incredible fashion. As for the rest of his resume Tubbs, Cooper, Hide etc arent great fighters but decent contenders nonetheless, it's not like he beat nobody outside of Holy.

Borderline top 20 for me.

 

Anyone who has to low blow Coetzer into submission is clearly top-85 but not top 75.

Lineal means **** if you don't meet the best of your era, who would have been Tyson early or Lewis later. Even a Ruddock would help but instead those mummies of Coke Dokes and "Just Glad to Be Here" Ferguson.

He's a footnote at best... and most footnotes I have met had better defense.

 

I think he's #20 for me not counting active HWs (Mainly Wlad).

 

This guy could PUNCH. But he came along at the perfect time, when Holyfield was 30 yrs old (as Evander was during their first match).. fanman in the second fight, when Holy was heading towards a KO.. third fight< Holyfield was just plain old, and Bowe was what, 28-29?

He learned how to survive against 'Ol Man, when Holyfield held him up and banged him like a drum, so I would rate him for that (combined with his punching power) a little bit higher than some here do.. maybe top-20.

 

bowe was a linear champion, a big guy with a good skill set and heart. Those that rate big daddy lower than #30 cant rate holyfeild that highly, you cant have it both ways. Beating Bowe (closely) made holyfeild.

I dont rate him that high (27 with willard) because he won the title on points against a guy who at the time was not considerd a full heavyweight and had all the advantages over.

 

h2h Bowe is a borderline top 10 HW.
resume ? what do you mean ? resume of wins / fights overall / the way he won against each one of his relevant opponents ?
I think asides from Holyfield his wins over Larry Donald , Jorge Luis Gonzalez , Jesse Fergusson , Bert Cooper , Michael Dokes , Herbie Hide , Tyrrell Biggs do mean something as a whole . Not an extremely poor "resume".
Richer than Liston's if you ask me.
Put aside the overrating of Ali's opponents , and I can show you how close it is , maybe even better , and I don't think it is one of the richest "resumes" either .

 

Bowe = top 20

Which ****** said top 80?

 

Top 20......

 

I nearly puked up and choked to death on it when I read this :tired:dead - erm a veteran Schmeling knocking out a prime Joe Louis anyone??

Still Holyfield-Bowe 1 is one of my all time favourite fights to watch and I'm talking ever - but come on it is not a better win than beating a prime Joe Louis

For the record I have Riddick Bowe on his best night at number 12 and Holyfield at number 13 - suppose that kind of explains why I can't have a win over someone at number 13 above a win over someone at number 3 (which is where I have Joe Louis)

 

This ******. Top 20 still means top 80, by the way.

Paperthin resume, porous defense, ill-prepared. Fought one good series, defended against a bunch of nobodies. I am still waiting to hear the name of his second best victim... a narrow decision over Tubbs?

Seriously, I would put him top 30, maybe top 25.

 

If Bowe goes in the top 30 then Moorer should as well.
Bowe found lightening in a bottle for 1 night only and would have lost if he was against someone with a great punch

 

People say Bowe's resume is weak outside of Holyfield, and it is.
But perhaps the 1990s period in question was a bit weak.

Lennox Lewis seems to get credit for fighting guys who weren't much better than the ones Bowe gets panned for.

Tony Tucker, for example ; a washed-up coke-head fighter getting by with his Don King connection, dodgy decisions and padded record.
Or Tommy Morrison ; KO'd in 1 round by Michael Bentt, in 5 by Ray Mercer, and on canvas more often than a Renoir.
Ray Mercer : who'd been beaten by Jesse Ferguson, and barely beat him in a rematch where he was supposed to prove himself the superior fighter.
Oliver McCall, who beat Lewis, had gone 9 tough rounds to beat Bruce Seldon - who then was collapsed in 1 round against Bowe.

But people seem to buy into the reputations of these fighters for whatever reason, because they fought Lewis ? Because they had some hype behind them at certain points in their careers ? Because they were promoted by Don King ?

Bowe fighting guys like Tubbs, Seldon, Coetzer, Dokes, Ferguson, Donald, Hide, Gonzalez, Golota was definitely no worse than Lewis fighting Mason, Tucker, Jackson, McCall, Mercer, Morrison, Akinwande, Briggs, Mavrovic.
If Bruno and Ruddock were a bit better, Bowe counters that with the Holyfield trilogy.

Lewis CLEARLY has the better resume because of his superior longevity. That's all.

 

I think Lewis' opposition was not just greater in quantity but in quality. It's easy to paint opposition poorly. Tucker was still relevant, Morrison simple but dangerous, Mercer inconsistent but very good when he did show up, Ruddock still feared. These match-ups at least had the specter of danger in them.

The Dokes who showed up for Bowe was damn near the most pathetic thing I have ever seen in the ring. Not far behind was Jorge Gonzalez. And Golota was handling Bowe in both fights before melting down.

In the end Bowe was fragile... and his defense and willingness to engage in close only exacerbated this. There is a reason Lewis had such a long shelf life. He generally fought cautiously and cerebrally, rather than from emotion, and was stout and resilient.

Also, I give Lewis fair credit for avenging both his defeats, even if McCall was a basket case.