Bowe was already slipping by this point and had Holyfield not been effected by the Hepatitis B he possibly could've won the fight. I do remember Bowe talking about the knockdown and he said Holyfield's punches weren't effecting him up until he got caught with that left hook he didn't see coming. So Bowe probably relaxed because he was dominating the fight and didn't see or expect a punch like that from Holyfield who looked like an old man up until that point. And the old saying is the worst punch to get caught with is the one you don't see coming.
Yes that's a good point. Holyfield did stagger Lewis multiple times with his left hook. So perhaps he didn't throw enough left hooks vs Bowe in fight 1 and 2.
Holyfields power was very touch and go. Either he was a point fighter or he had real power. Like in the Moorer rematch he demonstrated power he never showed he had again. This is probably because he was on and off PEDs and changing up what he was taking.
Stuff like that is unpredictable. You get hit with shots you don’t see coming… the punch is just really well placed and timed. James Toney got dropped and hurt by a single shot Reggie Johnson. More so than he did against some big punchers at higher weights. Oscar De La Hoya got dropped by guys like Campanella and Valenzuela but took shots well against bigger punchers at higher weights (maybe he was a little drained early on) Evander Holyfield got more hurt by John Ruiz in the 11th round of the second than he did against numerous monster punchers. He was old but still only 2 fights removed from facing Lennox Lewis and had a solid win later on against Hasim Rahman (who also hit Holyfield with a big right hand that Holyfield absorbed).
Holyfield came in lighter and sharper, and he was really committing to that left hook more than before. In the first two fights he spent a lot of time trading and trying to match Bowe on the inside, but in the third he picked his moments better. Bowe also wasn’t quite the same by then. He’d taken a lot of wear from the earlier fights and his conditioning/defense weren’t as tight, so he was more open to getting caught clean.
Bowe was pretty out of shape for fight 2 though. Howe can the Bowe of fight 3 be said to have been worse in terms of conditioning
Sometimes the punch catches you at the right time and right place. Why was Frazier able to drop Ali in the first fight but not fight 2 and 3? Why was Walcott able to drop Ezzard Charles in fight 3 but not 1, 2 and 4?
I’d say ,at some point,when you start slipping as a fighter it doesnt matter as much if you get in physical shape as much as it did before when you were prime. My point is Bowe had slipped. He was in much better shape vs Golota 2 than the first fight,didnt make much difference.
Bowe took criticism because he was supposedly overweight for Holyfield II.. but that extra weight saved him from being KOed.. that and the fan man..
