Where does Riddick Bowe rank?

1. I think McCall was gifted the decision against Ferguson.
2. Tucker was more shot than Tubbs in the early 90s as you can see from their performances against Orlin Norris.
3. You use the Bruno and Old Foreman argument about Coetzer, but go on to suggest Bowe's win over Seldon is no better than MCCall's ....
4. Morrison beat a shot Ruddock, and had been blown away by Michael Bentt - who HIDE the beat ! Morrison had also been lucky to get past Ross Purrity.
Hide was at least undefeated. Morrison was damaged goods - but of course he was the white All-American boy. By far his best win is the old Foreman stinkeroo.

No version of Seldon lasts long in the same ring as prime Bowe.

The likes of Hide, Gonzalez, Donald were undefeated, NOT coming off losses.
Biggs, Tubbs, Coetzer, even Ferguson were not coming off losses.
Of course, neither was Holyfield x 3.

No, Butler was not better than Bowe, but he sure hit Tubbs harder, I grant you that.
But Lewis didn't even fight that version of Butler ..... he fought a guy 35 pounds heavier.

None of your arguments stand up. Both Lewis and Bowe were feasting on second-raters or mediocre contenders in '90 - '96, with the exceptions of Holyfield x 3 , Ruddock and perhaps Bruno and Mercer (if I'm generous). If that equals them out, fine. But there's certainly no indication that Bowe's fighting a lesser crop.

If you want to argue that Morrison was miles better than Hide, or that a washed-up Tucker was better than an up and coming Donald, it just smacks of bias favouring Lewis.

 

If he'd had more discipline,he'd have been in most people's top 10.

 

Yeah I remember that being the case come to think it - funny how things work isn't it

 

1. Been a long time since I saw it, didn't think it was controversal though. But the bottom line is McCall, Morrison, Mercer were all threats, Ferguson wasn't.

2. Well I don't think Tucker was shot, past prime yes, thought he beat Norris

3. Well maybe Bowe did soften Coetzer up but Coetzer didn't do anything before or after that

4. Is the term 'shot' being a tad overused here? He outboxed Foreman, had a shock loss to Bentt who he had out on his feet, knocked out Rudduck. Still he was dangerous, fast, powerful and Lewis was coming back after a KO loss

If you want to play the game of 'who beat who', Bowe lost to Holyfield who lost to Moorer who was knocked out by Foreman who lost to Morrison, so Morrison must be better than Bowe. Bull**** logic

5. Well maybe Seldon was always that fragile and maybe he got the type of KO that permanently damaged his durability, who knows?

6. I said many, not all, Hide, Gonzalez, Donald, Coetzer didn't achieve anything before or after

7. I've discounted Holyfield and am debating Bowe's none Holyfield work.

8. That was to illustrate a point

9. If Lewis was facing second raters, Bowe was facing third raters, there is a gap in talent. Plus Lewis was looking to take on the biggest challenges, Bowe seemed to be looking just to milk his Holyfield win and the plan was probably to cash in on a Tyson fight

10. Both Morrison and Tucker are more talented with bigger wins than Donald/Hide. I'm a fan of Hide's and Seldon but their chins were just terrible

 

In Bowe's very short prime his size, power and skill set would present terrible match ups for the vast majority of the divisions former champs and top contenders ... the man from the first Holyfield fight was brutal .... his combination punching, his power, his stamina, his body work were nasty ... the bombs Holyfield survived that night and the heart he displayed was exceptional, as impressive as I have ever seen ... I feel that Bowe beats every super heavyweight that ever lived except the best Lewis who simply has a stylistic edge ... unfortunately we never saw that Bowe again as he simply lacked the desire and discipline to maintain it ..

I see him losing to Ali, Holmes, Liston, Lewis, Louis and Tyson .... other than that I'd pick him head to head over the rest .. as far as career body of work he is not top twenty ...

 

Just keep him away from a Prime Tubbs

 

Perhaps you can name the fighter that did not have a learning experience along the way ? At least in Tubbs his was against a former world champion and former amateur star ...

 

You have a problem with my bias towards Lennox Lewis, but your post is so full of **** its hard to stomach. :hi:

 

I think some of your timelines and conclusions are so muddled it's not worth the time debating all those details.
Like I said in my original post, there seems to be a "logic" that builds up Lewis's second-rate opponents and knocks Bowe's second-rate opposition simply because some guys fought the one and not the other.

IN MY OPINION the versions of Morrison, Tucker, Seldon, Hide, Donald, McCall etc. Who faced Lewis and Bowe were all roughly in the same ball park.
And to argue otherwise is crap. IMO.

 

LH31 talking about bias?

I suppose the ironic thing about Lewis and Bowe is both men technically retired with a win over every man they faced, only Tunney and Marciano can claim this

 

Ingemar Johansson

 

This is a decent forum. General is a god-damned joke.

You can't rank Bowe on what he did not achieve. It is easy to say he might have beaten certain fighters, but the fact is that without them on his resume it is pure speculation.

Eg IMO he is better head to head against Holyfield, regardless of the correct decisions, but Evander probably ranks higher based on achievements.

Why did Bowe retire? Hamburgers?

 

Having been around at the time, also, I will third or fourth this assessment of Holyfield who was considered merely a placeholder. Everyone was looking whether Bowe, Lewis, Moorer, Mercer or someone else would be the next dominant champ. I am not sure what the Bowe trilogy proved, and a greater series there never was at heavyweight, outside of Evander's heart and Bowe's defensive deficiencies. Sandwich in the loss the Moorer (with whatever medical excuse you please. It doesn't matter since Benny Hinn cured him) and a less than overwhelming performance against Bobby Czyz, and you get the picture of a fighter most thought was on the decline.

Holy is a hard fighter to gage with the ups and down, the Lazarus-like comebacks, and allegations of PED's anda freakish longevitiy... many factors there...

 

:good

 

Scrambled Eggs.