1960 Sonny Liston vs 1992 Riddick Bowe

More interesting fight would be to see if they could both survive Suga Valuev he was a baaaad man.

Saint Primo bless you.

 

Liston stops Bowe.

 

Bowe makes Liston quit after 9. Liston would have aggravated Riddick with his extraordinary jab and probably rocked the hell out of him with power punches but....

Bowe would have used his size and jab to both keep off and bully Liston around. The uppercut would have started landing sooner or later and Liston would have been staggering around by round 8, looking much like Foreman in the last round of the Zaire fight.

I do see this being a great slugfest in the early rounds. It's just that this really is a case where the big man has too many advanced tools over the smaller.

 

Interesting fight. Two guys whose careers on paper don't do them justice, albeit for very different reasons.

Stylistically I like Bowe in this one, my one nagging doubt being the lack of really big hitters accounted for on his record. Not that the guys he faced or beat were feather-fisted by any means, but in terms of facing off against the really heavy artillery - the kind which Liston possessed - Bowe is a bit of a mystery to me.

Liston destroyed guys who traded with him or tried to get in close, but it'd be interesting to see how he'd deal with someone he couldn't necessarily outjab. Bowe's jab was a thing of beauty when he got it clicking, and much like Liston's it was a lot more than just a range finder or point accumulator - his jab did damage. I think Bowe could take the centre of the ring, keep Liston at an uncomfortable range and force Liston to adapt. And of course, Bowe had speed and the in-fighting ability to make room for shots in close. He's got a good four inches on Liston height wise and Liston could be caught with uppercuts given his more deliberate movements as he stalked.

Just a question of how Bowe copes when in those moments when he's getting rocked, because they're bound to occur. Both guys have faced questions over their heart, but Liston roared back to stop a very dangerous Cleveland Williams after being shaken up in their first fight, and Bowe sucked it up against Holyfield a few times over. Assuming both are at their best I think Bowe wins on points (I feel like giving him the benefit of the doubt today). Would have been a fascinating match up.

 

I think people make too much of Bowe's relative lack of heavy hitters. Cooper was for sure one of the best heavyweight punchers and Bowe knocked the crap out of him.

I think people are overly influenced by the obviously early stoppage of the Olympic Lewis fight (which featured Bowe hopping up and down spiritedly and waving his hands animatedly the second the stoppage was called, so I call horse**** on that ref). There wasn't a heavyweight alive at the time that could beat the Holy-beating Bowe, and a not-small group of ATGs he would have beaten as well.

I personally think a Tyson fight would have been the same for Bowe...Bowe would have either stopped or made him quit in about the same amount of time. Both Liston and Tyson would have had hard times against a boxer so much better and....well, better at actual boxing than either of them ever were (and I have mad respect for Sonny btw).

 

All Sonny.

All Bowe does or can do is trade. He does not have the footwork to do anything else. Speaking of footwork, I see Bowe being the guy being backed up here. Hardly the optimal position for him to be in. And his backing up defensive skills are not good enough to avoid the big shots with both hands this guy threw. He will become even more wide open--if that is possible--throwing that wide looping right hand while backing up and being as wide open for Liston. Cannot leave that big of a window to an opponent like Sonny Liston.

 

This analysis is on the money, Bowe can't fight backing up and he can't move Charles Sonny Liston, this could end early around round 5

 

Liston would lose by DQ to Valuev, he wouldn't be able to hit anything over the belt line.
Liston by castration.

 

Bowe was too big to keep being backed up by Sonny. Only because Sonny's jab was so great could he get Bowe off balance, but we're talking about a massive boxer here, and in Bowe's case a massive boxer whom knows how to use it to his best advantage.

I watched one of the Liston-Williams fights and at one point Williams rocked Liston with a left hook and combo, most of the punches landing mostly flush. If it had been Bowe that would have been the climax.

People might be underestimating Liston's frustratibility and will-to-give-up. Though Bowe never had anywhere near the hand and foot speed of Ali he certainly had a nearly equal jab and far more powerful punches. And we all know how Liston reacted when frustrated...he sucked.

Keep in mind, I place Liston in my top 13 ATGs, just one down from Tyson.

 

Bowe gets rocked and shaken up in this brawl . He'd be really tested like never before ..But I do see him persevering , to fight back , have Liston in trouble and finally drop him ,in around 9 rounds .

 

Sonny. As much as I like prime Bowe its Sonny..a H2H nightmare for almost anyone

 

Bingo.