If they had met in 1996? Despite how bad Bowe looked against Golota, would this have been the biggest heavy weight showdown outside of a fight with Tyson? A fight involving those two,at that particular time, I'd say Lewis 80%chance of winning. Maybe more..
Before the Golota fights it would still have been a great event. They were even supposed to fight the 20th April of 1996, with HBO putting 9,5 millions dollars for each fighter I believe. But the fight was rescheduled and ultimately canceled.
Really?I didn't know that. It would possibly have been a massive event, with the history between the two. Not sure how confident Bowe would be at that point.
Yes, Bowe vs Lewis was supposed to be the conclusion of a mini HBO tournament which started with Lewis vs Morrison and Bowe vs Holyfield. Thus, HBO would have their "champion", opposed to the actual beltholders which were Don King/Showtime fighters. Here are some links about the canceled fight : https://www.deseret.com/1996/1/15/19219338/bowe-lewis-finally-agree-to-fight-each-other/ https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwifiZrR3vyUAxUsP_sDHcvxG1gQFnoECDUQAQ&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1996/02/15/lewis-bout-with-bowe-on-hold/73369dbf-760e-4f3e-a3f7-a533fa20799c/&usg=AOvVaw0FSk1z2dxxkpUwv7Q9VLpb&opi=89978449
That first link said the fight was contingent upon Bowe "breaking his contract" with HBO. (The fight at Caesars Palace, though, is contingent on Bowe being able to resolve his differences with Time Warner-HBO Sports, which has a long-term deal with Bowe to fight on HBO and pay-per-view. Bowe's manager, Rock Newman, is trying to break the contract, and Time Warner went to court in New York last week to ask a federal judge to uphold the pact.) Which meant if Bowe and Newman were able to break the contract, HBO wouldn't televise. Which meant it wasn't an HBO tournament. HBO may have tried to stage a four-man tournament and pit them together, but, of course, Rock Newman wanted to cut out HBO for the actual Lewis-Bowe fight. But, they couldn't break the contract with HBO. Despite whatever HBO was offering, it wasn't good enough for Bowe and Newman. HBO tried to make that fight numerous times over multiple years. Rock Newman was always screwing up everything. Seriously. He was the worst.
From this article : https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...e-works/ed50b266-9af2-41af-89d5-f421fef982a9/ « Riddick Bowe will fight either Evander Holyfield or Tommy Morrison in the fall depending on whether Holyfield accepts an offer made by Home Box Office for a Bowe-Holyfield III. HBO is in the final stages of trying to set up a number of heavyweight fights that would determine whom HBO intends to advertise as "the heavyweight champion." » About the Newman/HBO situation : the source of the problem according to "Boxing Monthly" (in its February of 1996 edition page 40) is that Newman « wanted HBO (...) to pay a 3$ million "bonus" to secure Bowe's services after the [20th April of 1996] » which HBO refused. Considering that Newman simultaneously tried to get Tyson (a Showtime fighter) in the ring that year, it was certainly a (clumsy) move to put the pressure on HBO.
How's it go if it had came about in 96? I'd be actually betting on a short, Sharp, shock for Bowe. Wouldn't surprise me if he'd stop Riddick before the 5 th round.
A stoppage win for Lewis at that point would be a high probability. Bowe really looked deteriorated while the training Lewis got from Steward was really starting to show.
Bowe was done by '96. Third fight with Holyfield was in November '95. Though Bowe won, he took some damaging left hooks. One example: the Holyfield left hook that dropped Bowe is somewhat celebrated.. but it's the left hook before that one that started Bowe on his way to the canvas. Heavy duty.
Bowe was basically done coming into Golota 1. Easy win for Lewis at the point IMO. But yes it still would’ve been a huge event had Bowe’s decline not been exposed by Golota.
What if Bowe fought Morrison instead? Huge gap in talent, but could Morrison land his hook as easily as Holyfield did?
From what I read, apparently Morrison did well in sparring againsg Bowe. Of course, that doesn't mean he would beat Bowe in a real fight.
