The 91 Tyson who fought Douglas would definitely lose to 92 Bowe, likely get KO'ed even quicker than he did against Douglas. While Bowe has many of the offensive tools that Douglas had that gave Tyson real problems there is a difference in terms of their defence. Douglas used his feet more, while Bowe used less movement. Tyson wouldn't have had to close the range like he did with Douglas, Bowe would come to him. Also look at what they do differently inside. Douglas either pushed Mike off or clinched while Bowe against Holyfield often just squared up, tucked his chin in and traded, Tyson would get shots off on Bowe that he couldn't against Douglas. I agree the longer it goes the better for Bowe but I'm not confident Bowe could take Tyson's shots for long enough to get to that point. Hide had him out on his feet according to Bowe, Holyfield dropped him, Biggs staggered him twice, Golota dropped and hurt him numerous times. Bowe had a pretty good chin and a ton of heart but it wasn't that good he could keep taking combo's off Tyson and expect to stay upright.
I agree that it would be a different fight against Bowe than Douglas. What they had in common were good jabs with long reach. But I think Bowe would be most dangerous on the inside.
Could be a very good fight. Bowe was durable, hit hard, had an excellent jab and uppercut, and was a very good inside fighter, plus, he had a significant size advantage. Tyson was faster, had much better defense (Bowe was very negligent in this area), and was probably better at the middle range. He was not an inside fighter, but he was excellent at getting into the perfect range to deliver his shots, and throwing hard fast punches from several angles. I would tend to go with Tyson, by TKO, about 70% of the time. However, Bowe could certainly turn the trick, if the stars lined up for him. He hits hard enough to drop Tyson, and his uppercut would be an ideal shot against Mike. Just think that Bowe's style would play to Mike's strengths to a large degree, in that he would not use his size advantage, and he would trade shots, and Mike is just a better fighter, so most of the time, he is going to win.
Great matchup. A peak Bowe is one of a handful of fighters who could handle prime Mike. With Fuch in his corner you know Bowe is gonna be pumping the jab all night, and ripping up Mike on the inside with huge uppercuts. They were from the same neighbor hood in Brooklyn so you know its gonna be a war. I see Bowe landing something big in the first round and rocking Mike. Tyson would be ripping Bowe with hooks to the head and body and using his jab to get inside. Both extremely durable fighters. If Eddie Cotton is the ref could go to a brutal split decision haha. Pick em fight. Bowe could pull the upset. I see Tyson SD, too durable, too great a defense, and punching power to force any fighter to get on their bicycle. Tyson SD
Probably one of the best match ups ever made. People bring up Bowe and stepping to Mike like he did Holyfield but I'm not so sure he'd act so relentless. Like Holyfield did to Tyson in their fights Bowe might take a page from Douglas and box a bit better by outmaneuvering the smaller fighter. A more measured approach, if you will. Was he ever able to do this? No, but that doesn't mean he couldn't. Bowe always threw caution into the wind when he knew he could out gun an opponent. With an excellent inside game Bowe might be the only guy in history who would have a decent chance of outgunning Tyson. But Bowe would have to be perfect, and nobody is perfect in this sport of death. I like Tyson late.
I like Bowe in this fight, even though he had flaws as a fighter, I think Tyson was tailor made for him. Ridd-ick Bowe was almost designed to carry out Buster Douglas' blueprint for beating Tyson. Big strong inside fighter with a good jab and a stiff uppercut, he was better designed to carry out Douglas' strategy than Douglas himself. Not saying Tyson wouldn't have a chance, he always has the puncher's chance. But in general prime Bowe was all wrong for Tyson, Tyson's strengths just didn't play into his weaknesses in my humble opinion. I say Bowe takes this
Tyson by knockout, his punches were deadly in 1988, way too much speed and power, look how he knocked Tubbs out, 30 seconds before the end, Tyson lands two of the best punches i've ever seen, a right to to body followed by a right uppercut with so much speed, power and snap that it should have took Tubbs head clean off, those are the types of punches that I don't just think Bowe could withstand.
The Tubbs fight showed how good Tyson was developing his inside game. Tubbs outboxed Tyson handily in that 1st round and Tyson closed the distance immediately in round 2. "Tyson was throwing combos I'd never seen before from a heavyweight!" - Angelo Dundee
