What makes people think Bowe would've beaten Tyson?

The emphasis on the peek-a-boo style by Cus left a huge flaw. Tyson inside game was pathetic. I'm amazed this wasn't worked out by his trainers.

 

Short stint focused Bowe primarily.

 

1992 Bowe beats the Mike from 1990 on. The Mike who got beat by Douglas (and overall didn't really do that impressively against Ruddock, despite solidly winning) would have gotten overwhelmed by the size, jab, and uppercut of Bowe's.

I kind of doubt peak Bowe could have beaten 1980s Mike. He just got hit too much.

 

Tyson, as great as I thought he was, when he did have problems, it was against really big guys, (Bonecrusher and Tony Tucker for example). The bigger heavyweights (even though it's true they still lost), were able to extend him. He didn't look all that great against Razor Ruddock before he went to prison. By the time Bowe was on his way up, Tyson in my opinion was on the slide. Bowe was 6' 5", and he could fight to go along with his size. Would have been a difficult fight for Mike. He was starting to lose his head movement and had gotten away from what made him successful. All the outside the ring antics, the lack of dedication.... With a puncher like Tyson, there's a chance he could get in close and land something big, but I see a frustrating fight for him against Bowe.

 

Bowe could use his size effectively, but often didn't.

He might well have been able to take Tyson in his prime, but it wouldn't be the way Buster Douglas and Lennox Lewis did it. Wouldn't quite be how Holyfield did it either -- I think Bowe would prefer fighting out of clinches instead of smothering like Holyfield did.

Would be an interesting fight.

 

He also brawled too much. Tring to brawl with 80's Tyson would not be the best strategy.

 

Power: Tyson
Chin: Bowe
Hand speed: Tyson
Foot speed: Tyson
Stamina: Bowe
Close range: Bowe
Mid range: Tyson
Offense: Even
Defense: Tyson
Technique: Even
Accuracy: Tyson
Strength: Bowe
Killer Instinct: Even
Heart: Bowe


6-3-5 advantage for Tyson. Prime vs prime, I do not think Bowe beats Tyson, but it would be a hell of a fight.

Bowe was not your standard, Stewart-trained SHW who would employ jab, grab, leab, jab, 1-2, uppercut tactics against smaller fighters. Bowe was more old-school and preferred mid range boxer-puncher style or close range inside fighting. That isn't to say he was clueless when it came to using his size, he had a good long jab and could frustrate smaller opponents with rough tactics and good spacing when necessary. The point is, Bowe, would not be able to pull an 02 Lewis for the win.

This would be an awkward matchup because the smaller guy is trying to stay at mid range to set up fast combinations and counters while the bigger guy might try to actually get close and maul. So this fight becomes a battle of wills and control over the pace/range from the opening bell. I think Tyson's head movement takes away Bowe's good but not very fast or polished jab and he manages to get close with relative ease. At mid range, he starts weaving to set up body and head shots. Bowe would probably respond with huge swings rather than blocking and this would cause the 2 to either exchange blows or get tangled up several times.

It would be a back and forth with neither guy able to keep their momentum for very long. Bowe getting nailed a few times, then shoving Tyson back to throw short hooks and uppercuts before they clinch and reset. Tyson would land more with a higher volume while Bowe lands the more damaging shots with less frequency. This would be the trend for the first 6 rounds. Tyson makes Bowe take a knee with a barrage, but Bowe gets up more rattled than badly hurt. Tyson slows down a bit after that losing some energy and his work rate goes down. This leads to Bowe increasing his aggression and lumping Tyson up in rounds 9-10, but Tyson is landing brutal body shots. By round 11, both men are exhausted. Bowe lands a big combination on Tyson, dropping him. Tyson is groggy and holds on. Round 12 they're just leaning on each other throwing occasional arm punches.

Scorecard has Tyson ahead 6 rounds to 4, with 2 rounds even. Very close.

 

Simple. He was a technical big man, boxer-puncher with power. He had a good jab & was seemingly durable. Those qualities are good enough to beat Mike Tyson

 

Bowe would of had his hands full vs Ruddock with his lack of defence, and as it's been said many times Bowe didn't fight any of the notable Heavyweight punchers.

It would be interesting to see how Bowe reacts to getting hit by Ruddock's bombs.

 

That would have really interesting to see before the first Holy fight.

 

I was reading an old article where a fight between the two could of took place in 1991, Ruddock's people made Bowe an offer but surprise surprise Rock Newman didn't fancy the fight of course.

 

I think you left it out of this list unjustifiably Tony Tucker, who in the rounds he won against Tyson showed that the invincible Tyson still has "cracks".
I would slightly favor 1988 Tyson against 1992 Bowe. Tyson from fights with Ruddock would lose from 1992 Bowe. 1988 Mike Tyson has everything that 1990+ doesn't have to beat 1992 Bowe.
After 1992, Bowe's form also drops, so the whole calculation is different. Bowe IMO has the shortest peak of all heavyweight champions. While Tyson's peak lasted one year, Bowe's peak lasted one fight.

 

uppercut

 

It's the old "all you had to do was stand up to Tyson to beat him" trope. Berbick, Thomas, Ruddock, Botha, McNeely even Carl Williams stood up to Tyson and we see what happened

 

He did hit like a truck to be fair.