Would Bowe have battered Witherspoon?

I was meaning a powderpuff heavyweight not puncher.

Holyfield had to follow Tyson who blew so many good fighters away with so little trouble.He wasn't as exciting and nor was he as overpowering. He had trouble with guys Tyson would have dispatched emphatically. He did however win.

He had to battle hard and long to forge his reputation and escape the shade of Tyson. In the end his record was undeniable.

On a very important front tho you label Holyfield a puffed up cruiserweight and talk about how others would have relished the opportunity to fight a puffed up cruiserweight. You give the impression Holyfield being a puffed up cruiser puts him on a lower level, diminishes his danger. The thing is even as a cruiserweight he weighed what the likes of Marciano and Dempsey did yet you are not backward in coming forward about the chances of a Marciano even against the likes of Foreman.

I find this rather ironic and sense a double standard. Marciano isn't even a blown up cruiser, he's just a cruiser by your Holyfield definition as he never even blew up in weight. Holyfield did and most effectively one might add.

 

well yes actually .. witherspoon isn't getting too bowe .. bowe is bowe .. he has all the tools to put work in .. i could see him pole axeing witherspoon in the 5th or 6th with a shot witherspoon doesn't see .. in the middle of a back and forth barrage

 

Bowe does not batter Witherspoon. Witherspoon was very versatile in style, great inside, great outside. He could do it all. He was tough as hell, and could stand up 2 Bowe's power. Also, he is actually the most powerful man Bowe has ever faced. I would say Bowe should be worried. We might see Bowe down again. Very close fight that I say Spoon could win, but I vote Bowe by SD.

 

Yes. Evander did puff up into an effective ATG modern sized heavyweight. Absolutely 100% correct.

he did lose to Moorer though. There was a period, that Evander overcame, where by he struggled with two grandfathers and a last minute substitute that nobody talks about anymore. I credit Evander for turning this around, but it is worth noting all the same where Evander was regarded around the time of the first Bowe fight. Great fight that it was.

yes. Evander benefited from a well deserved “he got there in the end” status. There is nothing wrong in reminding folks that there was a period where he was struggling in albeit entertaining, but not dominant fights.

it could just as easily be that I am showing that in modern times cruiserweight sized guys can puff up and beat modern super heavyweights. I can’t imagine what you are driving at?

well I agree it is a two edged sword. On one hand Evander is proving he was a great warrior because he came from behind to win fights. Win return fights..come through in a war. On the other hand he did struggle with two grandfathers and lost his title to Michael Moorer which is not so dominating.

I guess you can have it too easy or do it the hard way. Ultimately Evander proved to be a great heavyweight I agree.

 

The "puffed up cruiserweight" takes Page, Witherspoon, Berbick and Thomas to school. None of them would have outboxed or outgunned Holyfield the way Bowe was able to.

 

If Holyfield is a puffed up Cruiser then was Mayweather a puffed up lightweight? Is Canelo a puffed up junior middle? Bodies change with age. Holyfield was a heavyweight

 

I don't think so, he would have won a hard fought decision imo.

 

Hey mcvey. Haven't seen u around in a long time.

 

Very surprised at all these votes for Witherspoon. I wonder who'd actually put their money on him if it came down to it. My guess? Very few.

 

Haven't been here posting for a few months,it seems a few names are now missing?

 

Welcome back @mcvey .

 

Who else? I haven't really noticed.

 

If Witherspoon got himself in any kind of good shape for this fight, they'd give us a great fight. He was immensely talented. At 38, he definitely deserved the decision vs Mercer IMO, and at his best, he ran a still near-prime Holmes extremely close. He also amassed a brilliant résumé for himself.

Although I am surprised to see so many picking against Bowe. Bowe's wins over Holyfield shame any of Witherspoon's, for starters. And for all the talk of Bowe being out of shape, being a fatass, etc; ignores that he only ever actually lost to one man. And that man was a prime ATG who's one of the very best in heavyweight history. Sure, he got beaten up by Golota twice at the end of his career and countered lots by Tubbs, but Witherspoon fought nothing like those guys. And those two fights aren't even close to indicative of Bowe as a fighter.

Witherspoon was a very good and versatile pressure fighter at his best. Heavy jab, crab style, cross-arm guard, great chin, big overhand and the ability to cut the ring off. Not that it'd mean much vs Bowe. All I see in that fight is a great match up where two big guys will exchange jabs, big shots to the body, overhands and brawl it out in the centre of the ring.

I think Bowe's heavier hands, better chin and higher workrate win it, as well as his astuteness on the inside. People talk about him like he was a HW Homicide Hank. He wasn't. He had a really great instinct of where the other guy was, and how to open up punching lanes and angles. I feel like after six rounds or so, his superior physicality wears Witherspoon down, and he'd have worked out the kinks of Tim's somewhat unique guard.

Ike Ibeabuci vs Witherspoon is a better match up IMO.

 

I'm w/ George. Both men are strong enough and tough enough that they have utterly no effect on one another. But they have to trade heavy leather before they figure it out.

 

I've seen "banned," against a few names,how long for I don't know.