Lewis definitely had a good chin. Was it rock solid? No - but he was hardly chinny. I always laugh when people say Frank Bruno was chinny.... it wasn't his chin that let him down, it was his instincts. In the first Tyson fight and also the Lewis one, he was being teed off on for a very long time before being stopped on his feet - if only he had the ability to hold or take a knee. On Bowe, I don't think he fought any genuine bangers, other than perhaps Herbie Hide, who firstly wasn't all that good at anything else other than knocking people out, and secondly could be KO'd by the breeze from a left hook. Holyfield could bang a bit, as could Golota.
He was 3 times the fighter as the guy in your avatar, had a legendary trilogy with Holyfield. I think ***** is a little strong, like him or not.
Stupid statement. Its like saying Lennox Lewis never faced punchers that had great boxing skills. Bowe faced plenty of capable punchers. Not fighting Ruddock and Lewis didnt mean he was avoiding punchers. As stated there was plenty of guys he faced with decent power, not to mention Evander Holyfield has dropped some of the most iron chinned guys with his accurate punching and the Holyfield that faced Lewis in 1999 was a different fighter than the version Bowe fought in 92 so comparing the two fights is ridiculous, especially considering how competitive Ruiz was shortly after their fight.
At the time he beat Holyfield in '92 the world was his oyster, He'd got a unification with Lewis a possibility, plus a couple of interesting fights with Mercer, Morrison, Moorer etc, & a comebacking Mike Tyson to look forward to. He had a gimme defence against Dokes which he was perfectly entitled to, but the Mercer lost to Ferguson, add in a couple of odd decisions from Rock Newman & an unmotivated performance against Holyfield & what looked like a possible hall of fame title reign turned into a farce. Bowe was a great talent but was as much a victim of his manager as his lack of discipline. The clearly hadn't trained for the first Golota fight, & the second fight he looked awful physically having taken off too much weight to soon, which obviously contributed to the beatings he took, plus he was over the hill in IMO by then.
Keep in mind that Bowe chose to not fight Lewis after his win over Evander Holyfield because of HBO. Rather than sign a one fight deal with Lewis's people HBO offered him a six fight deal which included a fight with Lewis down the line. It was at the time potentially the richest contract in boxing worth an estimated 100 million if it culminated with the Lewis fight. So I dont know how stupid that was, especially when he only had to vacate one title and retain the other two. Circumstances kept the two from facing each other. Bowe lost, Lewis lost, and then Bowe pretty much exited the sport. Ray Mercer was supposed to be one of the early defenses but he lost to Ferguson even after whispering in his ear he would give him 100K if he threw the fight. Remember that? Mercer was indicted for that. So just like Mayweather gets slammed for fighting Baldomir when Judah lost his title, Bowe is stuck with that ugly name on his championship record because Mercer as usually the case showed up for his tuneup in **** poor shape. Its ashame Lewis and Bowe never fought, but Im in the minority where I think Bowe of 92 would have done a number on Lewis at that time. Eddie Futch turned him into a firece professional fighter who had all the tools, all while Lewis was still trying to settle into being a better more balanced professional fighter which didnt happen until around 95-96 in my opinion.
Bowe of 92 was a treat but by 93 he was already a fat guy who Lewis (who'd already slipped into some bad habits himself) was a big chance to knock off. I'd make it a pick'em fight because no way known the sloppy fighter that Bowe became has an easy night with any Lennox Lewis. **** Bowe slipped from a 9-3 beating of Holy in 92 to a 7-5 loss in 93.He simply wasn't the same guy imo.
Bowe wasn't entitled to anything other than fufilling his obligation to face Lewis in the 4 man heavyweight tournament. It's the only reason he got a title shot in the first place.
No it isnt. The WBC screwed Bowe around because Don King was in control of it at the time getting his fighters in position to fight for the title and they kept changing the deal on that whole tournament. Newman went to the WBA which accepted Bowe as a challenger for their mandatory spot and he won which eliminated King and the WBC from calling the shots of who he would have to keep fighting before getting a title shot. Evander Holyfield being the champion was granted a mandatory defense of all his titles against the #1 contender of the WBA which was Riddick Bowe. They avoided that whole fiasco with the WBC because of Kings influence over Suliaman at that time. Its on the internet you can read about it.
I agree. He went downhill pretty quickly after winning the title. Thats why I said 92. The fight would have been great had Bowe gone right to the Lewis fight after defeating Holyfield. The two soft defenses and his world tour only added to Bowe's lazy ways.
Yes it was, the WBC only allowed Holyfield-Bowe to go ahead on the stipulation the winner face the winner of Lewis-Ruddock....hence Bowe was stripped when he refused. Otherwise Holyfield would've been stripped of the WBC belt for not facing Ruddock. Bowe also had a chance to meet Ruddock in an eliminator...& passed.
Nobody wanted Ruddock back in those days from memory. The Smith fight left people with questions about his chin after that early knockdown, but after he rebounded by sparking Dokes in 4, the top heavyweights were petrified by him.
Yes your right about that, but I thought you meant he only got his title shot because of the tournament. As far as Bowe fighting Holyfield the WBC couldnt stand behind Kings demands because they wouldnt be part of the Holyfield fight and the sanctioning fee it represented so they sanctioned the unification fight with the winner to face their #1 contender Lewis yes. Ruddock was Kings fighter and they kept pushing Ruddock in everyones face and noone wanted to face him. Lewis took him on because he was the low man on the totempole as far as the power situation and earned his shot the hard way.