Riddick Bowe could have been a top 3 ATG.

The 'woulda coulda shoulda' pile is an awfully big one...that's what makes the true ATGs so impressive. They not only had vast potential, but lived up to it too.

 

Bowe got smashed by Lewis at the Olympics and openly refused to fight him, Lewis would of bust Bowe up.

 

Tyson had trouble with big tall heavyweights. `Blood` Green, Tony Tucker,Boneclutcher Smith. Bowe pumped a hard jab, had good power and threw good combinations. I think he may have been to tall and strong for Tyson. Would have been a helluva fight. As for Lewis, his chin wasn`t exactly granite. That is a fight that should and could have happened...

 

Tyson Would Have Beaten Bowe..........bowe Looped His Right Hand......not Straight.....he Wasnt A Great Power Puncher(like Lennox Lewis).....his Disciplne Was Horrid........,,,i Think Ray Mercer Would Have Given Bowe Fits..........bowe Was Not Great At All.....great Chin And Heart Of A Warrior Especially In The 2nd Golota Bout............................but No Way He Beats Tyson,,,,,,,,.............hell He Ducked Razor Ruddock And Fought Pierre Coetzer Instead.

 

not that Bowe couldn't present his own troubles for Tyson, but the whole "tall Hw's" gave tyson problems is a bit overblown. yes a few tall hw's survived and didn't get ko'd, but how many really took more than a couple rounds or had tyson in trouble????? from memory only james tillis won more than a couple of rounds.

 

Holmes - Tyson.

 

Only if Bowe fought the smart gameplan, and odds are he wouldn't.
I can much more see him wanting to bulldoze in and do the macho toe-to-toe with Tyson rather than working on the jab for a few rounds first.
Add in his porous defence, and it could be a rough night for Bowe with no guarantee of making it to the final bell.

 

I think this is exactly on the mark.

 

Bowe was nearly stopped when slugging it out with Herbie Hide.

Tyson would destroy Bowe............But Bowe would never of taken the fight

He wasn't called 'Chicken Bowe' for nothing.

 

I'd say it was a handicap, as it most likely shortened his career, along with his poor training/eating habits.

He took a lot of punishment in his 3 fights with Holyfield, the Coetzer fight was a pretty grueling bout as well. Golota couldn't miss Bowe's head.

 

The thing with Tyson and those guys, as that they fought more conservative than Bowe did. Bowe's uppercut could certainly trouble Tyson, but Green and Smith (who were nearly shutout in rounds) held so frequently. It helped them survive the distance, but didn't do much to help their chances of winning the fight. Tucker also fought much safer than Bowe ever did, although he fought more to win than Green and Smith, who fought more to survive.

Tyson had trouble with some tall heavyweights, but damn near every heavyweight who faced Tyson is tall compared to Tyson. Tyson had some dominating performances against tall (say 6'3 and up) heavyweights and some lousy ones.

 

Holyfield dropped him hard too, with a left hook in the rubber match.

 

Yeah, for a guy who wasn't known as a big puncher (he'd often tee off on guys with a ridiculous amount of punches and they wouldn't go down or get rocked), Holyfield could do some damage, especially with the left hook.

Bowe had never been down, but Bowe was nearly out from that one left hook. Holyfield's left hook dropped Mercer, and geniunely hurt him. I remember people saying it was a body shot, but I watched the fight again, and it wasn't. Holyfield's left hook had Mercer reeling back and hurt, and Mercer took a knee.

I guess it shows you how important timing and placement can be in damaging guys.

 

Yep, there's no such thing as a fighter who can't be hurt, but it's all about how they deal with it.

Bowe BTW dealt with it well in that fight, after all, he got up and won it.

 

Golotta tore him apart in both of there fights. He wasn't in shape and was unmotivated...

How COULD he have been top 3? He wasn't.....