Apart from more brain damage with a strong possibility of Bowe being seriously hurt in the ring I can't see much else happening. Bowe took horrendous beatings from Golota the 2nd fight was nigh on inhuman with the amount of punishment Bowe took. To put it into perspective Bowe got hit over 400 times by a Heavyweight who weighed over 240 pounds. For a Featherweight getting hit that much would seem ridiculous but from a Super Heavyweight ? It don't sound possible. After the fight Bowe was noticeably slurring his words quite badly and Golota basically finished off what was left of Bowe. Bowe returning in 1997 to fight any notable top 10 Heavyweight would've ended in disaster.
Loses to both Bowe wouldn't beat any notable top 10 Heavyweight after the Golota fights. He took terrible beatings and had brain damage.
Foreman didn't have brain damage. The damage was already done to Bowe time off isn't going to heal brain damage.
Foreman have soul damage. So Bowe wouldn't have beaten anyone from the Top 10 of 1997 in 1998 either? The Ring Magazine's Annual Ratings: 1997 - BoxRec
Bowe Bowe was already starting to look shot when he beat Holyfield in their 3rd fight at the end of 95. Yeah he won by knocking out a weak looking Holyfield who looked like he had skipped his peds for that bout but Bowe looked terrible himself an was knocked down for the 1st time in his career an was hurt at other times as well. When you are shot one of the 1st signs are your punch resistance drops dramatically. The Golota fights just confirmed that while he still had heavy hands if he was able to land , the reflexes, the punch resistance an legs were shot. He was wise to retire. Maybe the wisest choice he ever made in his career
I agree that Bowe didn't look that great vs Holyfield in their 3rd fight. Holyfield basically looked the same as he did vs Moorer in their 1st fight, lackluster with no energy levels with only brief moments of brilliance. I also thought Bowe looked shaky vs Hide the same year he was wobbled numerous times and got hit far too often. I think where alot of the damage come from was in the 2nd fight with Golota. Not only did he take 400 punches which is ridiculous punishment for Super Heavyweights. Bowe was also horribly weight drained against Golota in their rematch. He lost 50 pounds in 8 weeks and its very dangerous to be taking that amount of punishment when you feel physically weak, not to mention less water in the brain and it could be fatal. Bowe still showed he had heart and power but that's all he pretty much had left. Golota basically finished off whatever left of Bowe there was and after that Bowe was never going to be able compete at world level again. Retirement for Bowe was definitely the right call.
Exactly correct. Bowe was completely shot in the Golota fights. Some folks to this day give way too much credit to Golota for how he performed in those fights without paying attention to Bowe's performance. Bowe was off balance from the beginning of round one and his reflexes were non existent. He was a hurt fighter and shouldn't have been allowed to fight. I believe Eddie Futch saw it and that's why he stepped away from Bowe's corner.
He already had brain damage, and I believe he did for a long time and they covered it up. It would have ended in a sting of losses.
