How does Riddick Bowe do in the 70s?

Real world Bowe who eats himself out of shape and is highly susceptible to CTE? Or some fictional version where he remains in the form he was during his first fight with Holyfield?

 

Loses to Ali, Holmes, Foreman, i think he possibly beats the rest with Frazier, Young, Quarry, being tough fights. And Norton it depends on if Bowe catches him early, if he doesn't then Norton would be a very tough nights work for Bowe.

 

If we put him in the 1970's without forgetting to follow the arc of his career, then we would have to make it from March 1969, instead of March 1989....

Bowe was ready to fight for the title 3 years later, so in this mythic reality, he would have been ready to step into a ring with a top contender and fight for the title in 1972.

The heavyweight champion at that time, smokin joe frazier, might not have been able to keep the title around his waist after running smack into Bowe.

I would change my pick every single time you ask me about who would have prevailed between the 2 fighters at their best. I honestly have no idea. Bowe was a much bigger man with a big reach advantage, BUT Joe was better conditioned, better at cutting the ring off, hit harder and(according to foreman) was tougher than even the prime Holyfield that Bowe outpointed in their first fight.

but in this case, frazier's decline had begun, AND he would meet a much bigger, talented man at his peak so i believe big daddy would unquestionably take the title after a decision win in a rough, tough fight.

After frazier, it's Bowe's turn to get himself on the downward slide. IMO he would make some discretionary title defenses against some cheeseburgers opponents before futch decides to steer him to his mandatory challenger, Muhammad Ali. Let's say that Bowe doesn't throw the title in a bin and agrees to fight him.
At that point, i think big daddy, out of shape, loses his title by a highly controversial decision (similar to what happened in reality with his second fight against holyfield). After that? Well he would likely have won a few more fight before retiring for good in 1976.
The only one fighter who i think would be able to beat him during that short post-ali period would be a young george foreman (even at his best, i think Bowe would be outpowered, george would force him to brawl with him. IMO Foreman would have had more advantages here. He was stronger, hit harder and had a better chin. Bowe was faster and a bit bigger. BUT, he also had a stamina advantage which would probably help him to take over the last rounds, and take a close decision win.....but after surviving those early rounds.......................)

With the terrible shape he would be in, a pretty small amount of fighters would have a reasonable chance at pulling out an upset as well.

IF Bowe stay on path, then he would probably have a longer title reign, but Ali and Foreman would still have posed enormous problems....

 

He definitely becomes champ. His 92 form is good enough to beat anyone.
Problem is it won't last long since he's lazy and doesn't like to train properly.

 

He’d of actually dwarfed them. So extremely well

 

Man, Frazier vs Bowe is an interesting thought. Bowe wouldn't mind Frazier stuck to him; Bowe likes that sort of thing too. Except Bowe is much bigger and probably hit a good bit harder than Frazier.

It would be a brutal fight. I'd bet on Frazier's warrior spirit any day over Bowe's, but Bowe may just be too big, too strong, too hard hitting for him.

 

Eh. The 70's had plenty of guys who were 6'3"-6'4" with a decent ape factor. Larry Holmes is 6'3" with the same reach as Bowe.

 

Loses to Ali ,Foreman, prime Frazier. Bowe and Lyle would be a good fight as would a fight with Norton who I might favor over Bowe.

 

Bowe destroys him

 

Bowe beats all of them

 

He definitely beats foreman, frazier, lyle and Norton but going off the Larry Donald fight he loses to younger Ali but probably beats 70s rope a dope version.

 

His ability to win a belt would depend on which part of the decade he challenges for the title and against who. If he caught an aging Ali, aging Norton, Leon Spinks or Jimmy Ellis he might have won it. I doubt his reign would last long however as Bowe’s motivation would likely drop off. That and he wasn’t built for longevity. In addition I can see him having a mixed bag of results against the top players and contenders of the 1970s.

 

That is an opinion all right

 

He´d have an advantage over Frazier, Norton and with the round progressing, against Foreman too. I really have no idea with Ali.
The Golota version training at the fridge would take a whoopin vs George and never come back.